Bidirectional blade technology on naviform cores from northern Arabia: New evidence of Arabian‐Levantine interactions in the Neolithic. (2nd December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Crassard, Rémy; Hilbert, Yamandú H.
• Is Part Of: Arabian archaeology and epigraphy. Volume 31:Number 1(2020:May)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 104
• Publication Date: 2019-12-02
• Subjects: dispersals -- Fertile Crescent -- lithic technology -- Neolithic -- Saudi Arabia; Arabian Peninsula -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Inscriptions -- Arabian Peninsula -- Periodicals; 953
• DOI: 10.1111/aae.12138
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0905-7196

Abstract

Abstract : Discovered in March 2015, the sites of DAJ‐112 and DAJ‐125 in the Al‐Jawf province of northern Saudi Arabia consist of a large collection of surface lithic artefacts that can be compared to well‐known Pre‐Pottery Neolithic (PPN) B technology from the Levant: the two sites include bidirectional blade technology with naviform core preparation and opposed platforms surface exploitation, as well as burin production at a wide scale. Other surface scatters have been identified during the 2013 and 2015 surveys, showing these two sites are not isolated in Al‐Jawf, as rather important occurrences of Early Holocene technology have been identified across the region. Although the sites from Al‐Jawf are surface occurrences and not radiometrically dated, the finds have proven to be extremely significant, representing a southward incursion of classic naviform cores‐based technology, thus expanding the geographical distribution of this technology beyond the Levant. By addressing the lithic evidence from northern Arabia, the expansion and/or influence of PPN populations and cultural elements will be discussed.