Dissertation Research: Development of Early Neolithic; Use-wear Analysis

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Under the direction of Dr. Ofer Bar-Yosef, Mr. Sho Yamada will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his research is to understand one of the most basic transitions in human prehistory: the Neolithic revolution which marks the change from a hunting and gathering to a farming and herding way of life. It was this shift which established the subsistence base from which civilizations in many parts of the world arose. This project approaches the issue through examination of the developmental of early agricultural society in the southern Levant (Israel and Jordan), the region where plant domestication first took place. Mr. Yamada will use lithic use-wear analysis, the microscopic study of edge wear on stone tools. Different activities - cutting wood, scraping skins, harvesting grasses - leave different microscopic traces on stone tool edges and through their examination it is possible to infer the tasks for which particular kinds of stone tools were used. Once specific tasks and their frequencies are known it is then possible to reconstruct subsistence technology, gain insight into social organization and see how these changed over time. A series of major tool types from 19 sites will be examined. The sites derive from both woodland and steppe zones and thus will allow Mr. Yamada to determine the effect of environment on this cultural transformation. In use wear studies, it is necessary to examine local raw materials and experimentally determine the wear which results from a variety of activities. To accomplish this goal, Mr. Yamada will have an Israeli flintworker duplicate archaeologically known tool types from appropriate raw materials. These will then be used for a variety of purposes in a carefully controlled context. This experimental program includes harvesting wild grains and other plants under varying conditions with a number of sickle blade types, sheep shearing and butchering, soil digging and a various of domestic tasks. Mr. Yamada will conduct quantitative analysis of wear change through the use of computer image processing. The results will then be applied to a range of archaeological materials. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into the development of agricultural and pastoral societies in the Near East. It will also help to refine use wear analysis an archaeological tool. Finally it will assist in training a promising young scientist.