Heavy Neolithic
Encyclopedia
Heavy Neolithic is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry
) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture
in the Beqaa Valley
, Lebanon
, dating to the Epipaleolithic
or early Pre-pottery Neolithic
at the end of the Stone Age
. The type site for the Qaraoun culture is Qaraoun II.
and Peter J. Wescombe from Henri Fleisch
's term "gros Neolithique", suggested by Dorothy Garrod
for adoption to describe a particular flint industry that was identified at sites near Qaraoun
in the Beqaa Valley. The industry was also termed "Gigantolithic" and confirmed as Neolithic by Alfred Rust and Dorothy Garrod.
or Levallois
ian by some scholars. Diana Kirkbride
and Henri de Contenson
suggested that it existed over a wide area of the fertile crescent. Heavy Neolithic industry occurred before the invention of pottery
and is characterized by huge, coarse, heavy tools such as axe
s, picks and adze
s including bifaces. There is no evidence of polishing at the Qaraoun sites or indeed of any arrowhead
s, burin
s or millstone
s. Henri Fleisch noted that the culture that produced this industry may well have led a forest
way of life before the dawn of agriculture
. Jacques Cauvin
proposed that some of the sites discovered may have been factories or workshops as many artifacts recovered were rough outs. James Mellaart
suggested the industry dated to a period before the Pottery Neolithic at Byblos
(10600 to 6900 BCE according to the ASPRO chronology
) and noted "Aceramic cultures have not yet been found in excavations but they must have existed here as it is clear from Ras Shamra and from the fact that the Pre-Pottery B complex of Palestine
originated in this area, just as the following Pottery Neolithic cultures can be traced back to the Lebanon."
A notable excavation of Gigantolithic material took place at Adloun II (Bezez Cave), conducted by Diana Kirkbride and Dorothy Garrod. The morphology of the tools has noted similarities to the Campignian industry in France
.
The industry has been found at surface stations in the Beqaa Valley and on the seaward side of the mountains. Heavy Neolithic sites were found near sources of flint
and were thought to be factories or workshops where large, coarse flint tools were roughed out to work and chop timber
. Chisel
s, flake scrapers and picks were also found with little, if any sign of arrowheads, sickle
s (except for Orange slice
s) or pottery. Finds of waste and debris at the sites were usually plentiful, normally consisting of Orange slice
s, thick and crested blades, discoid, cylindrical, pyramidal or Levallois
cores.
, Beit Mery II, Dikwene II, Hadeth South
, Jbaa
, Jebel Aabeby
, Jdeideh I, Jdeideh III, Mtaileb I (Rabiya), Ourrouar II, Sin el Fil
, Sarafand
, Tell Mureibit
near Kasimiyeh, and possibly Sidon III. Some found in the Beqaa Valley
include Nabi Zair
, Tell Khardane
, Mejdel Anjar I, Dakoue
, Kefraya
, Tell Zenoub
, Kamed Loz I, Bustan Birke, Joub Jannine III, Amlaq Qatih, Kafr Tibnit, Tayibe, Taireh II, Khallet Michte I, Khallet Michte II Khallet Hamra, Douwara and Moukhtara
. The Heavy Neolithic industry has also been identified at the Palestinian
archaeological sites of Wadi al-Far'a
(occupational), Shemouniyeh and Wadi Salhah (Wadi Farah sites) excavated by Francis Turville-Petre
.
Archaeological industry
An archaeological industry, normally just "industry", is the name given in the study of prehistory to a consistent range of assemblages connected with a single product, such as the Langdale axe industry...
) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture
Qaraoun culture
The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as Neolithic by Henri Fleisch and confirmed by A. Rust and Dorothy Garrod....
in the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, dating to the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
or early Pre-pottery Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
at the end of the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. The type site for the Qaraoun culture is Qaraoun II.
Naming
The term "Heavy Neolithic" was translated by Lorraine CopelandLorraine Copeland
Lorraine Copeland is an archaeologist specialising in the Palaeolithic period of the Near East. Her husband was Miles Axe Copeland Jr, and they had four children, all of whom have gone on to have notable careers: Miles Copeland III, Ian, Lorraine and Stewart Copeland.Lorraine Copeland was born in...
and Peter J. Wescombe from Henri Fleisch
Henri Fleisch
Reverend Father Henri Fleisch, born January 1 1904 in Jonvelle , France and died 10 February 1985 in Lebanon where he was buried. He was a French archaeologist, missionary and Orientalist, known for his work on classical Arabic language and Lebanese dialect and prehistory in Lebanon.He entered the...
