Early Neolithic chert variability in central Cyprus: Geo-chemical and spatial analyses

Stewart, S. T.; Murphy, Shaun; Bikoulis, Peter; McCartney, Carole; Manning, Sturt W.; Hancock, R. G. V.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102088

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A second cluster of sites reported by surveys in central Cyprus provides 12 more surface-collected lithic assemblages with analogies to the excavated Akrotiri phase sites (Given & Knapp 2003;McCartney et al 2010). Despite none of these lithic assemblages having dates, the sites demonstrate possible early exploration from the shore to the island's interior via the Tremithous and Yialias river basins (Stewart et al 2020). Hunting and foraging activities persisted during the development of the rst permanent settlements, such as Ayios Tychonas Klimonas, demonstrating mixed economies encompassing hunting, plant cultivation, and modest consumption of marine foods at the beginning of sedentary occupation of Cyprus (e.g., Vigne et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Demographic models predict end-Pleistocene arrival and rapid expansion of pre-agropastoralist humans in Cyprus

Bradshaw,

Reepmeyer,

Saltré

et al. 2024

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The antiquity of human dispersal into Mediterranean islands and ensuing coastal adaptation have remained largely unexplored due to the prevailing assumption that the sea was a barrier to movement and that islands were hostile environments to early hunter-gatherers [J. F. Cherry, T. P. Leppard, J. Isl. Coast. Archaeol. 13 , 191–205 (2018), 10.1080/15564894.2016.1276489 ]. Using the latest archaeological data, hindcasted climate projections, and age-structured demographic models, we demonstrate evidence for early arrival (14,257 to 13,182 calendar years ago) to Cyprus and predicted that large groups of people (~1,000 to 1,375) arrived in 2 to 3 main events occurring within <100 y to ensure low extinction risk. These results indicate that the postglacial settlement of Cyprus involved only a few large-scale, organized events requiring advanced watercraft technology. Our spatially debiased and Signor–Lipps-corrected estimates indicate rapid settlement of the island within <200 y, and expansion to a median of 4,000 to 5,000 people (0.36 to 0.46 km −2 ) in <11 human generations (<300 y). Our results do not support the hypothesis of inaccessible and inhospitable islands in the Mediterranean for pre-agropastoralists, agreeing with analogous conclusions for other parts of the world [M. I. Bird et al. , Sci. Rep. 9 , 8220 (2019), 10.1038/s41598-019-42946-9 ]. Our results also highlight the need to revisit these questions in the Mediterranean and test their validity with new technologies, field methods, and data. By applying stochastic models to the Mediterranean region, we can place Cyprus and large islands in general as attractive and favorable destinations for paleolithic peoples.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Demographic models predict end-Pleistocene arrival and rapid expansion of pre-agropastoralist humans in Cyprus

Bradshaw,

Reepmeyer,

Saltré

et al. 2024

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The traditional approach, mostly focusing on macroscopic and petrographic characterizations, is limited in the case of a convergence of facies, that is, where different geological formations possess very similar features (Aubry, 1990). In contrast, geochemical analysis usually allows the identification of differences between sources and, thus, helps to pinpoint the origin of the archaeological remains (e.g., Brandl & Hauzenberger, 2018; Golovanova et al, 2021; Stewart et al, 2020). Several analytical techniques have been applied in Western Europe to characterize the lithic artefacts recovered at Palaeolithic sequences, quantification of the trace elements and rare earth being the most frequently used as the key to solve the problem at hand (e.g., Eixea et al, 2021; Muntoni et al, 2022; Pereira et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of lithic procurement strategies in the Pre‐Pyrenean Middle Magdalenian sequence of Cova del Parco (Alòs de Balaguer, Spain)

Jiménez,

Mangado,

González

et al. 2024

Geoarchaeology

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Archaeological studies carried out in recent decades have demonstrated that the Pre‐Pyrenees, a mountain range in north‐east Iberia, were regularly frequented by several human groups during the Late Pleistocene. The Cova del Parco archaeological site is an example of this large‐scale and regular human presence. The site was discovered and first excavated in the 1970s, and since the 1980s, a team from the University of Barcelona has been conducting archaeological work. So far, we have found that the site was at least frequented from the Middle Magdalenian upon historical times. In this paper, we present the results of the archaeopetrological, geochemical and geographic information system (GIS) analyses of chert tools ascribed to the Middle Magdalenian sequence. The textural, micropalaeontological and geochemical analysis of the lithic artefacts has allowed us to identify several chert types from local, regional and long‐distance sources. Some of these cherts had their origin in the northern slopes of the Pyrenean chain, suggesting that this mountain chain was regularly crossed by Magdalenian groups. Next, we performed GIS analyses to determine the paths and connections that may have linked the archaeological site with the different chert outcrops, and to identify the best routes for crossing the Pyrenean Mountain range. Moreover, this study provides a larger vision of the mobility and the complex economic interactions between the different Magdalenian groups that settled Cova del Parco at the end of the Late Pleistocene.

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“…Geochemical analyses of chert artifacts have been increasingly employed in determining their geological origins that provide evidence for past human behaviors related to the procurement, selection, and distribution of lithic raw materials (Agam, 2020; Beller et al, 2020; Ekshtain & Tryon, 2019; Ekshtain & Zaidner, 2021; Finkel et al, 2019; Julig et al, 2007; Malinsky‐Buller et al, 2014; Sánchez de la Torre et al, 2020; Shackley, 2008; Stewart et al, 2020). However, in contrast to obsidian, for which nondestructive chemical analyses, such as ED‐XRF, have become widely available, visual inspection still takes a great role in the characterization of chert artifacts due to the limited availability and high cost of nondestructive chemical analyses, such as LA‐ICP‐MS, as well as the great variability of chert in visual attributes, such as color, texture, and fossil contents (Luedtke, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Petrographic and geochemical characterization of chert artifacts from Middle, Upper, and Epi‐Paleolithic assemblages in the Jebel Qalkha area, southern Jordan

et al. 2022

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This study conducted petrographic and geochemical analyses of chert artifacts from the Late Middle Paleolithic, the Initial Upper Paleolithic, the Early Upper Paleolithic, and the Epi-Paleolithic assemblages in the Jebel Qalkha area, southern Jordan, to examine their correlations with the visual attributes and diachronic variability. The results revealed two different aspects of the petrographic and geochemical signatures. The first aspect showed some correlations with the visual chert types that were characterized by the abundance/ preservation of fossils, the enrichment of several elements (i.e., Ca, Sr, and Ba), and the quartz crystallite size. The second aspect of geochemical signatures, such as Fe, Mn, Ni, Cr, and Co, showed no correlation with the visual types but was correlated with the chronocultural groups. Given the chert occurrences and variability in and around the study area, the first aspect of the chert variability likely represents the variations of different chert outcrops as well as the internal variations within the same sources. Whether the second aspect represents chrono-cultural changes in the use of chert sources needs to be clarified in future by our ongoing examination of geological chert samples in the study area.

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Early Neolithic chert variability in central Cyprus: Geo-chemical and spatial analyses

Cited by 7 publications

References 20 publications

Demographic models predict end-Pleistocene arrival and rapid expansion of pre-agropastoralist humans in Cyprus

Demographic models predict end-Pleistocene arrival and rapid expansion of pre-agropastoralist humans in Cyprus

Patterns of lithic procurement strategies in the Pre‐Pyrenean Middle Magdalenian sequence of Cova del Parco (Alòs de Balaguer, Spain)

Petrographic and geochemical characterization of chert artifacts from Middle, Upper, and Epi‐Paleolithic assemblages in the Jebel Qalkha area, southern Jordan

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