WEAR ANALYSIS LABORATORY
Faculty of Humanities
University of Haifa
PUBLICATIONS
2021
This paper communicates the results of a detailed use-wear analysis of flint tools from Unit III of Nesher Ramla, central Israel, an open-air Middle Paleolithic site, dated to Marine Isotope Stage 5. The analyzed sample consists of 966 artifacts that represent major techno-typological categories; scrapers, tools with a lateral tranchet blow, naturally backed knives and other Middle Paleolithic artifact types. Most tools were associated with bone working activities, mainly scraping and cutting, suggesting both consumption and non-consumption-related practices. Results also suggest extensive butchering activities, but other applications are less common, especially the underrepresentation of armature, and plant and hide working is noteworthy. All in all, these patterns suggest a narrow range of activities. Most tools were used by their sharp edge, while the retouched edges bore weak use-related patterns. It is assumed that in some cases, the retouch served to facilitate the grip. The most widely used tools in Nesher Ramla were the naturally backed knives that according to technological studies were one of the goals of knapping at Nesher Ramla. Tools with a lateral tranchet blow, representing a cultural marker of the Nesher Ramla inhabitants, show evidence of multiple use of both retouched and non-retouched edges shaped by the lateral blow. Hafting traces are relatively rare in the analyzed sample.
2020
Glycymeris shell beads found in Middle Palaeolithic sites are understood to be artifacts collected by modern humans for symbolic use. In Misliya Cave, Israel, dated to 240–160 ka BP, Glycymeris shells were found that were neither perforated nor manipulated; nevertheless, transportation to the cave is regarded as symbolic. In about 120 ka BP at Qafzeh Cave, Israel, modern humans collected naturally perforated Glycymeris shells also for symbolic use. Use-wear analyses backed by experiments demonstrate that the Qafzeh shells were suspended on string, thus suggesting that the collection of perforated shells was intentional. The older Misliya shells join a similar finding from South Africa, while the later-dated perforated shells from Qafzeh resemble other assemblages from North Africa and the Levant, also dated to about 120 ka BP. We conclude that between 160 ka BP and 120 ka BP there was a shift from collecting complete valves to perforated ones, which reflects both the desire and the technological ability to suspend shell beads on string to be displayed on the human body.
2019
In this paper we describe two assemblages of flint retouchers or “bulb retouchers” retrieved from Nesher Ramla and Quneitra, two Middle Palaeolithic, open-air sites in the Levant. The site of Nesher Ramla yielded the largest assemblage of bulb retouchers (n = 159) currently known, allowing a detailed investigation of this poorly known phenomenon. An extensive experimental program and use-wear analysis enabled us to characterize the different sets of traces related to the retouching activity and to identify different motions applied by the knappers in the course of this action. In both sites, blanks used as bulb retouchers were almost exclusively retouched items, with a special emphasis on convergent morphotypes in Nesher Ramla. The use of retouched items as bulb retouchers is a common trait over different time spans and geographical areas. Our data suggests that bulb retouchers were versatile, multi-purpose tools with a long use-life, transported over long distances as components of the hunter-gatherer mobile tool kit. The high frequencies of bulb retouchers within some archaeological units of Nesher Ramla appear to be connected to the highly curated nature of the lithic assemblages, in turn reflecting a high mobility of the human groups that produced them.
2018
Engraved artifacts from pre-Natufian Levantine Epipaleolithic contexts are notable for their scarcity. This is so even though a number of implements have recently been added to the inventory. We present here an analysis of two engraved flint nodules recovered from the Geometric Kebaran site of Neve David (Mt. Carmel, Israel) incorporating use-wear studies and experiments on similar nodules from adjacent raw materials sources and provide online 3D models derived from photogrammetry. The engraved nodules were procured from two distinct flint outcrops in the site's immediate vicinity and were easy to engrave using the abundant flint flakes available at the site. We interpret one nodule as having two sets of decoration grooves, while in the other we see little evidence–if at all–for decoration or symbolic aspects. We then discuss the finds within the context of engraved objects from preceding Kebaran, contemporaneous Geometric Kebaran and subsequent Natufian sites. The current Epipalaeolithic repertoire in the southern Levant demonstrates that Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran engraved stone objects are rare and usually comprise small stones, plaquettes and nodules. In contrast, engraved stone artifacts were recovered in virtually every Natufian site and include large engraved slabs, small items and even the shaft wall of a bedrock mortar, with a wider variety of patterns and symbols.