's term "gros Neolithique", suggested by Dorothy Garrod
Dorothy Garrod
Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod CBE was a British archaeologist who was the first woman to hold an Oxbridge chair, partly through her pioneering work on the Palaeolithic period. Her father was Sir Archibald Garrod, the physician.-Life:Born in Oxford, she attended Newnham College, Cambridge...
for adoption to describe a particular flint industry that was identified at sites near Qaraoun
Qaraoun
Qaraoun is a Lebanese village, 85 km from Beirut, known for its Lake Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley formed by the El Wauroun Dam built in 1959. It is an ecologically fragile zone in the Rashaya District south of the Beqaa Governorate. The village lies about 2600 feet above sea level...
in the Beqaa Valley. The industry was also termed "Gigantolithic" and confirmed as Neolithic by Alfred Rust and Dorothy Garrod.
Characteristics
Gigantolithic was initially mistaken for AcheuleanAcheulean
Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
or Levallois
Levallois
Levallois may refer to:*Levallois-Perret, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France.*Levallois technique *Nicolas-Eugène Levallois*Levallois SC, a current French football club...
ian by some scholars. Diana Kirkbride
Diana Kirkbride
Diana Victoria Warcup Kirkbride-Halbaek was a British archaeologist who specialised in the prehistory of the Near East.-Biography:...
and Henri de Contenson
Henri de Contenson
right|250px|thumb|Henri de ContensonHenri de Contenson , is a French Archaeologist and was Research Director at CNRS, The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique , a research organization funded by France's Ministry of Research.A student of André Parrot, Raymond Lantier and André...
suggested that it existed over a wide area of the fertile crescent. Heavy Neolithic industry occurred before the invention of pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
and is characterized by huge, coarse, heavy tools such as axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
s, picks and adze
Adze
An adze is a tool used for smoothing or carving rough-cut wood in hand woodworking. Generally, the user stands astride a board or log and swings the adze downwards towards his feet, chipping off pieces of wood, moving backwards as they go and leaving a relatively smooth surface behind...
s including bifaces. There is no evidence of polishing at the Qaraoun sites or indeed of any arrowhead
Arrowhead
An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...
s, burin
Burin
Burin from the French burin meaning "cold chisel" has two specialised meanings for types of tools in English, one meaning a steel cutting tool which is the essential tool of engraving, and the other, in archaeology, meaning a special type of lithic flake with a chisel-like edge which was probably...
s or millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s. Henri Fleisch noted that the culture that produced this industry may well have led a forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
way of life before the dawn of agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Jacques Cauvin
Jacques Cauvin
Professor Jacques Cauvin was a French archaeologist who specialised in the prehistory of the Levant and Near East.-Biography:...
proposed that some of the sites discovered may have been factories or workshops as many artifacts recovered were rough outs. James Mellaart
James Mellaart
James Mellaart is a British archaeologist and author who is noted for his discovery of the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in Turkey. He was also expelled from Turkey suspected of involvement with the antiquities black market and was involved with the so-called Mother goddess controversy in...
suggested the industry dated to a period before the Pottery Neolithic at Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
(10600 to 6900 BCE according to the ASPRO chronology
ASPRO chronology
The ASPRO chronology is a nine period dating system of the ancient Near East used by the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée for archaeological sites aged between 14000 and 5700 BP....
) and noted "Aceramic cultures have not yet been found in excavations but they must have existed here as it is clear from Ras Shamra and from the fact that the Pre-Pottery B complex of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
originated in this area, just as the following Pottery Neolithic cultures can be traced back to the Lebanon."
A notable excavation of Gigantolithic material took place at Adloun II (Bezez Cave), conducted by Diana Kirkbride and Dorothy Garrod. The morphology of the tools has noted similarities to the Campignian industry in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The industry has been found at surface stations in the Beqaa Valley and on the seaward side of the mountains. Heavy Neolithic sites were found near sources of flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and were thought to be factories or workshops where large, coarse flint tools were roughed out to work and chop timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
. Chisel
Chisel
A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it.In use, the chisel is forced into the material...
s, flake scrapers and picks were also found with little, if any sign of arrowheads, sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
s (except for Orange slice
Orange slice
Orange slice is an early sickle blade element made out of flint. The flints are so called due to their shape, which resembles a segment of an Orange. This sickle industry has no evidence of developed denticulation...
s) or pottery. Finds of waste and debris at the sites were usually plentiful, normally consisting of Orange slice
Orange slice
Orange slice is an early sickle blade element made out of flint. The flints are so called due to their shape, which resembles a segment of an Orange. This sickle industry has no evidence of developed denticulation...
s, thick and crested blades, discoid, cylindrical, pyramidal or Levallois
Levallois technique
The Levallois technique is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed by precursors to modern humans during the Palaeolithic period....
cores.
