Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-19T06:15:59.265Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Obsidian and Early Cultural Contact in the Near East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Colin Renfrew ,
J. E. Dixon  and
J. R. Cann
Colin Renfrew
Affiliation:
Department of Ancient History, University of Sheffield
J. E. Dixon
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Cambridge
J. R. Cann
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Cambridge
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Obsidian was not necessarily the earliest object of trade, but it certainly seems to be the first for which material evidence remains. It has been reported from nearly every Early Neolithic settlement in the Near East, although many of these sites are distant from the natural sources.

In our first paper (Cann and Renfrew 1964), we outlined a method for the characterization, by trace-element analysis, of obsidian artifacts from archaeological contexts. This allowed the determination of the natural sources from which the material derived. In that paper, however, only the west Mediterranean region was considered in sufficient detail to give definitive results. The obsidian trade in the Aegean has subsequently been studied in detail also (Renfrew, Cann and Dixon 1965).

In the present paper, the obsidian trade in the Near East is examined. This topic is particularly important since obsidian seems to be the most promising approach towards understanding the extent to which the different Early Neolithic cultural and ecological regions were in contact. It should help to suggest how the early spread in the knowledge and use of animal and plant domesticates took place in the Near East.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 32 , December 1966 , pp. 30 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1966

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Akkuş, M. F., 1962, ‘The Geology of the area between Kiitahya and Gediz’, Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey, vol. 88, 27.Google Scholar
Bialor, P. A., 1962. ‘The Chipped Stone Industry of Çatal Hüyük’, Anatolian Studies, XII, 67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordaz, J., 1964. ‘Suberde Excavations’, Anatolian Studies, XIV, 30.Google Scholar
Bostanci, E. Y., 1959. ‘Researches on the Mediterranean Coast of Anatolia, a new Palaeolithic Site at Beldibi near Antalya’, Anatolia, IV, 129.Google Scholar
Bostanci, E. Y., 1962. ‘A New Upper Palaeolithic Facies at Belbaşi Rock Shelter on the Mediterranean Coast of Anatolia’, Türk Tarih Kurumu Belleten, XXVI, 252.Google Scholar
Braidwood, R. J., 1962. ‘The Earliest Village Communities of South-western Asia Reconsidered’, Atti dell VI. Congresso Internationale delle Scienze Preistoriche e Proistoriche, 1, Rome, 115.Google Scholar
Braidwood, R. J. and Braidwood, L. S., 1960. Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, 1.Google Scholar
Braidwood, R. J. and Howe, B., 1960. Prehistoric Investigations in Iraqi Kurdistan.Google Scholar
Burney, C. A., 1964. ‘Excavations at Yanik Tepe, Azerbaijan, 1962’, Iraq, XXV, 54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cann, J. R. and Renfrew, C., 1964. ‘The Characterization of Obsidian and its Application to the Mediterranean Region’, PPS, XXX, 111.Google Scholar
Cann, J. R., Dixon, J. E. and Renfrew, C. (forthcoming). ‘Obsidian Analyses and the Obsidian Trade’, Brothwell, D. and Higgs, E. S. (eds.), Science in Archaeology, 2nd edition.Google Scholar
Cauvin, J., 1962. ‘Les Industries Lithiques du Tell de Byblos’, L'Anthropologie, vol. 66, 488.Google Scholar
Childe, V. G., 1954. New Light on the Most Ancient East.Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., 1952. Prehistoric Europe: the economic basis.Google Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., 1965a. ‘Radiocarbon Dating and the Spread of Farming’, Antiquity, XXIX, 45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J. G. D., 1965b. ‘Traffic in Stone Axe and Adze Blades’, Economic History Review, XVIII, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuyler Young, C., 1962. ‘Sixth and Fifth Millennium Settlements in the Solduz Valley, Persia’, Illustrated London News, 3rd November, 1962, 707.Google Scholar
Dikaios, P., 1953. Khirokitia.Google Scholar
Dikaios, P., 1962. ‘The Stone Age’, The Swedish Cyprus Expedition, IV, Part 1A.Google Scholar
Esin, U. and Benedict, P., 1963. ‘Recent Developments in the Prehistory of Anatolia’, Current Anthropology, vol. 4, No. 4, 339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrod, D. A. E., 1930. ‘The Palaeolithic of Southern Kurdistan: excavations in the caves of Zarzi and Hazer Merd’, Bulletin of the American School of Prehistoric Research, vol. 6, 8.Google Scholar
Garstang, J., 1953. Prehistoric Mersin.Google Scholar
Ghirshmann, R., 1938. Fouilles de Sialk, 1.Google Scholar
Gløb, P. V. and Bibby, T. G., 1960, ‘A Forgotten Civilization of the Persian Gulf’, Scientific American, October, 1960, 62.Google Scholar
Goetze, A., 1957. Kleinasien (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft III.1.3.3.1).Google Scholar
Hatzidakis, I., 1912. ‘Tylisos Minoiki’, Ephemeris Archaeologiki, 1912, 217.Google Scholar
