Grooved Stones from Zawi Chemi Shanidar, a Protoneolithic Site in Northern Iraq

Abstract

Grooved stones appear as a new cultural element in Epipaleolithic‐Protoneolithic sites (dating from ca. 9000–6000 B.C.) in a broad geographic zone from Southwest Asia to North Africa. Similar objects have been recorded from archeological and ethnographic contexts in both the Old World and the New World. Ethnographic and other evidence has shown that the several types of grooved stones are associated with a variety of functions, mainly related to the manufacture and use of arrows and arrow shafts. It is suggested that these tools may be associated with the discovery and diffusion of the bow and arrow.