PALEORIENT, vol. 15/1 - 1989
HAYAZ HOYŮK AND THE FINAL PPNB IN THE TAURUS FOOTHILLS
J. ROODENBERG
industry
Hayaz, a small mound on the right bank of the Turkish Lower Euphrates which in that area cuts through the foothills of the Taurus mountains, was excavated in four seasons (1979-83) under the auspices of the Netherlands Historical Archaeological Institute at Istanbul. The archaeological deposit, often badly damaged, had traces of occupation ranging from the Aceramic Neolithic to the Middle Ages. Kumartepe, situated some 15 km upstream on the east bank, did not emerge as a mound in the landscape. Surveyors of the Chicago Euphrates Archaeological Project recognized this site thanks to a surface scatter of flints, pre-Halaf pottery sherds and pedological features. Judging from the surface scatter, it was thought that the settlement covered at least 4.8 ha. Since the archaeologists from Chicago had a greater interest in later periods, the Netherlands Institute at Istanbul was invited to make an investigation on the spot. This was carried out during a three-week test excavation in the fall of 1983 (1).
THE NEOLITHIC DEPOSIT OF HAYAZ
Continuous digging from upper levels had damaged the Neolithic deposit. The area which was cleared measures about 130 m2, and the thickness of the deposit varied between 0.40 and 0.90 m. The artifact containing layer ran into the north-east and south baulks, but its western edge was exposed at length in the centre of the trench area. Next to the area, there was a Chalcolithic building which was
evidently constructed on virgin soil. It is possible that in order to construct this house the Neolithic deposit had been cleared on that spot, but it seems more likely that the deposit was confined to the southeastern corner of the river-terrace, which slopes a little down to the Euphrates. Furthermore, the edge of the terrace had presumably crumbled strongly from the river erosion, and as a result the extent of the deposit may have been considerably reduced. Apart from the disturbance of pits dug from the Bronze Age level, several Late Chalcolithic architectural remains also had their foundations in the Neolithic deposit. As a result of this, potsherds were mixed with the Neolithic flint. Except for some heavily disturbed excavation units, which were disregarded, the remaining ones were considered "clean" as soon as less than 3 potsherds were found during the removal of soil by 5 cm thick layers. The excavation units measured 1.5 by 1.5 m. This subdivision of the surface turned out to be very useful, for it enabled us to reconstruct easily the artifact density within the deposit.
The major features of the deposit are the following :
— a very high concentration of flint, mostly waste, in the northern part, where several pits were discovered. These pits have been interpreted as waste pits, for they contained nothing but unworked flint artifacts.
— in the central part, structures of limestone slabs, some of which seem to have fallen apart, others show wall formations. This area is characterized by a lower rate of flint, among which the tool percentage is higher.
— the top of the southern part was very disturbed and the remaining deposit contained a relatively lower amount of flint.
When reconstructing the history of the occupational area that may have lasted two to two and a half centuries according to the С 14 determinations,
91 Colloque Préhistoire Levant II Maison de l'Orient-Lyon
30 mai-4 juin 1988 Editions du CNRS, Paris, 1989
The neolithic deposit of Hayaz
we find an initial phase consisting of the disintegrated stone structures that is radiocarbon dated 6 350 ВС (2). The second phase is characterized by a thick layer of flint which overlies the stone structures in the northern half of the area and which has been dated 6 090 ВС (3). It should be mentioned that the occupation (I don't mean dwelling but use of the space as an activity area) must have had a permanent character, for, despite the careful peeling off of the deposit unit by unit, no distinct fossil surfaces were encountered.
Simple statistics were carried out in order to get an idea about an eventual shift in the tool kit composition during the occupation. Therefore tool categories were counted from the upper- and lowermost 15 cm of the deposit, however no obvious changes in percentages between the various categories from each group were observed. This stability in the tool range suggests also a stability in the range of activities on and around the site during its occupation. A slight difference in percentages of tools versus the whole assemblage (tools and debitage) was noticed between the north part and the remaining space : the tool percentage in the northern high concentration area is 2.1 % and elsewhere 5.3 %; the mean for the whole exposed area is 3.7 %.
These rates are very low when compared to flint assemblages collected in dwelling areas of, for example, Tell Bouqras (20 %). On the other hand, they are concordant with data from the flint workshop of Qdeir in the central part of Syria (4). The conclusion should be that Hayaz had primarily functioned as a flint knapping site. The occurrence of used tools
(many broken projectile points), animal bones, bone tools and various other artifacts, furthermore suggests that other activities had taken place. It is believed that the exposed stone structures were mere remains of shelters built by flint knappers or hunters, and not the fragmentary remains of houses.
