Early Blade Industries in the Levant : The Placement of Douara IV Industry in the context of the Levantine Early Middle Paleolithic - article ; n°1 ; vol.15, pg 215-229

Nishiaki Y.

Description

Paléorient - Année 1989 - Volume 15 - Numéro 1 - Pages 215-229
The third excavation at Douara cave in Syria yielded Early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the geological level IV. The assemblages designated as Douara IV industry are characterized by a large amount of the blade blank production. This paper attempts a technological comparison between the Douara IV and other relevant blade industries such as Pre-Aurignacian, Amudian, Hummalian and Tabun D type of Mousterian. The result has emphasized the technological affinity of Douara IV with Tabun D type of Mousterian, and the author suggests that Douara IV is a regional or local variation of Early Levantine Mousterian blade industry.
Le troisième sondage effectué dans la grotte de Douara en Syrie a livré dans le niveau géologique IV une industrie du début du Paléolithique Moyen. Ces assemblages, appelés industrie Douara IV, se caractérisent par une grande quantité de produits laminaires. On comparera ici l'industrie de Douara IV avec des industries contemporaines : Pré-Aurignacien, Amudien, Hummalien et Moustérien de type Tabun D. Cette confrontation souligne les affinités technologiques de Douara IV avec le Moustérien de type Tabun D et permet de suggérer que Douara IV représente une variation régionale ou localisée de l'industrie laminaire du début du Moustérien Levantin.
15 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Informations

