Axes, Adzes and Chisels

Axes, Adzes and Chisels Stone Tools from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria Harmen O. Huigens Axes, Adzes and Chisels Stone Tools from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria Harmen O. Huigens, s0611654 BA Thesis – 3ARW Supervised by Prof. Dr. P.M.M.G. Akkermans Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology April 2010 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Peter Akkermans for his guidance during the process of writing this BA thesis. I also thank Ms. Akemi Kaneda for providing me with data concerning the stratigraphy and chronology of Tell Sabi Abyad, and for letting me use several settlement plans. Furthermore, I would like to thank Lennart Roest, who corrected the English text. 2 Table of contents 1 Introduction & research objectives 5 1.1 Introduction 5 1.2 Neolithic axes, adzes and chisels 6 1.3 Occupational history of Tell Sabi Abyad 8 1.4 Sample size 9 1.5 Research objectives and methodology 9 2 A preliminary classification 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Terminology 11 2.3 Morphological classification 12 2.3.1 Trapezoidal celts 12 2.3.2 Rectangular celts 14 2.3.3 Other shapes 14 2.4 Style versus function 14 3 Raw material and provenance 24 3.1 Introduction 24 3.2 The rocks around Tell Sabi Abyad 24 3.3 Non-local rocks 25 3.3.1 Dolerite 25 3.3.2 Serpentinite 27 3.3.3 Other non-local rocks 28 3.4 Local vs. non-local rocks 29 3.4.1 Local vs. non-local celts 29 3.5 Production centres and distribution 29 4 Production, use and curation 32 4.1 Introduction 32 4.2 Traces of production 32 3 4.3 Traces of use 34 4.4 Rejuvenation and curation 35 5 Context 37 5.1 Introduction 37 5.2 Context of fragments 37 5.3 Context of complete celts 37 6 Diachronic analysis 41 6.1 Introduction 41 6.2 Diachronic distribution 41 7 Conclusion 45 7.1 Introduction 45 7.2 The economic and social role of stone celts at Tell Sabi Abyad 45 7.3 Concluding remarks 47 Samenvatting (Dutch summary) 49 Bibliography 51 4 1 Introduction & research objectives 1.1 Introduction This BA thesis concerns stone axes, adzes and chisels, generally known as celts, from Tell Sabi Abyad. This site is dated to the Late Neolithic period of Upper Mesopotamia (ca. 7000-5300 BC1). Tell Sabi Abyad is located in the valley of the Balikh river, a tributary of the Euphrates, in the plains of northern Syria. Since 1986, a long sequence of Late Neolithic occupation has been excavated here on a relatively large scale. The partially uncovered Late Neolithic settlement at Tell Sabi Abyad seems to have been relatively small - less than 1 ha – and was most likely permanently inhabited by no more than a few dozen people. Their means of subsistence was based on dry farming, the herding of domestic animals, and occasional hunting. These people possessed a rich material culture, including a wide variety of tools made from various materials. Examples of such tools are bone awls, clay sling missiles, flint implements such as arrowheads and scrapers, stone grinding tools and hammers. It is likely that tools made from more perishable materials, such as wood, were used at Tell Sabi Abyad as well. One obvious example is wooden parts, such as handles, of composite tools. All of these implements played an invaluable role in food procurement and artefact production at Tell Sabi Abyad. Other artefacts, such as clay figurines, clearly had a more symbolic meaning, and were perhaps used in ritual activities. Some artefacts had both utilitarian and symbolic meanings. For example, certain ceramic vessels were used in daily life, but were also found in graves, where they were placed as gifts for the dead. 2 As for Late Neolithic stone axes adzes and chisels, it has been suggested that they may have had both utilitarian and symbolic values as well. It has been stressed that although some larger celts may have been used in economic activities such as wood working or soil tilling, other celts were so small – only a few centimetres in length – that these may have had a more symbolic meaning.3 Interesting as this may sound, compelling proof for such a dual role has not been presented thus far. Late Neolithic axes, adzes and chisels have received only minor attention in the archaeological discourse during the past few decades, and most studies which do concern them have been most basic in the sense 1 All dates presented in this thesis are calibrated radiocarbon dates. 2 Akkermans (ed) 1996, Akkermans & Schwartz 2003. 3 Akkermans & Schwartz 2003, 131-2, Collet & Spoor 1996, 424, Verhoeven 1999, 72-5: tables 5.2-5.4. 