Lithic analysis and the transition to the Neolithic in the Upper Tigris Valley: recent excavations at Hasankeyf Hoyuk

The excavation of several structures at the site of Hasankeyf Hoyuk in south-east Anatolia has revealed evidence for the continuity of hunter-gatherer lithic technology into the early stages of the Neolithic in the tenth to ninth millennia BC. In particular, the Nemrik point, previously seen as a hallmark of the early Neolithic, can now be shown to have been in use in a local tradition of hunter- gatherer lithic technology. Overall, the continuity in time and space at Hasankeyf Hoyuk indicates a long-term persistence of lithic technologies, which contrasts with the pattern of change in the Levant and which suggests different pathways to the Neolithic in different parts of the Fertile Crescent region in the Near East.