PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC AMAZONITE BEAD WORKSHOPS iN SOUTHERN JORDAN Marzia FABIANO, Francesco BERNA & Edoardo BORZATTI VON LOWENSTERN Résumé : Des récentes explorations dans la région au sud de Ras en Naqh (Jordanie méridionale) ont découvert des rests de villages du ‘Néolthique Précéramique B (PNB) & Jebel Arga, Jebel Rabigh et Jebel Salaqa. Des observations préliminaires, conduites a la surface, ont ‘emarqué des formes archtecturales d’habitation, au contour soit ronde soit rectangulaire, tracé par dalles en grés, assez minces, enfoncées dans le sol. Les outillageslithiques, caractérisés par beaucoup de pointes de Jericho, sont bien comparables i ceux-la qui viennent dés nivaux du PPNB moyen de Beidha. Comme les émoignages de sites du PPNB moyen dans cette région méridionale et aride du Levant sont peu nombreux, cette datation relative va gagner bien «importance. D’ailleurs, la technologie aux nucléus naviformes paait bien adaptée aux gelets de petite taille etausilex de qualité inférieure, De plus, ces industries lthiques soa¢ évidemment spécialisées pour la production de perles omementales. Percoirs et pointes de foreuse, unis 8 benucoup de morceaux d’amazonite (varité bleu-vert du microcline), de grés cet de coquillages, qui montrent des races de perforation et de polssage, sont bien prédominantes dans ces ensembles lithiques. On a trouvé aussi des nombreuses perles bien finies, en amazonite ou en grés. Par contre, les lames de faucille, outils agricoles typiques, sont assez rares. Ces atelers donnent Iévidence dune population assez nombreuse, de premiers agriculteurs, qui était répandue dans un environnement trop aride pour la production de nourriture et cela entraine bien de questions & propas des stratégies de subsistance employées & ceux temps. Abstract: Recent explorations in the Hisma Basin in Southern Jordan disclosed remains of small size Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) villages at Jebel Arga, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga. Preliminary surface investigations showed thacthes lithic industries date back to the Middle PNB (ca. 8200-7500 B.C.) and thatthe three assemblages are indeed the remains of workshops where amazonite (the blue-green variety of microcline) was extensively worked fato beads. In fact, thousands of borers and awis were found together with hundreds of worked and not-worked amazonite fragments. Fewer finished amazonite and sandstone beads were also found. Experimental work demonstrated thatthe awls were mounted on drills and thatthe large majority ofthe borers were actually drill bits. Apparent, the size of the beads production exceeded the internal needs of the groups populating the villages and the beads were exported and possibly exchanged. ‘The unprecedented discovery of Middle PPNB settlements in such southem and arid Levantine areas is a remarkable find that deserves further investigations since it revesled that complex subsistence strategies were adopted by prehistoric commimites. Moreover, hese sites, ‘may have witnessed the emergence of pastoralism and the seasonal occupation of marginal land by groups of herders originated amongst farming communities INTRODUCTION chips or beads reported. On the contrary, amazonite dise beads were found in the Middle PPNB layers of the southern Extensive explorations conducted by the researchers of the Laboratorio di Ecologia del Quatemnario -University of Florence-in the region south of the Ras en Naqb escarpment in Southern Jordan (Fig. 1) yielded several Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNB) villages and rock shelters in the Hisma basin (Borzatti, 1992). Surface investigations were carried ‘out at Jebel Arga, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga, where the PPNB lithic assemblages were the remains of omamental bead workshops (Vianello, 1985; Bema, 199Sa; Maestrini, 1996; Angelotti & Bema, 2000). The principal raw materia used for the beads was amazonite, the blue-green variety of the mineral microcline. Sandstone and mollusc shells were also found. For the large proportions of Jericho arrowheads and other typological characteristics, the lithic industries were attributed to the southern Levantine facies (cf. Cauvin, 1994) of the Middle PPNB (ca. 8200-7500 B.C.) (Maestrini, 1996; Angelotti & Bema, 2000). Previous surveys in southern Jordan unveiled numerous prehistoric sites (Kirkbride, 1978; Henry et al., 1981; Borzatti, 1992; Bisheh et al., 1993) and Late PPNB remains (ca. 7600-6900 B.C.) were excavated on the Ras’en Nagb escarpment (Bisheh et al., 1993), in the Hisma basin (Henry et al., 1981) and in the Wadi Ramm area (Kirkbride, 1978; Jobling & Tangri, 1992). In none of these southern Jordanian Late PPNB sites were amazonite 265 Levantine sites of Jericho, Beidha, Yftael and Nahal Hema. Amazonite fragments and