The Çatalhöyük Flint and Obsidian Industry

This monograph presents an analysis and interpretation of an assemblage of knapped obsidian and flint from Çatalhöyük, one of the largest and most prominent Neolithic sites in the Near East. Its main aim is to contribute to the increasing trend in lithic studies towards more contextual analysis, in which the wider social framework of knapped-stone production, use and deposition forms the centre of discussion and interpretation. It explores the technological attributes of the knapped-stone assemblage, particularly methods or strategies of blank and tool production and their changes over time and space. Where appropriate, the morphological characteristics of retouched tools are also examined in order to identify typological patterning. The latter chapters explore technological and typological patterns within the smaller temporal and spatial divisions of the site, vis-à-vis the aims of socially oriented analysis.