Flint ‘figurines’ from the Early Neolithic site of Kharaysin, Jordan

During the Early Neolithic in the Near East, particularly from the mid ninth millennium cal BC onwards, human iconography became more widespread. Explanations for this development, however, remain elusive. This article presents a unique assemblage of flint artefacts from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neoli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Antiquity 2020-08, Vol.94 (376), p.880-899
Main Authors: Ibáñez, Juan José, Muñiz, Juan R., Huet, Thomas, Santana, Jonathan, Teira, Luis C., Borrell, Ferran, Rosillo, Rafael, Iriarte, Eneko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology
Burials
Ceramics
Cluster analysis
Effigies
Excavation
Extraction
Funerals
Historic artifacts
Human remains
Humans
Iconography
Manipulation
Morphological analysis
Morphology
Neolithic
Pottery
Remembrance
Retouching
Rites & ceremonies
Rites and ceremonies
Ritual
Rituals
Sculpture
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Summary:During the Early Neolithic in the Near East, particularly from the mid ninth millennium cal BC onwards, human iconography became more widespread. Explanations for this development, however, remain elusive. This article presents a unique assemblage of flint artefacts from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (eighth millennium BC) site of Kharaysin in Jordan. Contextual, morphological, statistical and use-wear analyses of these artefacts suggest that they are not tools but rather human figurines. Their close association with burial contexts suggests that they were manufactured and discarded during mortuary rituals and remembrance ceremonies that included the extraction, manipulation and redeposition of human remains.
ISSN:0003-598X
1745-1744
DOI:10.15184/aqy.2020.78