The chipped stone industry (Table 1; fig. 1-3)
The here following outline of this industry is mainly based on an analysis by J. Krist (5). The total bulk of the chipped stone artifacts collected in the 130 m2 area has been estimated to be several hundreds of thousands pieces. The deepest waste pit alone contained about 80 000 artifacts. The debitage material that has been finally analysed, counts about 4 600 pieces, and originates from the central excavation units. The analysed worked implements were collected from six units spread all over the exposed surface, and from a test pit dug during the first season. They number out about 1 400 pieces.
The industry is a blade industry. The number of flakes used for tools is very low. Obsidian, which seems to have been a scarce raw material in the chipped stone assemblages of this region, is 2.5 % of Hayaz' total industry. It mostly occurs as unretou- ched bladelets extracted on the spot from small prismatic cores with one striking platform (fig. 1:8-12). Flint is of an excellent fine grained dark grey and brown quality and is found in the valley of the Kal- burcu river that discharges into the Euphrates at the foot of the mound. There it occurs as big nodules which crop out of the riverbank some three km
18.0%
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FIG. 1. - Hayaz, chipped stone industry. Bipolar cores, 1-5; n° 2 and 5 are of naviform type. Prismatic cores with one striking platform, 6,7. Prismatic obsidian cores with one striking platform, 8, 10-12; n° 9, also of obsidian, has two platforms.
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upstream. This easy supply of raw material is the likely reason which has determined the location of the flint knapping site.
A standard procedure in core preparation is the making of one or two crests on the back. Cores have one or two - opposite - striking platforms; the latter cores are often characterized by a triangular transverse section and known as the naviform type (fig. 1). Specimens of this type are numerous, and probably due to the abundance of raw material, the flint knappers discarded cores easily when an accident (for example a hinge fracture) happened during the extraction process. This explains the unusual big size and the regularity of many of the cores.
As far as the range of tools is concerned, the main categories are retouched blades, "upsilon" blades and projectile points. Surprisingly scarce are scrapers, burins and various perforators (Table 1).
Two types of projectile points were recorded : oval shaped points (fig. 2:1,7 and 21) and stemmed points, the latter similar to the Levantine Byblos points (fig. 2:2-6, 8-20). Trimming by abrupt or semi-abrupt flaking on the base and frequently also on the ventral side of the base and the tip is a standard treatment. Flat retouch occurs rarely, while fine peeling off surfaces is not met in the flint tool production (fig. 2:13 represents one of the rare obsidian tools). More than 70 % of the points are broken; it means that those tools collected on the site were not part of the flint knapping production stock but had been probably used for hunting in the neighbourhood.
Among the abundant blades with trimmed edges, most have both edges worked. The amount of continuous retouch - i.e. running along the major part of the edge - is high. Moreover, the majority of the blades are of equal size, which is in contrast with what can be observed in many other assemblages, where the chipped blade category has often a rather heterogeneous character.
A curious implement is the one called upsilon blade because of its dorsal ridges which usually run in the form of an upsilon. This kind of blade (or blade-like flake) has been often found in an unwor- ked version elsewhere and seems to be related to bipolar flaking (6). The specimens from Hayaz, however, are strikingly abundant and unique in the sense that almost all of them show edges with inverse retouch suggesting their intentional production (fig. 3:1-10). Microwear and functional analyses attempted by K. Ataman made it plausible that the working edge of the tool was the broad distal end, the proximal end being hafted. It is further suggested that these tools may have served as projectile points (7).
Among the categories available in low quantities, scrapers (fig. 3:28-30) are commonly made on thick flakes and have broad rounded working edges, while endscrapers on blades are rare. Burins (fig. 3:24-27) as a rule are oblique dihedral or on break. Sickle blades (fig. 3:11-17) seem to belong to the segmented parallel-sided unretouched variety. Finally, different perforators (fig. 3:18-23), e.g. piercers, reamers and drills, have to be mentioned.
THE NEOLITHIC DEPOSIT OF KUMARTEPE
As mentioned above, the flat site of Kumartepe, which was situated on the edge of the left bank of the Euphrates, was recognized through a surface scatter of flint and potsherds covering at least 4.8 ha. In order to establish the nature and extent of the archaeological deposit, seven test trenches were dug by a team from the Hayaz excavations and in some of them virgin soil was reached. All soundings indicated that the upper 1 to 1.50 m soil contained a thin spread of flint and potsherds. Near the surface the pottery included both handmade and wheelmade fabrics, the latter probably originating from the two nearby mounds with Chalcolithic and Bronze Age levels, Saskan Buyiik and Saskan Kuçùk (8). Below the 1 to 1.50 m upper layer, occupation remains were unearthed. In the trenches near the edges of the Euphrates terrace these remains consisted of surfaces laid with river pebbles. Since most of the pebbles were broken, there is no doubt that these pebble pavements were man made and had not been sedimen- ted by the river. On top of and between the pavements a variety of artifacts occurred in large quantities.