Sites
Apart from the type site, Qaraoun II, other sites with Heavy Neolithic finds include Adloun II, AkbiyehAkbiyeh
Akbiyeh is an archaeological site approximately south of Sidon, northeast of Ain Kantarah in Lebanon. The area of black soil around by was found by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1894...
, Beit Mery II, Dikwene II, Hadeth South
Hadeth south
Hadeth south is a Heavy Neolithic archaeological site approximately south southeast of Beirut, on the road to Sidon in Lebanon. It was discovered and a collection made by Auguste Bergy from a spur near a ravine south of the last houses in the village...
, Jbaa
Jbaa
Jbaa, , is a town in the Nabatieh Governorate, or Nabatiye southern Lebanon.Jbaa Falls in the hands of the great Safi Mountain, and rises over from the sea level and then begins to rise to in the district "Ein-Elsataoun" Water flowed between the folds, the most gorgeous greenery trees diverse,...
, Jebel Aabeby
Jebel Aabeby
Jebel Aabeby is an archaeological site approximately southeast of Sidon, to the west of the road north to Qraye in Lebanon. The site is on a hill where a number of Cedar trees surround the Mar Elias monastery on the western side of the summit...
, Jdeideh I, Jdeideh III, Mtaileb I (Rabiya), Ourrouar II, Sin el Fil
Sin el Fil
-Etymology:The name literally translates "tooth" of "the elephant" . Being geographically closer to the ancient city of Antioch and far remote from natural elephant habitat, it is believed that the town name may have been a derogation of Saint Theophilus of Antioch.-Geography:With a rich red soil...
, Sarafand
Sarafand
Sarafand is a place name that can refer to:*Sarepta, the ancient Phoenician city*Sarepta, Louisiana, the town in the United States*Old Sarepta, Russia the German colony in Russia on Volga river, now in Volgograd city...
, Tell Mureibit
Tell Mureibit
Tell Mureibit is a Heavy Neolithic archaeological site approximately north of Tyre, Lebanon. It is located in a wadi near Kasimiyeh on the north bank of the Litani river. Material was collected by E. Passemard which is kept in the National Museum of Beirut...
near Kasimiyeh, and possibly Sidon III. Some found in the Beqaa Valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
include Nabi Zair
Nabi Zair
Nabi Zair is a Heavy Neolithic archaeological site of the Qaraoun culture approximately northwest of Anjar, Lebanon. The site was discovered by Auguste Bergy who found an abundance of flints spread across a wide area around the road between Beirut and Damascus.-References:...
, Tell Khardane
Tell Khardane
Tell Khardane is a Heavy Neolithic archaeological site of the Qaraoun culture north northeast of Amuq , Lebanon on the road to Chtaura. Several Heavy Neolithic flints including picks, scrapers, blades and flakes were found in fields that surround the tell mound. Many had been produced using the...
, Mejdel Anjar I, Dakoue
Dakoue
Dakoue is a village and Heavy Neolithic archaeological site of the Qaraoun culture located southwest of Mejdel Anjar, Lebanon. The archaeological site is located northwest of the village where plentiful Heavy Neolithic flint adzes, axes, debitage and waste material were found along with large...
, Kefraya
Kefraya
Kefraya is a village in the Western Beqaa District of the Beqaa Governorate in the Republic of Lebanon, approximately northwest of Joub Jannine....
, Tell Zenoub
Tell Zenoub
Tell Zenoub is an archaeological site of the Qaraoun culture that is located north northeast of Joub Jannine, Lebanon. Although later occupation was detected, numerous Heavy Neolithic flints were found in fields south of the tell.-References:...
, Kamed Loz I, Bustan Birke, Joub Jannine III, Amlaq Qatih, Kafr Tibnit, Tayibe, Taireh II, Khallet Michte I, Khallet Michte II Khallet Hamra, Douwara and Moukhtara
Moukhtara
Moukhtara is a small town in the Chouf District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon. It is the hometown of Walid Jumblatt, the leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party....
. The Heavy Neolithic industry has also been identified at the Palestinian
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
archaeological sites of Wadi al-Far'a
Wadi al-Far'a
Wadi al-Far'a is a Palestinian village in the Tubas Governorate in the northeastern West Bank located five kilometers southwest of Tubas. It has a land area of 12,000 dunams, of which 337 is built-up and 10,500 are for agricultural purposes. It is under the complete control of the Palestinian...
(occupational), Shemouniyeh and Wadi Salhah (Wadi Farah sites) excavated by Francis Turville-Petre
Francis Turville-Petre
Francis Adrian Joseph Turville-Petre was a British archaeologist, famous for the discovery of the Neanderthal Galilee Man in 1925 and his work at Mount Carmel, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel. He was a close friend of Christopher Isherwood and W. H...
.