2016
Grooved items are usually regarded as tools used for modifying other implements made of bone, stone, plants or wood, whether referred to as shaft straighteners, smoothers, polishers or sharpening tools. They were also attributed to various symbolic meanings in Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the southern Levant and they were also associated with bead manufacturing process in the Neolithic. Grooved basalts found on Early Natufian (ca. 14,000 BP) living floors at el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel, were the subject of microscopic use-wear analysis. Here we present the preliminary results of the research, introducing our functional reconstruction based on experiments. The most outstanding result is that traces on the perimeters, attributed to shaping of the artefact, are different from the traces inside the groove which are related to the use of the artefact. We conclude that the groove is a part of the instrument, shaped before its use in order to work the abraded materials. Traces indicate that the shaping of the perimeters was done by abrasion against a very hard rock, probably using water to enhance the smoothing of the stone. Traces inside the groove indicate, as was previously assumed for these artefacts, that the groove was used as a shaft straightener. However, traces also indicate that the groove was used to abrade different types of materials which might not be related to the preparation of shafts including reeds, wood, and especially minerals such as ochre. Our preliminary results indicate the multi-functional nature of these items shedding light on their production, use and discard history.
2015
Use-wear analysis applied to two carnelian beads from Nahal Hemar Cave, southern Israel, and dated to the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, revealed a manufacturing procedure that corresponds to genuine lapidary technologies of contemporary traditional societies. Based on ethnographic observations combined with experiments in working carnelian, wear patterns were interpreted to be produced by a multi-stage manufacturing sequence that includes abrasion against varying abrasion surfaces, drilling probably with a splinter drill equipped into a rod and finally, tumbling. These beads are one of the earliest examples of carnelian beads and thus represent a lapidary technology with roots from over 9000 years ago.
2007
We report here the results of our renewed, and continuing, excavations of the Natufian horizon on el-Wad Terrace. The original excavation conducted by Garrod was restricted to the cave and terrace in front of the cave's entrance and our project was initiated further to the NE in order to develop a more comprehensive view of the Natufian settlement and we have been able to document that Natufian remains extended along most of the slope in front of the cave. The interdisciplinary research presented deals with the Late Natufian remains recovered from the upper part of the sequence. Detailed geo-archaeological analyses show a complex combination of both natural and anthropogenic factors with indications of intensive human activities. Short "interruptions" and/or fluctuations in the intensity of habitation are suggested. The rich Late Natufian lithic assemblage conforms to Garrod's definitions, with the high ratios of short, abruptly backed lunates and the abundant use of microburin technique (MbT). However, the high percentage of Helwan lunates is noteworthy. We were unable to identify unequivocally a Final Natufian assemblage and this stage may have been spatially localized. However, we present here a previously undocumented Neolithic component which incorporates finds attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. Ten Late Natufian graves incorporating 15 individuals were unearthed in a rather limited area and contain an exceptionally high number of children. The identifiable positions are mostly flexed. Many of the skeletons lack skulls, in accordance with their Late Natufian age. The ground stone implements and bone objects, both tools and decorative elements, are typical Late Natufian, with the latter exhibiting some local, site-specific traits. None of the decorative items of shells, the majority of which are Dentalium can be directly related to any of the burials, further corroborating their Late Natufian age. The faunal assemblage is dominated by gazelles while other species such as fallow deer, aurochs, and wild boar, as well as small game including hare, tortoise, and partridge occur in very low frequencies. Within the microfaunal assemblage, the occurrence of commensals such as the common mouse conforms to the sedentary nature of the Natufian occupation. Both the faunal and palynological data indicate a typical Mediterranean environment, with no indication of extreme conditions resulting in a cold and dry Younger Dryas stage.