The soundings revealed few dwelling remains. In one of the trenches the corner of a limestone foundation wall was recorded, in other trenches evidence for the use of mud bricks together with remnants of a plaster floor was found. The relative scantiness of architectural features may be, of course, the result of the limited size of the exposed areas; on the other hand, it may also suggest a fairly extended type of dwelling pattern. One radiocarbon determination (from the lowermost pavement in the trench at the terrace edge, the so-called Section) dates Kumartepe, the only hitherto known Pottery Neolithic site in the Taurus foothills : 5980 ВС (GrN 12652, 7 930 + 80 BP).
The artifact assemblage includes pottery, flint, ground stone objects and bone implements. The main pottery fabrics are a coarse, mostly chaff tempered ware and a fine, well-fired mineral tempered ware, a third of which was burnished. Although there is a remarkable difference in sizes, both fabrics share the
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The Neolithic deposit of Kumartepe
FIG. 2. - Hayaz, chipped stone industry. Byblos points, 2-6, 8-20. Oval points, 1,7,21. № 13 is of obsidian.
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FIG. 3. - Hayaz, chipped stone industry. Upsilon blades and flakes, 1-10. Sickle segments, 11-17; n° 17 is backed; n° 11 fragment of a sickle knife ? Piercers, 18,20,21,23. Double backed bladelet, 19. Obliquely truncated obsidian blade, 22. Angle burins on break, 24,25. Oblique dihedral burins, 26,27. Endscraper on thick blade, 29. Scrapers on thick flakes, 29, 30.
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main simple shapes : hole-mouth jars with ledge or vertical handles, open bowls and platters. Other wares are represented by small numbers of sherds : a red washed grit tempered ware and a plain unbur- nished ware with a fine levigated paste. Only a few fragments gave evidence for painted pottery, where red painted vertical lines have been applied on a buff ground. This pottery is apparently linked with the earliest two levels of Amuq.
The chipped stone industry (Table 2; fig. 4 and 5)
From the chipped stone industry only a sample from the bead manufacturing atelier of Kumartepe has been published until now. Preliminary analyses have been made on collections recovered from the "Section" on the talus of the river valley and from sounding "A" above the bead atelier, which was slightly above virgin soil. Material from levels close to the surface has been disregarded for reasons of pollution.
The vast majority of the raw material consists of a somewhat coarse grained flint which occurs as rather small river pebbles along the valley of the Euphrates; the remaining part is of fine grained tabular flint. Consequently, cores - some of which on big flakes as well - are small compared to those of Hayaz, and are far from displaying the uniformity of the latter.
Most common are the ones with one striking platform, but two platform cores are encountered as well. The bipolar type with two flaking surfaces, found in the bead workshop context and described by S. Calley (9), is also present in the samples from the Section and sounding A. Other raw material includes cornelian pebbles for bead manufacturing. Whether obsidian was brought to the site as a raw
(9) CALLEY, in press.
material or as blanks, cannot be deduced from its infinitely small quantity within the assemblage
(ca 1 %).
Three projectile points can be distinguished : stemmed Byblos points, Amuq points and a few oval points. The main type, the Byblos point, displays a hitherto unobserved feature in the Taurus foothills : flat parallel retouch that covers considerable areas of the implements (fig. 5:6-8,12; see also note 8 op. cit. fig. 6:1,3-5). Amuq 1 points with high transverse sections (fig. 5:11) and close varieties (fig. 5:9,10) are seen here for the first time as well. Next to retouched blades and flakes (bladelets are scarce), notched pieces and various perforating tools, including drill bits, piercers and reamers, belong to the well represented categories. Angle burins (on break or on trimmed edges) and dihedral burins are not uncommon in the spectrum, just as scrapers on thick flakes. Sickle elements belong to the scarce appearances and do not seem to be bound to a particular blank.
DISCUSSION
When comparing the industry from Kumartepe with Hayaz, we notice the following differences :
— a striking contrast in core preparation and exploitation;
— no PPNB characteristic naviform cores at Kumartepe;
— while flakes were exceptionally used as blanks for tools at Hayaz, the Kumartepe industry shows an equal amount of retouched flakes and blades;
— flat parallel retouch on points of the Byblos type and the introduction of Amuq points of Kumartepe are new features in the Taurus foothills.
