Exploring Domestic Tasks at Kharaneh IV using Lithic Microwear Analysis

Summary

The use and division of space in the Early Epipalaeolithic gives insights into the nature of social interaction in the Southern Levant prior to the advent of permanent architecture. This presentation presents preliminary results from the microwear analysis of the Jordanian Epipalaeolithic site Kharaneh IV to explore the nature of domestic tasks within a hut structure. Kharaneh IV is located in the Azraq basin, Eastern Jordan, dating to the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic periods. The site’s large size and dense artefact deposits indicate that it may have been a hunter-gatherer aggregation locale during occupation and a focal point for interaction. Recent excavations at the site uncovered several hut deposits containing lithic and faunal material. Microwear analysis was conducted on a sample of lithic artefacts recovered from the occupation surfaces of one of these structures. The distribution of these artefacts, linked with their function, provides a mechanism for understanding the organization of domestic space during the Early Epipalaeolithic. How the inhabitants of Kharaneh IV structured their activities in association with the built environment will help illuminate how people organized space in an aggregated community prior to the advent of permanent architecture.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Innovative Interpretive Approaches in Microwear and Residue Analyses

Keywords

Spatial Coverage