Techno-Typological Analysis of the Late Epipaleolithic/ Proto-Neolithic Chipped Stone Tools at Çemka Höyük

Abstract

The Late Epipaleolithic period, also referred to as the Proto-Neolithic and dated back to the eleventh millennium BCE and early tenth millennium BCE, is closely linked with the communities located east of the Fertile Crescent that began to be settled during the Younger Dryas. This period, which started in the first half of the twentieth century and is defined by settlements in the northwestern Zagros region, has long been under the radar, but has been catching on again, especially since the 2000s, for the identification of a Younger Dryas layer found in settlements in the Upper Tigris Valley. The period in question has few architectural data for support and is represented by the chipped stone tool industry, which is thought to be observed in Zagros. It also appears that this period, which was primarily defined through its chipped stone tool industry, is no longer limited to the northwestern Zagros region, but also now includes the Upper Tigris Valley and the Eastern Jazeera (Eastern Fertile Crescent) region. The Younger Dryas layers, also found in the Çemka Höyük settlement during the 2019 excavations, shed new light on the chipped stone tool industry in the Upper Tigris Valley between the eleventh and tenth millennium BCE. The layers also contribute to redeliberating and redefining local and interregional relations.