Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan

Quaternary International xxx (2015) 1e12

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Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan Maysoon al-Nahar a, *, Deborah I. Olszewski b a b

Faculty of Archaeology and Tourism, University of Jordan, Amman, 11942, Jordan Department of Anthropology, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history: Available online xxx

The lithic assemblages from the Wadi al-Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site occupations reveal longterm patterning as well as distinctions. These assemblages are records of time-averaged deposition of multiple activities in these persistent places in the landscape. In this paper we examine the characteristics of the lithic assemblages from the rockshelters at Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, and KPS-75, as well as the open-air context in front of the rockshelter at KPS-75 and the open-air site at Tor at-Tareeq. There are several cross-cutting variables that can be considered, including exterior versus interior spaces, temporal slices within the Early Epipaleolithic (e.g., Nebekian and Qalkhan), and the issues of time-averaging. A number of lithic measures often are used in these contexts to examine concepts such as the relative mobility of prehistoric hunteregatherereforager groups (e.g., blank-to-core ratios, lithic densities, and stone raw materials) and thus their settlement systems, although these measures can produce contradictory results. We argue instead that lithic assemblages (“occupations”) that are the result of accumulations in site layers must be assessed using the framework of time-averaging because such accumulations are not a record of an individual event but of long-term deposition and discard at locales in the landscape. The Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site occupations are not unique in being such accumulations, as most researchers combine the lithics from layers to form analytical units. In this regard, consideration of time-averaging should be applied more broadly to Levantine site occupation lithic assemblages and their interpretation(s). © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Early Epipaleolithic Levant Lithics Time-averaging Persistent places Jordan

1. Introduction Although known about from occasional research projects since the late 1930s, investigations into the Early Epipaleolithic in the Eastern Levant began in earnest in the 1970s when surveys and excavations in several areas of Jordan identified and tested sites of this time range (Olszewski, 2008). However, it has been only more recently, primarily beginning in the mid-1980s, that sites of this temporal period have served as the direct focus of research projects and that considerable data about this period has been amassed. The Epipaleolithic period itself is defined typologically by the appearance of backed microliths; these most often dominate the retouched tool component (Bar-Yosef, 1970, 1989; Goring-Morris, 1987, 1995; Donaldson, 1991). The lithic industries that comprise

* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. al-Nahar), [email protected]. edu (D.I. Olszewski).

it have been divided either (1) according to time (e.g., Early, Middle and Late Epipaleolithic) (Moore, 1985; Garrard et al., 1988) or (2) according to a combination of time and geography (Bar-Yosef, 1981, 1989; Henry, 1983; Goring-Morris, 1995). For the Early Epipaleolithic (24,000e17,400 cal BP; see Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 367), there are four widely accepted lithic industries that are present in the Eastern Levant (the geographic area of interest in this paper): Kebaran, Nebekian, Qalkhan, and Nizzanan, which, along with lithic differences, incorporate temporal and geographical distinctions. An initial proposal for a fifth industry, the Madamaghan (Henry, 1986, 1989), within the Early Epipaleolithic framework, is no longer widely accepted (Olszewski, 2006). 1.1. Kebaran The Kebaran, which dates between 22,500 and 17,400 cal BP (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 353), is found mainly in the western Levant, that is, west of the Rift Valley. However, there are instances of the Kebaran in the eastern Levant, at sites in the Wadi Hammeh

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Please cite this article in press as: al-Nahar, M., Olszewski, D.I., Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan, Quaternary International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.048

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(Edwards et al., 1996), and at Kharaneh IV (Maher et al., 2012; Maher and Macdonald, 2013) and ‘Ayn Qasiyya (Richter, 2011) in the Azraq Basin. A number of regional sub-groups were recognized on the basis of various nongeometric microlith combinations (BarYosef, 1970, 1981; Hours, 1973). Generally speaking, Kebaran industries have little to no use of microburin technique, and are characterized by micro-points, curved backed bladelets, and microgravettes. In some instances, microliths are relatively narrow in width, while in others, they are much wider. Later in the Kebaran, there are more obliquely truncated backed bladelets, along with curved backed bladelets (Bar-Yosef, 1987; Byrd, 1994). 1.2. Nebekian The Nebekian is dated to 24,000e21,300 cal BP (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 374). It thus overlaps to some degree chronologically with the Kebaran. However, the spatial distribution of the Nebekian is east of the Rift Valley (Goring-Morris, 1995), and it is often identified as a steppe adaptation as a result of its location in this phytogeographic zone. Nebekian microliths are dominated by narrow, curved-pointed/arched backed bladelets (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 374e380). There also are some instances of obliquely truncated bladelets. Unlike the Kebaran, Nebekian assemblages feature relatively prominent use of the microburin technique to manufacture microliths. 1.3. Qalkhan The Qalkhan complex was originally recognized, defined, and named by Henry (1995), on the basis of tests at three rockshelter sites in the Wadi Humeima in southern Jordan. However, these excavations did not yield materials for dating. Instead, a series of radiocarbon dates from sites in the Azraq Basin indicates that the Qalkhan falls into the interval between 21,300 and 19,700 cal BP (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 380). The Qalkhan thus postdates the Kebaran and the Nebekian, and like the Nebekian, the Qalkhan is found east of the Rift Valley. Byrd and Garrard (2013: 380) argue that the assemblages from southern Jordan used by Henry to define the Qalkhan are mixed, thus in this paper, we follow the definition as presented for the Azraq region. In the Azraq region, Qalkhan assemblages are characterized by wider microliths, which include double truncated pieces similar to triangles, La Mouillah points, and large, asymmetrical triangles (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 380). Among these also are its diagnostic tool type, the distinctive Qalkhan point, which exhibits a remnant notch from use of the microburin technique. 1.4. Nizzanan The Nizzanan is dated between 20,000 and 18,700 cal BP (Byrd and Garrard, 2013: 380), thus overlapping somewhat with the Qalkhan. Its main lithic feature is the dominance of triangle microliths, made using microburin technique. There also are microgravettes and arched backed bladelets. Nizzanan sites are found both east and west of the Rift Valley (Goring-Morris, 1987, 1995; Byrd and Garrard, 2013). 1.5. Early Epipaleolithic in the Wadi al-Hasa region One of the areas in the Eastern Levant that has been the center of Early Epipaleoltihic research is the Wadi al-Hasa region in the Western Highlands of Jordan (Clark et al., 1988; MacDonald, 1988; Olszewski and Coinman, 1998; al-Nahar and Olszewski, 2015). During the Pleistocene, and particularly the period of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the Hasa region was characterized by a

