AMMAN — In early 2022, eight dwelling sites were discovered in south-eastern Jordan, directly associated with eight mass-hunting structures- desert kites. These associated sites also share a clear chronological framework, as they are all dated to the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. 

The archaeological material, mostly made up of abundant lithic industries, is extremely homogenous and coherent at all sites. 

“On the basis of the specific characteristics of the whole lithic assemblage, a new regional techno-complex, called the “Ghassanian”, is defined for these desert margins of the Fertile Crescent,” noted the French archaeologist René Cressard.

"Numerous arrowheads were discovered in all the occupation layers of sites JKSH F19 and P52, as well as F15. They are made on small fine-grained chert blades, some of which were probably imported, and some of them are in quartzite," Cressard said.

The archaeologist added that the debitage of small fine-grained chert and quartzite blades thus seems to be at least partly reserved for this specific production. 

“Blanks are shaped by direct, inverse, or bifacial retouch with a soft stone hammer at the preform stage, then by pressure flaking, covering the tool with final invasive retouch." 

"From a typological viewpoint, these points from the sites of Jibal Al Khashabiyeh are similar to the types known in the Southern Levant in the Final PPNB (on single stemmed blades, such as the Jericho, Byblos, Amuq types) and the Late Neolithic (unifacial or bifacial single-stemmed or barbed and stemmed, such as the ha-Parsa, Nizzanim, Herziliya types),” Cressard explained.

Different types of arrowheads at the Jibal Al Khashabiyeh sites have been found. It could constitute another important characteristic of these assemblages and the defined techno-complex. 

“A more in-depth study of the Jibal Al Khashabiyeh points will shed much needed light on the regional chrono-typology and its comparison with other areas of the Levant for the same period,” Cressard noted, adding that flint used for blades is also local, and is found in the form of medium-sized slabs on the surface of the current reg. 

"On the JKSH P52 site in particular, many thin leaf-shaped daggers were found together in the exterior part of the habitat, in direct association with large quantities of flakes from bifacial shaping." 

"These daggers presented several stages of completion, but most of them seem to have been finished," Cressard elaborated, noting that some most likely broke during the course of manufacture, probably in a specialised workshop area. 

It would be pertinent to compare possible traces of use on the bifaces and on the blades in order to assess whether specific functions are associated with each type of tool. 

"The use of one and/or the other in connection with faunal remains appears to be a likely hypothesis. Curved maces in particular constitute a very specific class of tool at this occupation of Jibal Al Khashabiyeh, linked to the use of kite structures, and no parallels are known at the present time in the Near East," Cressard underlined.

The archaeologist noted that this specificity could suggest a functional orientation of these tools for processing hunting products. 

The preliminary results of the micro-wear study of the knapped lithic tools from site JKSH P52 open up interesting research perspectives with regard to our understanding of the occupation of the site and the social and economic organisation of the hunting communities associated withdesert kites, the scholar said.

Already, preliminary results show that, among the broad spectrum of activities represented, the various operations for processing animal materials appear to be particularly well represented. 

"The continuation of the study will make it possible to 1) define the entire functional spectrum and the technical gestures carried out with this equipment; 2) enhance our understanding of animal carcass processing methods at the site, in connection with specialized gazelle hunting (butchery, hide tanning); 3) determine whether specialised activity zones can be identified within and between the different units," Cressard concluded.