Helbaek, H., 1959. ‘Domestication of Food Plants in the Old World’, Science, vol. 130, No. 3372, 365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hole, F., 1958. ‘A Reanalysis of Basal Tabbat al-Hammam, Syria’, Syria, vol. 36, 149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hole, F., 1962. ‘Archaeological Survey and Excavation in Iran, 1961’, Science, vol. 137, No. 3529, 524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hole, F., Flannery, K. and Neely, J., 1965. ‘Early Agriculture and Husbandry in Deh Luran, Iran’, Current Anthropology, vol. 6, 105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahn, M., 1956. ‘Gab es in der Vorgeschichtlichen Zeit Bereits ein Handel?’, Abhandlungen der sachsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Leipzig (Philologische-historische Klasse), vol. 48, Heft 2.Google Scholar
Janšak, S., 1935. Prähistorische Siedlungen mit Obsidiankultur in der Ostslowakei.Google Scholar
Kenyon, K., 1961. ‘Excavations at Jericho, 1957–8’, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 1960–1961, 88.Google Scholar
Kirkbride, D., 1961. ‘The Excavation of a Neolithic Village at Seyl Aqlat, Beidha’, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 1960–1961, 136.Google Scholar
Kökten, I. K., 1952. ‘Anadolu' da prehistorik yerleşme yerlerinin dağilisi üzerine bir araştirma’, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, X, 167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, W., 1936. ‘Excavations at Kusura near Afyon Karahisar’, Archaeologia, LXXXVI, 43.Google Scholar
Liere, W. J. Van and Contenson, H. de, 1963. ‘A Note on Five Early Neolithic Sites in Inland Syria’, Annales Archaéologiques de Syrie, XII, 182.Google Scholar
Mallowan, M. E. L., 1965. ‘The Mechanics of Ancient Trade in Western Asia’, Iran, III, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallowan, M. E. L. and Rose, J. C., 1935. ‘Excavations at Tell Arpachiyah 1933’, Iraq, II, 102.Google Scholar
Mellaart, J., 1958. ‘The Neolithic Obsidian Industry of Ilicapinar and its Relations’, Istanbuler Mitteilungen, vol. 8, 82.Google Scholar
Mellaart, J., 1959. ‘The Royal Treasure of Dorak’, Illustrated London News, 28th November, 1959, 754.Google Scholar
Mellaart, J., 1961a. ‘Excavations at Hacilar, Fourth preliminary report, 1960’, Anatolian Studies, XI, 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellaart, J., 1961b. ‘Roots in the Soil’, in Piggott, S. (ed.), The Dawn of Civilization.Google Scholar
Mellaart, J., 1964. ‘Excavations at Çatal Hüyük, 1963’, Anatolian Studies, XIV, 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortensen, P., 1964a. ‘Early Village Farming Occupation, Tepe Guran, Luristan’, Acta Archaeologica, XXXIV, 110.Google Scholar
Mortensen, P., 1964b. ‘Additional Remarks on the Chronology of Early Village Farming Communities in the Zagros Area’, Sumer, XX, 28.Google Scholar
Naville, E., 1922. ‘Le Vase à Parfum de Byblos,’ Syria, III, 291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oppenheim, A. L., 1954. ‘The Seafaring Merchants of Ur’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 74, 6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oswald, F., 1906. A Treatise on the Geology of Armenia (published at ‘Iona’, Beeston, Notts.).Google Scholar
Perrot, J., 1962. ‘Palestine–Syria–Cilicia’, Braidwood, R. J. and Woolley, G. R. (eds.), Courses Towards Urban Life (Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, 32).Google Scholar
Pumpelly, R., 1908. Explorations in Turkestan: Prehistoric Civilizations of Anau, 1.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C., Cann, J. R. and Dixon, J. E., 1965. ‘Obsidian in the Aegean’, Annual of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, vol. 60, 225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reed, C. A., 1959. ‘Animal Domestication in the Prehistoric Near East’, Science, vol. 130, No. 3389, 1629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaeffer, C. A., 1962. Ugaritica. IV.Google Scholar
Smith, W. S., 1965. Interconnections in the Ancient Near East.Google Scholar
Solecki, R. S., 1954. ‘Shanidar Cave, a Palaeolithic Site in Northern Iraq’, Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1954, 389.Google Scholar
Solecki, R. S., 1963. ‘Prehistory in Shanidar Valley, Northern Iraq’, Science, vol. 139, No. 3551, 179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stekelis, M. and Yizraely, T., 1963. ‘Excavations at Nahal Oran’, Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 13, 1.Google Scholar
Stock, H., 1963. ‘Der Hyksos Chian in Boğazköy’, Mitteilungen der deutschen Orient-gesellschaft zu Berlin, vol. 94, 74.Google Scholar
Tobler, A. J., 1950. Excavations at Tepe Gawra, II.Google Scholar
Todd, I. A., 1965. ‘Central Anatolian Survey’, Anatolian Studies, XV, 13.Google Scholar
Todd, I. A. and Pasquaré, G., 1965. ‘The Chipped Stone Industry of Avla Dağ’, Anatolian Studies, XV, 95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Virolleaud, C., 1922. ‘Découverte à Byblos d'un hypogée de la douzième dynastie Égyptienne’, Syria, III, 273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wainwright, G. A., 1927. ‘Obsidian’, Ancient Egypt, 1927, Part 3.Google Scholar
Woolley, L. W., 1955. Alalakh: Tell Atchana.Google Scholar
Zeuner, F. E., 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals.Google Scholar