• Publié par: PALEORIENT
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1989
• Nombre de lectures: 48
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Yoshihiro Nishiaki
Early Blade Industries in the Levant : The Placement of Douara
IV Industry in the context of the Levantine Early Middle
Paleolithic
In: Paléorient. 1989, Vol. 15 N°1. pp. 215-229.
Abstract
The third excavation at Douara cave in Syria yielded Early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the geological level IV. The
assemblages designated as Douara IV industry are characterized by a large amount of the blade blank production. This paper
attempts a technological comparison between the Douara IV and other relevant blade industries such as Pre-Aurignacian,
Amudian, Hummalian and Tabun D type of Mousterian. The result has emphasized the technological affinity of Douara IV with
Tabun D type of Mousterian, and the author suggests that Douara IV is a regional or local variation of Early Levantine Mousterian
blade industry.
Résumé
Le troisième sondage effectué dans la grotte de Douara en Syrie a livré dans le niveau géologique IV une industrie du début du
Paléolithique Moyen. Ces assemblages, appelés industrie Douara IV, se caractérisent par une grande quantité de produits
laminaires. On comparera ici l'industrie de Douara IV avec des industries contemporaines : Pré-Aurignacien, Amudien,
Hummalien et Moustérien de type Tabun D. Cette confrontation souligne les affinités technologiques de Douara IV avec le
Moustérien de type Tabun D et permet de suggérer que Douara IV représente une variation régionale ou localisée de l'industrie
laminaire du début du Moustérien Levantin.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Nishiaki Yoshihiro. Early Blade Industries in the Levant : The Placement of Douara IV Industry in the context of the Levantine
Early Middle Paleolithic. In: Paléorient. 1989, Vol. 15 N°1. pp. 215-229.
doi : 10.3406/paleo.1989.4497
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/paleo_0153-9345_1989_num_15_1_4497vol. 15/1 - 1989 PALEORIENT,
EARLY BLADE INDUSTRIES IN THE LEVANT :
THE PLACEMENT OF DOUARA IV INDUSTRY IN
THE CONTEXT OF THE LEVANTINE EARLY
MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC
Y. NISHIAKI
ABSTRACT. — The third excavation at Douara cave in Syria yielded Early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the geological
level IV. The assemblages designated as IV industry are characterized by a large amount of the blade blank production.
This paper attempts a technological comparison between the Douara IV and other relevant blade industries such as Pre-Aurignacian,
Amudian, Hummalian and Tabun D type of Mousterian. The result has emphasized the technological affinity of Douara IV with
Tabun D type of Mousterian, and the author suggests that Douara IV is a regional or local variation of Early Levantine Mousterian
blade industry.
RESUME. - Le troisième sondage effectué dans la grotte de Douara en Syrie a livré dans le niveau géologique IV une industrie
du début du Paléolithique Moyen. Ces assemblages, appelés industrie Douara IV, se caractérisent par une grande quantité de
produits laminaires. On comparera ici l'industrie de Douara IV avec des industries contemporaines : Pré-Aurignacien, Amudien,
Hummalien et Moustérien de type Tabun D. Cette confrontation souligne les affinités technologiques de Douara IV avec le Mous-
térien de type Tabun D et permet de suggérer que Douara IV représente une variation régionale ou localisée de Г industrie laminaire
du début du Levantin.
INTRODUCTION dating techniques such as C-14 and Fission track
ones have been applied to these units. Results of
C-14 technique seem to provide only minimal dates.
The last interglacial and early last glacial period The actual dates for the Middle Paleolithic deposits in the Levant witnessed the appearance of exceptio are probably beyond the limit of the standard C-14 nally varied kinds of stone industries/facies (1). It technique. A fission track date of 75,000 BP, which has been established that the Pre-Aurignacian, Amud is derived from only one sample of burnt barite noian, Hummalian and Tabun D type of Mousterian dule and should be tested by further samples, may were characterized by a strong emphasis on the pro provide some idea about the actual date of unit duction of blade banks. The third excavation season IVB (3). Between unit IIIB and unit IVA is inter-
at the Douara cave in the summer of 1984 produced, bedded an extensive layer consisting of weathered
from its basal Level IV, lithic assemblages with a limestones, which indicates the presence of a potentlarge number of blades, whose stratigraphie position ial time gap. The assemblages from IIIA and IIIB and absolute dates have suggested that the assem are characterized by the dominance of the Levallois blages belong to the period under consideration. This blank production method including multi-directional paper examines the techno-typological relationships core preparation and elaborate platform faceting, of Douara IV industry to other early blade-oriented which are common in the Levantine Mousterian; industries. these units have been assigned to the Levantine
The Douara Cave opens on the southern slope Mousterian (4). On the other hand, Akazawa (5) has
of the Jabal ed-Douara, about 18 km northeast of reported that the IVB assemblage is characterized by
Palmyra, Syria (fig. 1). The cave and its surroun the dominance of prismatic cores and blade blanks
dings have been investigated since 1967 by the To which have uni- and bi-directional dorsal scars and
kyo University Scientific Expedition to Western plain butts. It has been argued that the IVB assem
Asia (2). After the test excavation in 1970, the 1974 blage does not easily match any known Levantine
excavations unearthed a long sequence of stratified Mousterian industry. The original reports (6) have
Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the stratigra stated that the assemblage more closely resembles
phie units IIIA, IIIB, IVA and IVB (fig. 2). Several
(1) COPELAND and HOURS, 1981; JELINEK, 1981, 1982. (3) NISHIMURA, 1979.
(2) SUZUKI and KOBORI, 1970; SUZUKI and TAKAI, 1973, (4) AKAZAWA, 1976, 1979.
1974; HANIHARA and SAKAGUCHI, 1978; HANIHARA and 165. (5) Ibid.; AKAZAWA and HANIHARA, 1983
AKAZAWA, 1979a, 1983; AKAZAWA and SAKAGUCHI, 1987. (6) Ibid.
215 :
:
:
:
:
STRATIGRAPHIC LITHIC DATES EXCAVATIONS INDUSTRIES UNITS (YEARS B.P.)
NEOLITHIC
TO PRESENT
HA
EPI
PALEOLITHIC I IB
1974 IDA SEASON
46. 700 (C-14) 1MB >53.800(C-14)
MIDDLE WEATHERED
LIMESTONES PALEOLITHIC
IVA ■(FEW FLINTS) SYRIA 38.900 C-14) >43.200 C-14 IVB > 52.000 UPPER F.T. 75,000
IVB LOWER >52.OOO(C14)
1984
SEASON IVC
IVD
FIG. 2. - Schematic sequence of stratigraphie units and ar-
cheological levels in the Douara Cave.
JORDAN
collection from the 1984 season's Douara IV (IVB
and IVC), and to compare it with other relevant in
dustries. The industries chosen here to be compared
with Douara IV are those which appeared during the
last interglacial and the early last glacial periods and
100 km are characterized by high blade-indices : Pre-Auri
gnacian, Amudian, Hummalian and Tabun D type
Levantine mousterian. This paper first presents the FIG. 1. - The location of Douara Cave and other relevant sites technological data on the 1984 season's collection referred to in the text.
of Douara IV, and reviews recently accumulated data 1 : Douara, 2 : Jerf Ajla, 3 : El-Kowm, 4 Yabrud, 5 : Ksar Akil,
6 : Bezez, 7 : Abri Zumoffen, 8 : Zuttiyeh, 9 Tabun, 10 Abou on the other blade-oriented industries to determine
Sif, 11 : Rosh Ein Мог, 12 Boker Tachtit, 13 Nahal Aqev. their technological relationships to Douara IV.
the Pre-Aurignacian than the proper Levantine Mous-
terian, while Copeland (7) has attributed the IVB a
MATERIAL ssemblage to a particular faciès of the Early Levantine
Mousterian. She considers that the IVB assemblages
represent an independent cultural group distributed
The material analyzed in this paper are the flint in the northern inland Levant.
artifacts from the lower part of unit IVB and unit The excavations of the 1984 season explored the IVC. The underlying unit IVD, which was not fully deposits of the lower part of the unit IVB and the investigated in the 1984 season, contains too few arunderlying IVC and IVD, and unearthed lithic a tifacts to be adequately analyzed. These stratigraphie ssemblages including a large number of blades. The units have been defined in accord with their charactselective samples of the assemblages have been des eristic sedimentological features such as color, hocribed in a previous report of the author (8). The mogeneity and hardness (9). Both deposits of lower objective of this paper is to analyze the complete units IVB and unit IVC are found in 8 squares within
11 squares (1 m x 1 m) excavated in the 1984 sea-
(7) COPELAND, 1981 : 256, 258; She has tentively called it
Douaran. (9) HIRAI, 1987; The division of the upper and the lower of
(8) NISHIAKI, 1987. unit IVB is only based on vertical differences.
216 :
and are about 15-25 cm thick. The total number the group of Pre-Aurignacian/Amudian/Hummalian son,
of flints from these deposits are 614 and 388 res (PAH group), and the other is that of Early Levantine
pectively, most of which are very small debitage ob Mousterian. The PAH group h