Obsidian Circulation Networks in Southwest Asia and Anatolia
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OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION NETWORKS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA AND ANATOLIA OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION NETWORKS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA AND ANATOLIA (12,000 – 5700 B.P.): A COMPARATIVE APPROACH By ZACHARY BATIST, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts McMaster University © Copyright by Zachary Batist, November 2014 McMaster University MASTER OF ARTS (2014) Hamilton, Ontario (Anthropology) TITLE: Obsidian Circulation Networks in Southwest Asia and Anatolia (12,000 – 5700 B.P.): A Comparative Approach AUTHOR: Zachary Batist, B.A. (Carleton University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. Tristan Carter NUMBER OF PAGES: xiv, 168 ii ABSTRACT This Master’s thesis documents and interrogates networks of regional interaction in southwest Asia and Anatolia during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods (12,000 - 5700 B.P.) by comparing the variable use of obsidian raw material variants at 151 sites. This represents an effort to bring together all of the obsidian sourcing data produced for this broad archaeological setting, and evaluate it from a heterarchical approach that highlights the distributed nature of regional interaction. Heterarchical perspectives are applied here through the use of network analysis in order to highlight clusters of sites that are more connected to each other than they are to others in the system, and to determine the roles of each site in the system’s overall structure. As such, order is highlighted as a result of the organization of data-driven ties among sites, which are unrestricted by presumptions relating to geographical position or of pre-defined rank. The results are compared with more established models of regional interaction in the settings of interest, and heterarchical perspectives through network analysis are shown to complement common understandings of broad-scale connectivity at various points in time. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Tristan Carter for his guidance and encouragement throughout this Master’s thesis. His unwavering support has made all the difference to the value of my work. I would also like to thank the members of my supervisory committee, Andy Roddick, Clemens Reichel and Mark Golitko for all their comments and constructive criticism. I am also grateful for the support of Shawn Graham, whose early encouragement led me to pursue this field of research. Moreover, I would like to thank Tom Brughmans and Fiona Coward for their practical explanations and thoughtful advice. Many thanks also go out to the faculty, my fellow graduate students and my friends at the Department of Anthropology at McMaster for their lasting sentiments of optimism and motivation. I am also deeply appreciative of the time shared with friends off campus, who have helped keep me afloat. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents for their wisdom, which they continue to impart without limit. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. V LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ XII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ........................................................................ XIII DECLARATION OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ............................................................... XIV 1 – INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 2 – THE NEOLITHIC AND CHALCOLITHIC PERIODS IN SOUTHWEST ASIA AND ANATOLIA ...................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 ON THE DEFINITION OF CULTURAL BOUNDARIES .............................................................. 5 2.2 THE CHRONO-CULTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE THESIS .................................................. 13 2.2.1 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 PERIOD 1 (12,000 – 10,300 B.P.) .................................................................................. 13 2.2.3 PERIOD 2 (10,300 – 8600 B.P.) ..................................................................................... 17 2.2.4 PERIOD 3 (8600 – 8000 B.P.) ........................................................................................ 21 2.2.5 PERIOD 4 (8000 – 7000 B.P.) ........................................................................................ 22 2.2.6 PERIOD 5 (7000 – 6500 B.P.) ........................................................................................ 24 2.2.7 PERIOD 6 (6500 – 6100 B.P.) ........................................................................................ 26 2.2.8 PERIOD 7 (6100 – 5700 B.P.) ........................................................................................ 26 2.2.9 FINAL REMARKS ........................................................................................................... 27 3 – OBSIDIAN AND ITS ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ............................................ 28 3.1 PREHISTORIC USE ............................................................................................................ 28 3.2 OBSIDIAN AS AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL ............................................................. 29 3.2.1 GEOLOGY AND THE PHYSICAL / CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF OBSIDIAN ........................ 29 3.2.2 CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION METHODS ................................................................. 30 3.2.3 MAJOR OBSIDIAN SOURCES OF SOUTHWEST ASIA AND ANATOLIA ............................. 31 v 3.3 ANALYSIS OF LITHIC ASSEMBLAGES ............................................................................... 33 3.4 OBSIDIAN AS A SIGNIFIER OF LONG-DISTANCE INTERACTION ........................................ 34 3.5 OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION STUDIES ................................................................................... 35 3.5.1 LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN EARLY OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION STUDY ........................ 35 3.5.2 BROADER CONTEXTUALIZATION OF OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION ..................................... 41 4 – NETWORKS AS REPRESENTATIONS OF HETERARCHICAL RELATIONAL STRUCTURES ............................................................................................................................... 49 4.1 FUNDAMENTALS OF NETWORK ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 49 4.2 HETERARCHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL NETWORK ANALYSIS ............... 51 4.3 NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR THE STUDY OF OBSIDIAN CIRCULATION ................................ 53 5 – DATA ........................................................................................................................................ 58 5.1 NETWORK DATA – DEFINING NODES AND EDGES ............................................................ 58 5.2 CHRONOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................... 60 5.3 GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT ................................................................................................. 62 5.4 OBSIDIAN SOURCING DATA ............................................................................................. 66 5.4.1 CALCULATING COEFFICIENTS OF SIMILARITY .............................................................. 66 5.4.2 DEFINING OBSIDIAN SOURCES ...................................................................................... 67 5.4.3 PROBLEMATIC DATA .................................................................................................... 69 5.5 DOBSISS: THE DATABASE OF OBSIDIAN SOURCING STUDIES ....................................... 71 6 – METHODS ............................................................................................................................... 73 6.1 CONSTRUCTING NETWORKS ............................................................................................ 73 6.2 ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................ 74 6.2.1 ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANALYTICAL ALGORITHMS .......................................... 74 6.2.2 CENTRALITY ................................................................................................................. 74 6.2.3 COMMUNITY DETECTION ............................................................................................. 76 6.2.4 CLUSTERING COEFFICIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS OF DENSITY .................................. 77 vi 6.3 VISUALIZATION ............................................................................................................... 77 7 – RESULTS & DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 78 7.1 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 78 7.2 PERIOD