beads have been found extensively in Neolithic sites of Egypt, Sudan and Saharan and West Arica (Mauny, 1956; Lhote, 1978). Thenumber of amazonite items found in these North African Neolithic sites was very small compared to the hundreds recovered in the three southern Jordan PPNB sites. For instance at Tikainet, a Neolithic amazonite bead workshop in Northwestem Niger, the amazonite finds amounted to only twenty items (Lhote, 1978). The information collected at the three Jordanian PPNB sites of Jebel Arga, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga are concisely reviewed here below. ‘SITE LOCATIONS AND ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaqa are located along one of the main natural corridors connecting the central region ofthe Arab peninsula with the Trans-Jordanian plateaux (Fig. 1), The wadis and the mudflats of the Hise basin are still used by the Bedouzc in transhumance across the region. All1e au proche orient amc} aa \ fee gor Hisma Basin ‘urope / The Neolithic in the Near E Figure 1. Map of Jordan and localisation of the Hisma basin and the PPNB sites. three PPNB sites were located in strategic settings. At Jebel Arga, the village was installed on a protected hill top that overlooked the vast plain of Si Heratama. The remains at Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaqa PPNB are positioned at the entrance of the Wadi Hafir valley, on the two opposite flanks, as if they were guarding the access to the valley. Architectural features are visible atthe surface at Jebel Arqa. and Jebel Rabigh and extend approximately for 2000 and. {600 m respectively. These remains consist of sandstone slabs. vertically inserted in the ground and delineate a series of sub-circular or rectangular perimeters. These structures were interpreted as the foundations of fight-walled buildings such as huts. In fact, no evidence of mortar or plaster is recognisable at the surface (Berna, 1997). At Jebel Arqa, one of these structures (locus f) displays a distinctive open- spiral plan in the entrance area (Fig. 2). These architectural remains appear o belong to what once were seasonal pastoral encampments rather than permanent farming villages. Similar remains have been described at Jebel Amud, another PPNB site in the Hisma basin (Angelotti, 1996). LITHIC INDUSTRY AND RELATIVE DATING At Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga the PPNB lithic industries were scattered over surfaces of about 2000, 600, and 1000 m+ respectively and the figures of collected artefacts (lithies ang amazonite) are listed in Tabie 1. In these three prehistoric assemblages, thousands of flint borers and awls are associated with hundreds of worked and non-worked fragments of amazonite. Fewer polished and completed amazonite and sandstone beads were also found. The typical PPNB “naviform” technology is mainly adapted to small size cobbles and the technology is strongly oriented to the production of thin and very thin laminar flakes, blades and bladelets (Vianello, 1985; Maestrini, 1996; Agelotti & Berna, 2000), Strikingly the borers are the most frequent type of instruments, being 60 to 80% of the total collected tools In addition, the lengthithickness index analysis shows that the borers and the blanks are both characterised by a high degree of thinness (Table 2), suggesting that large part of the blanks was destined to be transformed into more borers. [At Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga some of the awlshave long thin tips 1.5 mm in diameter (Fig. 3) and could have been used forthe perforation ofthe beads (Fig 4). Beside the borers (Fig, 5 and 6), other frequent instruments are denticulates, burins and scrapers. The typology is characterised by large proportions of Jericho arrowheads, and smaller percentages of Byblos and Amuq points (Fig. 5 and 6). Two El-Khiam points were found at Jebel Args (Fig. 5), while one Helwan point and two other characteristic notched arrowheads were collected at Jebel Salaga (Fig. 6). Typical farming tools such as sickle-blades, trihedral picks (Fig. 5) and axes (Fig. 5 and 6) are relatively scarce while numerous ground stones tools are scattered among the areas occupied by the PPNB remains.M. Fabiano et al: Pre-Pottery Neolithic 8 Amazonite Bead Workshops in Southern Jordan XL. eed 2 oy Figure 2. Jebel Arga, Jordan: PPNB architectural remains (Moaified from Berna, 1997). Table 1. Hisma basin (Souther Jordan): Surface collection at the PPNB sites. J. Arga J-Rabigh J. Salaga (Bema, 1995a) (Vianello, 1985) (Maestrini, 1996) Collection surface (m’) 2000 600 1000 Lithic industry - Total 4455) 5450 2668 Tools Total number 1931 2368 74 Borers (%) 1226 (63.5) 1894 (80.0), 386 (57.3) ‘Amazonite items Non worked 505 1642, 478 Worked 73 245 53 Finished Beads 4 3 2 Total 578 1890) 51 Table 2. Hisma basin (Southern Jordan): Length’thickness analyses of blanks and borers collected at the PPNB sites. Lengtwtnicknessindex | gem esa)_|_(vianeln aes) | esti 196) Total Class Description Bianks | Borers Borers Blanks | Borers 20-27 Very Thick 04 = = 24 a3 27-40 | Moderately Thick | 44 24 = 64 09 407-80 Thin’ 655 686 418 518 a7 >8.0 Very Thin 29.7 28.3 58.2 30.4 617 287Le Néolithique au proche orient et en Europe / The Neolithic in the Near East and Europe Figure 4. Jebel Rabigh, Jordan: PPNB amazonite items (from Vianello, 1985). 