A Comparative Use-Wear Analysis of late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) chipped stone artefacts from the southern Levant

Abstract

This paper reports on a use-wear analysis of late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) chipped stone artefacts from Ain Rahub, Salibiya I and Hayonim Cave, focussing on the study of geometric and non-geometric microliths. Using the synthetic approach of combined low- and high-power analysis a high variation in wear traces was observed, which correspond to a range of functions for different types of stone tools. Some of the findings expand on the detailed technological and typological studies that have been carried out on late Epipalaeolithic assemblages in the southern Levant in recent years, and add to an expanding picture of late Epipalaeolithic stone tool function.