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Seminar: Breaking Ground: Natufian Broekn Ground Stone Tools | The Institute of Archaeology

Seminar: Breaking Ground: Natufian Broekn Ground Stone Tools

Date: 
Tue, 13/12/201616:30
Location: 
prehistoric Room 300

 

Lecturer: Mr. Ahiad Ovadia, Institute of archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Broken Ground Stone Tools (GST) is a worldwide phenomenon found during a long time span in human history. Several studies associate this phenomenon with social and cultural practices, especially with regards to ritual activities concerning the dead.  

During the Natufian culture (15,000-11,500 BP) there was a dramatic increase in GST assemblages. All of these assemblages include high frequency of fragmented and broken tools. This fragmentation is frequently considered to be unintentional primarily caused by utilization, some consider post-depositional taphonomic processes as well. Intentional breakage is rarely suggested as the prime agent responsible for the retrieved broken Natufian GST. Though, review of ethnographic and archaeological studies propose intentional breakage of GST as a widespread phenomenon in tribal societies with a wide chronological and geographic distribution.

The present study wishes to explore the dominance of intentional breakage in Natufian GST. In order to show this pattern the analysis of GST from Hayonim and Hilazon Tachtit caves will be presented. The analysis centered on the characteristics of the breakage patterns taking into consideration the nature of the raw material and tool dimensions. These patterns were identified and characterized by the use of high resolution 3-D scans and a program developed in the Computerized Archaeology Laboratory at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The results suggest the use of broken mundane tools in activities related to the spiritual realm. It seems that the Natufians broke and ‘killed’ their valuable items as a ritual act. The extent of this phenomena accord well with the dramatic social and cultural dynamics observed during the Natufian.

 

Reading:

Archaeological, Philological and Historical Perspectives, edited by J. Driessen: Presses.universitaires de Louvain.

Grosman, L., and N.D. Munro. 2016. A Natufian Ritual Event. Current Anthropology 57 (3):311-331.