Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory, Department of Classical World and Asian Cultures, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 24;17(3):e0265727. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265727. eCollection 2022.
The research of the Kaizer Hill site (the Hilltop and its Terraces), recognized as a Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) quarry site, involved studies of the rock damage associated with the quarrying activities as well as of the recovered material remains, mostly chipped stone artifacts. We present here the results of our on-site explorations (excavations, surveys and surface-collections), focusing on the findings deriving from the Terraces. Diverse rock damage patterns were identified and described, portraying systematic rock mass-exploitation through quarrying fronts, natural rock joints and fissures enlargement, drilling and chiseling. There are multiple indications that the local bedrock (Bi'na Formation, Turonian) comprising flint and limestone was quarried under a systematic quality evaluation, leaving residual flint unsuitable for exploitation. Of interest to note that nearly all of the flint artifacts excavated and collected on the Terraces were made on raw material transported from the Hilltop (Mishash Formation, Campanian), knapped in-situ, on the quarried rock surfaces of the slopes. The flint tools bear witness to intensive use involving mainly boring and drilling. The dominant tool type is the flint axe for which a variety of waste products related to its production were found in-situ, enabling the reconstruction of axe reduction sequence. Similar axes and waste products were found in many PPN sites indicating that there was a common, widely-used scheme of making flint axes during the PPN. Interestingly, besides the flint waste, there were also limestone waste products typical of the last shaping and thinning stages of axe production, indicating that limestone axes were shaped technologically similar to the flint ones, contrary to what has been assumed before. Rare findings, such as obsidian pieces, originating from much further a-field indicate ties with other PPN communities, near and/or far. Overall, this study provides unique and novel insights on Levantine PPN lifeways.
该研究的凯撒山遗址（山顶及其梯田），被认为是一个前陶器新石器时代 A（PPNA）采石场遗址，涉及与采石活动相关的岩石损伤以及回收材料遗迹的研究，主要是石器制品。我们在这里介绍我们的现场勘探结果（挖掘、调查和地表采集），重点介绍来自梯田的发现。确定并描述了多种不同的岩石损伤模式，描绘了通过采石场前沿、天然岩石节理和裂缝扩大、钻孔和凿孔对岩体进行系统开采的过程。有多个迹象表明，当地的基岩（比纳组，图伦阶）包括燧石和石灰岩，是在系统的质量评估下进行开采的，留下了不适合开采的残余燧石。值得注意的是，几乎所有在梯田上挖掘和收集的燧石制品都是用从山顶（米沙什组，坎帕阶）运来的原料制成的，在斜坡的采石面上就地敲凿而成。这些燧石工具见证了主要涉及钻孔和钻削的高强度使用。主要的工具类型是燧石斧，在原地发现了与生产相关的各种废料，从而能够重建斧头的减少顺序。在许多 PPN 遗址中都发现了类似的斧头和废料，表明在 PPN 期间存在一种常见的、广泛使用的制作燧石斧头的方案。有趣的是，除了燧石废料外，还有典型的最后成型和变薄阶段的石灰岩废料，表明石灰岩斧头的制作技术与燧石斧头相似，这与之前的假设相反。罕见的发现，如黑曜石碎片，来自更远的地方，表明与其他 PPN 社区有联系，无论是近的还是远的。总的来说，这项研究为黎凡特 PPN 生活方式提供了独特而新颖的见解。