5 that they are mainly descriptive rather than interpretative. As a result, archaeologists have not yet been able to ascribe more specific economic or symbolic functions to Late Neolithic celts. In this study, I wish to explore the economic and social role of the Late Neolithic axes, adzes and chisels from Tell Sabi Abyad. I will do so by investigating which types of celts were used at Tell Sabi Abyad, and by trying to reconstruct several aspects of the use-life of the celts. I will investigate how the celts were manufactured, and whether they we produced locally or not. I will also try to determine several functional aspects of the celts. Whether and how the stone celts were rejuvenated or curated will be considered as well. Finally, I will investigate whether the role of celts at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad has changed over time. 1.2 Neolithic axes, adzes and chisels The origins of stone axes, adzes and chisels from Upper Mesopotamia date back to the Natufian period (ca. 12.500 – 10.000 BC4). At Tell Mureybet, located in the Middle Euphrates area, a type of flint adze was used as a percussion tool for woodworking. Its use continued throughout the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period (ca. 10.000 – 8700 BC) as well, in which it was applied to work limestone building blocks. During the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (henceforth PPNB; ca. 8700 – 7000 BC), the flint adze was replaced by ground and polished stone adzes and axes, both used to work wood. These tools could be used more intensively then the flint adze, as they could be constantly re-sharpened by grinding the cutting edges. These more elaborated objects also became exchange products during the PPNB. Furthermore, the stone hoe, a large celt used for soil tilling, was introduced during the PPNB in Upper Mesopotamia. This tool was more efficient than the preceding digging stick, and was needed to allow agriculture to intensify. Thus, it is clear that stone celts had an important role in the economy of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic periods.5 Far less is known about celts from the subsequent Late Neolithic period, for which there are a number of reasons. Many excavations of Late Neolithic sites are rather limited in extent. As a result, the overall sample sizes are often small. This means that in most cases, excavations have only yielded a handful of celts. It is perhaps because of such restricted assemblages that Late Neolithic celts are often solely dealt with in short 4 Akkermans & Schwartz 2003, 14. 5 Ibáñez et al. 2007. 6 paragraphs of excavation reports. In such reports, there is often no mentioning of the contexts in which the celts were found, or of the raw materials used to produce them and their provenance. Only little attention is often paid to traces of production, use, including use-direction, and maintenance. In general, not much more than a basic classification of the celts is presented. Such classifications are often solely based on morphological traits of the celts, which frequently show similarities with modern day tools such as axes, adzes and chisels.6 It is in such classes that celts are often divided. In such cases, axes, or more precisely, axe-shaped objects, show symmetrical bevelling of the sharp edge, as they would have been hafted parallel to the haft. Adzes would have been hafted perpendicular to the haft, and therefore show asymmetrical bevelling. Both tools would then have been used in a chopping motion.7 Chisels are often defined as objects with a straight, elongated shape and a rather narrow sharp edge, which would have been used for carving. Terms such as axes, adzes and chisels tend to predefine certain specific functions of the celts. However, it is important to realise that it is in many cases uncertain whether the objects were hafted, or used in a chopping or carving motion in the first place. The terms celts, axes, adzes and chisels should thus be used with caution. Nevertheless, as these terms have been widely accepted in literature, they will be used in this study as well, for the sake of convenience. Fig. 1: Late Neolithic stone ‘axe’ from Tell Sabi Note however that in this study, they are solely meant to Abyad. describe the objects’ general shape. Examples of the functions of axe- and adze-shaped objects, as presented in literature, are that they were used for felling trees and bushes, production of wooden tools and furniture, production of wooden building materials, butchering, production of bone artefacts, soil tilling, and so on.8 The finer chisel-shaped objects would have been used for detailed carving activities, such as the finishing of bone and wooden artefacts. However, these are often mere assumptions based on the celts’ general shapes, rather than 6 Seeden 1982, 58.

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