268Workshops in Southern Jordan hic B Amazonite Bead M. Fabiano et. al: Pre-Pottory Neolit PPNB Lithic industry (From Angelotti & Berna, 2000). Figure 5. Jebel Arqa: 269M. Fabiano et a: Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Amazonite Bead Workshops in Southern Jordan ‘Ata comprehensive analysis, the industry from Jebel Salaga seems to be slightly more archaic and less specialised than the ones from the other two sites while the assembiage of Jebel Rabigh appears to be the most specialised (80% of the tools are perforators). In general, the lithic industries from these three southern Jordanian sites are highly comparable to the ones from the Middle PPNB layers in Beidha (Kirkbride, 1966; Mortensen, 1970). For instauce, particular analogies exist between the typologies of Jebel Araa (Fig. 5) and Beidha Layer Il. In fact, in both assemblages the borers are the most abundant tools, Amuq 2 points are more frequent than the Amug 1, the burins d’angle are the most common type of burins, and El Khiam points, characteristic spearheads and large notched blades are present (Angelotti & Berna, 2000). This relative dating deserves particular attention since to date very little evidences are available for Middle PPNB sites in such southem and arid areas of the Levant. In fact, in the Hisma basin only Late PPNB sites, such as Ain Abu Nekheileh (Kirkbride, 1978), Jebel el Jill (Henry er ai, 1981), Jebel el Moqur (Jobling and ‘Tangri, 1991) and Ain Bl Jamman (Bisheh er al., 1993), were so far discovered. These sites were chronologically related to the Late PPNB site of Basta, located at a distance of about 30 km to the North (Gebel ef al., 1988). The circumstance that no amazonite is reported in the above late PPNB sites but itis found in the Middle PPNB of Jericho, Beidha, Yftael and Nahal Hemar, reinforces the hypothesis of a Middle PPNB dating for the assemblages at Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh ‘and Jebel Salaga. AMAZONITE WORKING ‘The PPNB amazonite workshops of the Hisma basin are the only Neolithic workshops known to date in the southern Levant. Amazonite forms in pegmatites that differentiate from _Branite, but so far no outcrops were reported in the vast Aqaba granite region, which actually surrounds the Hisma Basin. Therefore, in order to determine the origin of the amazonite found in the PPNB sites of the Hisma basin, Sozzi etal. (1991) analysed the chemical composition of several specimens. ‘They showed that all the examined amazonite samples were ofa very pure quality, suggesting that the analysed specimens hhad a common origin, Balzi (1994), by combining Pb isotope analyses with measurements of Rb and Y in amazonite samples from North Africa, Egypt and Arabic Peninsula, showed that the specimen found in the PPNB sites of the Hisma basin clustered together with samples from the Wadi ‘Theik outerop, 150 km from the Hisma Basin inside the Saudi Arabia border. These results do not necessarily imply that the amazonite found in the Hisma basin came from Wadi ‘Theik, but they confine its origin to the Arabic Peninsula shield and exclude Egyptian or North Asrican sources. Vianello (1985) reconstructed the operative chain for the preparation of the amazonite beads and described two slightly different alternatives that are schematically illustrated in Figure 7. Large fragments of amazonite would have preferentially broke into squared thin flakes, following the crystal fracture planes. Flakes were then round-shaped, either before or after being drilled on both sides producing a bi- PROCESS 1 @ suave Vy Jes. ow yt @ vaounc © rouistne - Oe 1 t — PROCESS 2 y. o. [ROTATION UNDER PRESSURE : as fo) ' t ! @® rousuine “Oe 4 + Figure 7. Jebe| Rabigh: alternative processes for the manufacture of amazonite beads (From Vianello, 1985). anLe Néolithique au proche orient et en Europe / The Nei ic conical hole (Fig. 4, 1-11). Vianello (1985) also suggested that a small notch, prepared on the surfaces of the chips, would have helped directing the drill. Once the beads were perforated and shaped, they were polished in the final stage ig. 7). Berna (1995b) performed experimental work to assess the ‘use of drills for the perforation of amazonite and the other raw materials. Long thin flint awls were prepared by retouching blanks of different type and size and were mounted asbits on a bow-drill apparatus that allowed control