Early Bronze Age Flint Technology and Flake Scatters in the North Syrian Steppe Along the Middle Euphrates

Abstract

The domestic flint industry in the Early Bronze Age (EBA) is often considered to have employed expedient strategies in flake production. The technological traits of the flakes and tools thus produced are not thought to be period specific. This paper examines a flake assemblage from the EBA found in Tell Ghanem al-Ali, near Raqqa, Syria, and shows that the flake technology is well differentiated from the earlier ones employed in the Middle Euphrates Valley. The technology can be defined as a cortex-platform technology that was applied to produce thick, naturally backed flake blanks. Identification of assemblages with this particular technology contributes to the broadening of the research field for economic strategies of EBA society. It facilitates the dating of numerous aceramic flake scatters from the EBA in the steppe hinterland of the Middle Euphrates, which gives us a new dimension for reconstructing the land use patterns of this period.