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This study combines typology and use-wear analysis applied to a large sample of flint sickle blades from Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel, dated to the Middle Chalcolithic period (ca. 5200–4700 cal BC). The dominant backed, bi-truncated rectangle sickle blade, typical of the Chalcolithic period, was analyzed, revealing new types that are identified through shaping nuances which, based on the results of the use-wear analysis, are associated with different construction principles of the composite sickle. Considering that the archaeological record is scarce with evidence of the sickles themselves, the use-wear analysis provides detailed information, where a variety of techniques are defined, looking at the shape of the hafts, the positioning of the sickle inserts, and the method of using the adhesive material. A versatile system of sickle construction is introduced, where a range of hafting options is possible, in straight or curved hafts and with inserts positioned parallel or obliquely. But there are also particular types that were clearly designed in a special way, to fit unique types of sickles. Furthermore, the identification of post-use operations through breakage patterns also connects the Tel Tsaf sickles to activities identified in sickle blade workshops from other Late Chalcolithic sites, indicating that these were valued products that were repaired and re-shaped for subsequent use. We provide several lines of evidence, deriving from harvesting experiments, archaeological research of sickles and sickle blades, and by drawing on ethnography to explain the significance of these differences in sickles at Tel Tsaf. It is associated with varying harvesting techniques to deal with variations in field settings, types of sickle users, and intense consumption. Compared to the previous Late Pottery Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic sickle types, where sickle blades are different in shape, the analysis of the Tel Tsaf sickle blades presents a development in sickle harvesting technology and its complexity during this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations of early prehistoric settled communities in Volcanic Cappadocia are based primarily on research projects concentrating on the western part of the region. These projects were mainly conducted by Istanbul University Department of Prehistory. Our knowledge about the early settled life in Central Volcanic Cappadocia, which refers to Nevşehir and its periphery, is very limited and built on a few regional survey projects. The Nevşehir Neolithic Survey Project, "NENESU" was initiated in 2019. The primary objective of the project is to evaluate the Volcanic Cappadocian prehistoric cultures in an integrated approach with the current survey technologies. Within the scope of the NENESU Project, a prehistoric slope site (Topraktepe) was found in the Avanos region in 2020, and surveys were conducted in the area during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. This article aims to present results from the 2020-2021 seasons of the NENESU Project on Topraktepe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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La Atalayuela is a Middle Chalcolithic (ca. 2900–2500 cal BC) multiple burial pit located in the mid-upper Ebro Valley (north-central Iberia) where a large number of individuals (more than 70) were inhumed. The site shows an apparently constrained period of funerary use, which includes the probable simultaneous burial of a large proportion of the deceased. This offers an outstanding opportunity to investigate the lifeways and identity of the members of what was presumably a single community living and interring their dead at the very beginnings of the Bell Beaker culture in the region. Here, we present stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values on bone collagen from 46 humans. While the overall results are consistent with diets focused on C3 plants and terrestrial animal resources, as would be expected, the variability still demonstrates some interesting patterning. Thus, there is a significant differentiation in δ13C values between burial context base (the earliest funerary use identified, interpreted as a 'house of the dead') and the following context a2 (interpreted as a mass grave), supporting the existence of potentially distinct funerary uses. Remains from the vestibule (a structure to the south of the pit interpreted as entrance), whose carbon isotope values also differ from those of a2, have been tentatively associated with base and interpreted as a result of potential bone arrangements prior to the mass interment. Statistically significant age- and sex-related isotopic differences are also identified, which allow social insights, such as possible differential access by children and women to certain food sources, which may in turn reflect a possible sexual division of labour. The results are set in the context of other Late Prehistoric Iberian funerary and isotopic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pedestalled bowls described here are part of the ground stone tool assemblage discovered during the Hebrew University of Jerusalem excavations at Tel Tsaf (2004-2007). This site, located in the Central Jordan Valley, is the first well-documented and large-scale excavation of the Middle Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. The inhabitants used two types of raw materials for their stone items: basalt and limestone. While the first is commonly used in the stone-vessel industry of the Chalcolithic period, the second is rarer. We present here the preliminary results of our analysis of the typology and function of the pedestalled bowls, a small but important component of the local ground stone tool assemblage.

The authors explore aspects of a well uncovered at Tel Tsaf, Israel, dating to the Middle Chal-colithic Period, ca. 4800 cal B.C. The well was uncovered in close proximity to the settlement of Tel Tsaf, shedding light on the hydraulic technology of the community. An exceptionally rich assemblage of complete vessels has been found in situ at the bottom of the shaft. The ceramics show two distinct typological features uncommon to other assemblages of the Middle Chalcolithic: double paired handles and the so-called beakers, a new ceramic shape dominant in this assemblage. We argue that the ceramic assemblage comprises task-specific vessel shapes designed for drawing water from a well. The examples from Tel Tsaf are currently the earliest of their kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]