Back to the Source—Geochemical Data from Israel for the Provenance Analyses of Basaltic Rock Artefacts and Their Implications on Previous and Future Studies

Gluhak, Tatjana M.; Rosenberg, Danny

doi:10.1111/arcm.12389

Cited by 10 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…The classification in the TAS-diagram (Fig. S2 , Le Bas et al 49 , here plotted with the geological data from Gluhak and Rosenberg 50 and the present study) shows that the majority of the pestles are produced from alkali basalt. Two artifact samples are basanites (with more than 10% normative olivine).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Exploring exchange and direct procurement strategies for Natufian food processing tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Rosenberg

Gluhak

Kaufman

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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We present the results of a detailed geochemical provenance study of 54 Natufian (ca. 15,000–11,700 cal. BP) basalt pestles from the site of el-Wad Terrace (EWT), Israel. It is the first time precise locations from where basalt raw materials were derived are provided. The results indicate that the Natufian hunter-gatherers used multiple sources of basaltic rocks, distributed over a large area surrounding the Sea of Galilee. This area is located at a considerable distance from EWT, ca. 60–120 km away, in a region where contemporaneous Natufian basecamps are few. We consider two possible models that suggest vehicles for the transportation of these artifacts to EWT, namely the exchange obtaining model (EOM) and the direct procurement model (DPM). We argue that these mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and may have operated together. We also suggest that at a time of increasing Natufian territoriality, a large area around the Sea of Galilee remained unclaimed. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications for the two models. In particular, we note that the DPM implies that technological know-how for pestle production was maintained within the EWT community.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Exploring exchange and direct procurement strategies for Natufian food processing tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Rosenberg

Gluhak

Kaufman

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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show abstract

“…S4). Plotting the distributions of chemical elements derived from archaeological specimens against those of geological samples 41 (Fig. 3, Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3, Supplementary Table S1). These sources were de ned as "virtual extraction sites" (speci c, presently unidenti ed, extraction sites 41,42 ) where the raw material for basalt pestles was procured. Most analyzed pestles (44.4%) originate from the lava ows west (fourteen pestles) and north of the Sea of Galilee (ten pestles, the Korazim basalt block); fewer were traced to locations east ( ve pestles, western slopes of the Golan Heights) and south of the Sea of Galilee (three pestles, western slopes of the Jordan Valley).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Between Two Models: Exploring Exchange and Direct Procurement Strategies for Natufian Food Processing Tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Rosenberg¹,

Gluhak²,

Kaufman³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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We present the results of a detailed geochemical provenance study of 54 Natufian (ca. 15,000–11,700 cal BP) basalt pestles from the site of el-Wad Terrace (EWT), Israel. It is the first time precise locations whence basalt raw materials derive are provided. The results indicate that the Natufian hunter-gatherers used multiple sources of basaltic rocks, distributed over a large area surrounding the Sea of Galilee. For EWT, this area is located at a considerable distance of ca. 60–120 km away, in a region where contemporaneous Natufian basecamps are few. We consider two possible models that suggest vehicles for the transportation of these artifacts to EWT, namely the exchange obtaining model (EOM) and the direct procurement model (DPM). We argue that these mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and may have operated together. We also suggest that at a time of increasing Natufian territoriality, a large area around the Sea of Galilee remained unclaimed. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications for the two models. In particular, we note that the DPM implies that technological know-how for pestle production was maintained within the EWT community.

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“…Most often, petrographic methods are used in the research of polished stone tools, which were widely used from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Recently, the materials of research of many such stone artefacts were published in the world literature, particularly stone axes and other tools of the archeological monument Wroclaw-Vidava-17 in Poland (Borowski, 2014), collections of Neolithic polished axes found in the southern Italy near Paestum (Aurino, 2017), basalt artefacts of the Bronze Age from Israel (Gluhak, 2018). One of the most comprehensive studies was the petrographic research of more than 400 polished stone tools and weapons dated to the Middle Bronze Age from central Hungary (Farkas-Pető, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Results of petrographic research of new finds from the archaeological monument Tokivske-1

Нікітенко¹,

Starik²,

Марченко³

2019

Journ. Geol., Geogr., and Geoec..

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The purpose of the work was to determine the provenance of the raw materials of ancient stone products, found during the excavations of the Bronze-Early Iron Age monument Tokivske-1, with the aim to establish connections of the ancient population of the area with residents of other regions. The archaeological monument Tokivske-1, located in the northern outskirts of the village Tokivske, Apostolove Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, has been explored by the expedition of Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after D.I. Yavornytskyi since 2012. The authors of this article already carried out petrographic study of stone artefacts from this monument, which had been found during the first five years of excavations. However, over the past two years, a number of stone and other items were found that could expand our knowledge of the links of Tokivske-1 with ancient industrial centers of other regions. To carry out the petrographic analysis, six artefacts were taken, mainly those made from macroscopically different rocks. Most of them can be related to metalworking. The analyzed samples are represented by an amphibolite hammer for forging jewels or peening sheet copper, a dolerite anvil-prop for a specified hammer, a fragment of an abrasive stone made of ferruginous quartzite, a quartz tile, which is a fragment of an altar, and fragments of an anvil and a scepter-pestle made of sandstone. Petrographic analysis of artefacts allowed determining the probable provenance of their raw materials. Amphibolites are quite common in the territory of the Middle Dnipro area, but by the color of the hornblende, the predominance of epidotization processes over sericitization and macrostructural features, the studied rock is more similar to the amphibolites from the middle stream of the Bazavluk River. Dolerites, similar to the raw material of the anvil-prop, are also common in the area of excavations, and by the presence of the micropegmatite in its composition, its origin can be localized in the middle stream of the river Bazavluk or in the valley of the river Mokra Sura. Magnetite quartzite – the raw material of the abrasive stone – most likely comes from the territory of the city of Kryvyi Rih. Quartz tile – a fragment of an altar – is a quartz vein, similar to those that intersect granites of the Tokivskyi massif directly near the village Tokivske. Sandstones, from which the anvil and the scepter-pestle were produced, appeared to be very similar in their petrographic features. They are represented by quartz sandstones with fragments of rocks and polymineral cement with the predominance of quartz regenerative and porous sericite cement. Also, the relic chalcedony and, more rarely, clay cement are present in the pores. In the territory of Ukraine, the most similar to them, according to petrographic characteristics, are the sandstones of the Carboniferous system, which crop out in the Donbas. Thus, the obtained data testifies to the connection of the Tokivske-1 archaeological complex with other parts of the Middle Dnipro area, such as the middle stream of the Bazavluk River and the Kryvyi Rih area, as well as with more distant regions such as the Donbas. It should be noted that scepter-pestles, similar to the one studied by us, are associated with metalworking, and the Donetsk basin, where the raw material of the indicated tool originates from, was the copper production center of the Late Bronze Age.

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Back to the Source—Geochemical Data from Israel for the Provenance Analyses of Basaltic Rock Artefacts and Their Implications on Previous and Future Studies

Cited by 10 publications

References 44 publications

Exploring exchange and direct procurement strategies for Natufian food processing tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Exploring exchange and direct procurement strategies for Natufian food processing tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Between Two Models: Exploring Exchange and Direct Procurement Strategies for Natufian Food Processing Tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel

Results of petrographic research of new finds from the archaeological monument Tokivske-1

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