Trends in material culture
With the establishment of true sedentary settlements came an increasingly complex array of material and ritual culture. Natufian hallmark artefacts are microliths, often produced in a wide range of specific types and occurring in remarkably high densities at many sites.
Microlithic tools usually account for 40 per cent or more of assemblages, and many were likely used as composite tools, hafted into bone or wood shafts. Most of the raw material used in chipped stone manufacture was relatively local, although imported Anatolian obsidian is occasionally found. Typical tools include geometric microliths known as lunates. Other tools, both microlithic and larger, include triangles, burins, perforators, end scrapers, core scrapers, picks, choppers, and backed bladelets and blades, some of which show sickle polish (‘glossed pieces').[431] Projectile points are absent, at least as distinct aerodynamically shaped and typologically identifiable entities. Specific frequencies of tools may indicate regional traditions and functional and chronological differences.[432]Natufian ground stone tools are especially significant, particularly regarding economic parameters and implications for sedentism. They are diverse and elaborate, often occurring in large numbers, especially at bigger sites.
These include a large variety of portable and not-so-portable items, such as mortars and pestles and numerous more specialized artefacts, including a unique type of deep mortar that is often hollowed through, referred to as ‘stone pipes'. Some ground stone artefacts also show stylistic or artistic efforts.
Other artefacts reflect an elaborate bone craftsmanship. Outstanding examples include sickle handles, some of which are decorated with animal representations. Shell artefacts, some coming from a considerable distance, also occur, and personal ornamental artefacts are abundant.
Portable naturalistic and schematic figurines made on bone and limestone are also relatively common. These objects are primarily zoomorphic rather than human representations.[433]In many ways, PPNA material culture resembles that of the Natufian, especially in maintaining primarily microlithic chipped stone assemblages and in the continuation of a rich ground stone industry. Artefact density is high and varied, and there is considerable regional variation. Tools include lunates and sickle blades; small projectile points now occur. Axes and polished celts also are present at many sites.
As would be expected in sites with an increased dependence on plant foods, a variety of ground stone artefacts is especially abundant during the PPNA. Some are engraved with geometric or meander patterns, a continuation from the Natufian. Particularly impressive is an array of engraved and carved artefacts from Jerf el Ahmar in Syria, which features intricately engraved stone vases, animal figurines, including birds of prey, geometrically decorated grooved stones, and small oval stones engraved with animal motifs on one side and numerous dots on the other.
There is a large array of non-stone items, typical of village life. For example, the bone industry is rich and varied. There is also limited evidence for basketry technologies. The PPNA has a large variety of artefacts with images. As with the Natufian, these include incised stones and cobbles, but more significant are animal and human figurines. In contrast to the Natufian, human figurines, primarily female, become more common, while animal representations are virtually unknown. Cauvin feels that the ‘animal kingdom' is represented in the PPNA by the bull, not so much in figurines but by cattle skulls buried in houses or incorporated into features.[434] He attributes this pattern to the beginning of a new religion exemplified by the dualism of ‘the goddess and the bull'. Not all researchers, however, agree that most PPNA figurines are female; rather, many are ambiguous or are dual-gendered representations.[435]
The PPNB is very rich in material culture.
There is more known about PPNB chipped stone than about that of any other Neolithic period. In general terms, the microlithic aspect nearly disappears and assemblages are blade- dominated, with frequent usage of naviform cores. This standardized technology resulted in a large variety of well-made tools, including very diverse projectile points, sickle blades, drills, borers, knives, scrapers, and burins.Ground stone vessels are finer and more diverse than in the PPNA. Platters are a PPNB innovation, and handstones and querns are common. Many milling tools are larger than their PPNA counterparts and must have permitted cooks to process more food. Some grinding slabs were essentially immovable. Other ground implements include palettes, bowls, axes or celts, probable gaming boards, and many items of personal ornamentation, such as stone bracelets. Other vessels were made of cordage, basketry, wood, stone, plaster (‘white wares'), and early versions of pottery. Plaster vessels, sometimes incised and painted, are more complex than stone vessels. The presence of many such artefacts has considerable social implications with regard to leisure time and individual personae.[436] Other PPNB artefacts include a remarkable array of bone tools and stone and shell jewellery. It is, however, in the ritual and symbolic realm that the PPNB stands out, where tokens, masks, plastered human skulls, statues, and figurines have been recovered. Most notable are the striking human statues from 'Ain Ghazal (see Figure 9.8).[437]
Finally, an important technological contribution of the PPNB is a sophisticated pyrotechnology: the application of high temperatures to manufacture plaster from limestone. Plaster was used for a variety of purposes, especially for floor and wall finishes, sculpture, and the production of vessels.[438]
PPNC assemblages become less standardized and there are some major changes in chipped stone technology.[439] There are changes in raw material preferences and a reduced emphasis on naviform core technology.
Smaller and lighter projectile points are another PPNC characteristic. Little is known of the ground stone technology, but overall it reflects a continuation of the late PPNB.During the PN, ceramics obviously become important components. It has been thought that ceramics may have initially served ceremonial functions rather than purely utilitarian ones. Ceramics initially appear in the Levant with reasonably sophisticated quality, leading earlier researchers to believe that they were imported from the north. Newer studies, however, show that local people were fully capable of developing their own ceramics.[440] Gopher does not believe that the addition of ceramics was a dramatic qualitative change, since working plaster and clay occurred during the PPN.[441] Limited amounts of ceramics, probably experimental, have been recovered from PPNB and PPNC contexts, and of course the statuary of 'Ain Ghazal, as well as white wares, clearly shows a knowledge of working with a plastic medium. There is considerable variability in ceramics, which occur in both decorated and undecorated forms and in crude and finer wares. Some of the earliest ceramics were handmade and include a variety of forms. Regional variation is substantial.
Chipped stone continues to be a major element. Often, the expedient character first observed during the PPNC continues into the PN. The technology is now dominated by flakes rather than blades. A variety of projectile points and sickles also occurs, but points are not as common as they were during the PPNB. A de-emphasis on hunting may be one reason for this. Heavy bifacial tools are important. Ground stone continues to be important throughout the PN, not surprisingly given the emphasis on farming.
Non-stone items include a variety of utilitarian artefacts, such as spindle whorls. Stamp seals also occur in some contexts.[442] Perhaps the most ‘famous' type of PN artefact, however, is the remarkably varied anthropomorphic figurine, of stone (sometimes incised) or clay, which many researchers believe had symbolic significance, often related to fertility. These are most famously represented as so-called mother goddess figurines at Qatalhoyuk and elsewhere. In the southern Levant, the best examples of imagery come from Shaar Hagolan. Here, two major groups of imagery artefact occur: incised stones and clay figurines. The clay figurines include women and men.
These are often characterized as highly stylized figurines, usually of large, obese females. The eyes are the most prominent feature and are often called ‘coffee bean eyes' or ‘cowrie shell eyes', harking back to a much earlier PPNB use of these shells in some plastered skulls. Others interpret the eyes as cereal grains, date pits, or even vulvae. Several figurines are quite remarkable, with minute details. Another category is shaped phalli of stone or clay.[443]