ofapplied pressure and measure of drill evolutions (revs). The results of these experiments are summarized as follows: — 1.0to 1.5mm was the adequate dril thickness for producing 3 mm diameter holes (as measured in prehistoric beads). Such small size tools could only be obtained by retouching considerably thin blanks (maximum 4 mm thick). This observation explained the thinness of the totality of the Jordanian PPNB borers and, combined with the overwhelming quantity of thin blanks, suggested that the bead manufacture was the main occupation at the sites, engaging almost the entire flint knapping activity. ER, — (i o -@ g ‘amazonite: 1) amazonite chip; 2) chip holder; 3) stand; 4} experimental bit; 5) drill 6) pressing bar holder; 7) pressing bar; 8) weight; 9) bow (From Berna, 19956), in the Near East and Europe ~ Itwas extremely arduous to drill amazonite (Moss hardness = 6.5) with awls made of flint (Moss hardness = 7) by holding the tools between the fingers. It was indeed possible to perforate amazonite with flint bits mounted on a bow drill, Nevertheless, the drilling of amazonite requires substantial effort: having applieda pressure of 2.4 kg, 6000 revs are needed to obtain a | mm deep hole. On average 15 minutes and two borers were needed to complete a hole in.a4 mm thick amazonite chip. ~ While carrying on the experiments, the long thin drill bits wore out and/or broke down into different “typologies” well recognisable among the prehistoric borers. This observation suggested that the majority of the prehistoric, borers were in effect used and exhausted drills. ‘These figures, combined with the vast number of recovered borers and amazonite fragments, suggest that the bead production exceeded the intemal needs of the relatively small groups populating the villages and that the beads were exported and exchanged. CONCLUSIONS ‘The PPNB sites at Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga are remarkable findings that deserve further investigation. In fact, these three sites are the remains of workshops Where a very distinctive raw material, the blue-green amazonite, ‘Was extensively manufactured into omamental beads by the use of drills. This major occupation absorbed « great deal of the flint knapping activities. It is also reasonable to think that the beads were exported towards the other PPNB centres of the Levant and farther research will help to determine the relationships between the amazonite discovered in the Hisma basin and the specimens found in the other Levantine sites, In addition, these three southern Jordanian PPNB sites are important because they provide evidence for the scarcely documented occupation of arid areas of the Levant by Middle PPNB groups (ca.8200-7500 B.C}. So far, only Late PNB (c2.7600-6900 B.C.) is believed to have diffused into the desert areas of Sinai, Negev and Southern and Eastern Jordan, asa consequence ofthe beginning of pastoralism (Betts, 1984; Goring-MortisN., 1993; Cauvin, 1994; Harris, 1996). In fact, although late PPNB sites were found in the Hisma basin, the analyses of technology and typology combined with the presence of amazonite indicate strong cultural conection between the assemblages found at Jebel Arqa, Jebel Rabigh and Jebel Salaga and the Middle PPNB. Radiocarbon dating will help confirm this relative dating and excavation campaigns will bring light on the subsistence strategies (hunting, foraging, farming, herding?) at the sites. ‘The unprecedented discovery of Middle PPNB omaments ‘workshops in such southern and arid Levantine areas reveals that complex subsistence strategies were adopted by prehistoric communities. Moreover, these sites may have ‘witnessed the seasonal occupation of marginal land by groups originating amongst farming communities, a phenomenod strictly relted to the emergence of pastoralism. 272M. Fabiano et. al: Pre-Pottery ‘Neolithic 8 Amazonite Bead Workshops in Southern Jordan Authors’ addresses Dr. Marzia FABIANO Istituto di Antropologia Universiti degli Studi Via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, ITALY Dr. Francesco BERNA Dipartimento di Scienza del Suofo e Nutrizione della Pianta, Universitd degli Studi Piazzale delle Cascine 16 50144 Firenze, ITALY Prof, Edoardo BORZATTI von LOWENSTERN Istituto di Antropologia Universita degli Studi Via del Proconsolo 12 50122 Firenze, ITALY Bibliography ANGELOTTI, M., 1996, Il villaggio PPNB di Giabal Amu (Racin i Isma, Giordania meridionale). Studi per (Ecologia del Quaternario 18, p. 49-62. ANGELOTTI, M. & BERNA, F, 2000, L'industria litica del Villaggio neolitico pre-ceramico di Giabal Arga (Giordania Meridionale). Studi per I'Ecologia del Quaternario 22, p. 29- a. BALZI,S., 1994, Studio Mineralogico e Geochimico di amazzoniti ‘Provenientida sti Nelitic dell '4jrica Setentrionale e de! Ycino Orient. 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