Leiden University Student Repository

Huigens, Harmen O. (2011)

Axes, Adzes and Chisels: Stone Tools from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria

Bachelor thesis | Archeologie (BA)

This BA Thesis concerns stone axes, adzes and chisels, generally referred to as celts, from Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, a site dated to the Late Neolithic Period, ca. 7000-5300 cal BC. It aims to investigate the economic and social meaning of these stone tools at the Neolithic settlement excavated there, by examining the tools' morphological and technological features, their provenance, and the context in which they were found. In this thesis, it is stressed that a wide variety of different types of stone celts were used at Tell Sabi Abyad. Many of these celts seam to have been imported from hundreds of kilometers away. Many celts must have been used for a number of economic activities, but some celts seam to have had a more symbolic meaning. Finally, this thesis shows that the way in which stone celts were used during the Late Neolithic was not static, but changed through the course of time.

Syria

neolithic

ground stone

celts

Sabi Abyad

Author

Huigens, Harmen O.

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Specialisation

Near Eastern Archaeology

Supervisors

Akkermans, Peter

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en