TABLE 2 The chipped stone industry of Kumartepe (sounding A and Section)
Discussion
FIG. 4. - Kumartepe, chipped stone industry. Prismatic cores with one striking platform, 1,2,4-6. Core on flake, 3. Bipolar cores with one extraction face, 8,10,11. Bipolar core with two extraction faces, 9.
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FIG. 5. - Kumartepe, chipped stone industry. Byblos points, 1-4, 6-8, 12. Oval point, 5. Amuq 1 point, 11, and varieties, 9,10.
Burins on lateral retouched edges, 13,14. Dihedral burins, 15-17. Piercers, 18,20-23. Drill bit, 19. Micro-drill bit, 24. Blades
with sickle gloss, 25,26. Scraper in thick flake, 27. Obsidian blade fragment, 28. Obsidian notched blade fragment, 29.
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In addition, there are considerable differences in frequency - not so much in typology - between scrapers and burins at both sites. But Hayaz' principal activity, i.e. the blade tool production, may have exerted a noticeable impact on the proportions of the tool categories in the workshop deposit. The differences in quantity of perforating tools can be explained likewise. In Kumartepe, this category reached high percentages within the level of the bead making workshop, but elsewhere in the site it also appeared to be a fairly well represented component of the assemblage.
Looking at their chipped stone industries, it has been emphasized by several authors that the settlements of the second half of the Vllth millennium in the Taurus foothills, Upper Neolithic Gritille, Neváli Çori and Hayaz, are closely filiated to those of the final PPNB in the Syrian steppe, such as Tell As- souad, Abu Hureyra and Bouqras (10). This seems to be true except for the Amuq points which have been long familiar on the Middle Euphrates (for example at Abu Hureyra and Bouqras (11), but are completely absent in the foothill region. The same can be said about the Byblos points trimmed by covering parallel retouch. Both features do not emerge until the Vlth millennium in the foothills, where they constitute a component of a tool manufacturing tradition that apparently owes little to the PPNB.
Besides, it should not be overlooked that another component within the cultural context of the Turkish Euphrates at the end of the Vllth millennium was still absent, the pottery, the use of which became common already in the second half of the millennium all over the Syrian steppe (12).
Only when the PPNB tradition seems to have vanished from the Taurus region at the end of the Vllth millennium, these features appear. Kumartepe 's age is unfortunately based on a single radiocarbon date (5 980 ВС), which does not allow to determine with precision the time span between Hayaz and Upper Neolithic Gritille on the one hand and Kumartepe on the other. It would, however, be reasonable to assume a break of one or two centuries.
Discrepancies in the faunal record strengthens such a discontinuation. While the picture of animal domestication at Hayaz and Gritille matches (when allowance is made for environmental particularities) the data from Bouqras : breeding of sheep/goat,
(10) ROODENBERG, 1979-80 : 6; VOIGT, 1985 : 22; CAU- VIN M.-C. : 1988; it should be mentioned here that dating the lithic assemblage of Neváli Cori has given rise to divergent views. See SCHMIDT, 1988.
(11) At Hureyra in the Aceramic Neolithic level, see MOORE et al. , 1975, fig. 6 : 9, 10, 16; At Bouqras in the lower levels, see ROODENBERG, 1986 : 40.
(12) The only potsherd recorded in the Neolithic context of Gritille does not allow to presume a pottery phase at that settlement.
cattle to a lesser extent and - in the foothills - maybe pig.
Pig breeding on the contrary would have been a major subsistence activity at Kumartepe. Apart from this, the emphasis on pig breeding is a trend that can be observed in the Chalcolithic levels at Hayaz as well. Whereas hunting still provides a substantial part of the meat supply at Aceramic Hayaz, it shows a sharp decline at Kumartepe. These contrasts in herding and hunting practices again reflect the shift that took place after the Vllth millennium in the Lower Taurus region (13).
In conclusion it should be said that the data from Hayaz and Kumartepe, as mentioned above, give clear evidence for a discontinuation in both the cultural and the subsistence traditions. This means that, if these sites are representative for their respective cultural and ecological backgrounds, there was, at least in this region, no direct link between the PPNB and the Pottery Neolithic of Amuq faciès.
That brings finally up the almost undiscussed question of what kind of connections there may have existed between the final PPNB and the different ramifications of the Pottery Neolithic in the northern Levant since the beginning of the Vlth millennium. It is true that field surveys have given some hints about the spread of the Vlth millennium Pottery Neolithic, but surveys cannot produce more than a preview of the occupation record of the regions concerned, and are of limited utility as such. The junction between the cultures of the Vllth and Vlth millennia can only be understood by research through excavations, adding basic data on artifact assemblages, economy and chronologies to the hitherto scanty evidence.
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