wetlands ecology (Schuldenrein, 1998; Schuldenrein and Clark, 2001, 2003; Winer, 2010; see also Ramsey and Rosen, this volume). In the area surrounding the Hasa region, more arid conditions would have pertained. This meant that the Hasa region was an attractive habitat for Early Epipaleolithic hunteregatherereforager groups because it contained a greater abundance of resources: animals, plant foods, fresh water, and stone raw materials. As a result, one of the aspects of research in the Hasa region has been examination of the potential settlement systems and levels of mobility for the groups who used the sites there (e.g., Clark, 1989; Olszewski and Coinman, 1998). These earlier endeavors, however, did not always factor time-averaging of lithic events and other behaviors in the site deposits into their assessments of mobility and of residential versus logistical settlement patterns. This paper discusses the Early Epipaleolithic lithic assemblage analyses for the rockshelters of KPS 75 on the Kerak Plateau and Yutil al Hasa and Tor Sageer in the Wadi al-Hasa drainage system, as well as the open-air site of Tor Tareeq in the eastern portion of the Wadi al-Hasa drainage, and incorporates the implications of timeaveraging for a variety of issues related to interpreting mobility and settlement when using lithic measures of various types (Fig. 1A). The lithics data presented are those from the 2009, 2010, and 2012 excavations of the Western Highlands Early Epipaleolithic Project (WHEEP) for KPS-75, Yutil al-Hasa Area C, and Tor at-Tareeq Area A, respectively, while the Tor Sageer assemblage data is from the Eastern Highlands Late Pleistocene Project (EHLPP) excavations in 1997 and 1998. Additional information about these sites is in Olszewski and al-Nahar (this volume), as well as in several earlier publications (Clark et al., 1988, 1992; Coinman et al., 1999; Olszewski et al., 1990, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001; al-Nahar et al., 2009; Olszewski and al-Nahar, 2011). 2. Site occupations Based on calibrated radiocarbon dates, the earliest occupations are at Tor Sageer and Yutil al-Hasa, followed by Tor at-Tareeq (see Olszewski and al-Nahar, this volume, for specific chronological details). There are no dates for KPS-75, but the features of the lithic assemblages at this site overlap with Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, and Tor at-Tareeq, as well as likely post-date them by an unknown interval of time. The occupations at the sites thus are: Nebekian (Tor Sageer upper, Yutil al-Hasa upper, Tor at-Tareeq lower, KPS-75 lower), possible Qalkhan (Tor at-Tareeq upper, KPS-75 middle), and an undetermined Early Epipaleolithic that is later than the possible Qalkhan (KPS-75 upper). As nongeometric microlith forms are commonly used to characterize assemblages of the Early Epipaleolithic and to order various occupations into a temporal sequence, a brief overview of these for each of the site occupations is presented below. 2.1. Tor Sageer At Tor Sageer, the upper occupation (Stratum I) is most likely referable to the Nebekian. Stratum 1 is about 35 cm thick and was present in all six contiguous 1
1 m units excavated. This deposit yielded 311 nongeometrics, 54 of which are unidentifiable fragments (Table 1); unidentifiable microlith fragments are mainly medial segments, or more rarely, proximal segments, for which there is no shaping that is identifiable to a specific type of nongeometric or geometric. Microliths (excluding unidentifiable fragments) at Tor Sageer are 69% of all tools. Nongeometric microliths of the Early Epipaleolithic have very narrow widths, often in the range of 3 mme5 mm (Tor Sageer: 3.7 mm average width, sd ¼ 0.9 mm). The highest frequencies within the nongeometrics are those of backed and truncated bladelets (23.3%) and curved

Please cite this article in press as: al-Nahar, M., Olszewski, D.I., Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan, Quaternary International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.048

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Fig. 1. A) Location of Early Epipaleolithic sites in the Hasa region; B) Examples of microliths from the Hasa region sites: note that Qalkhan points grade into large asymmetrical triangles and that the Qalkhan point at far right is unfinished (drawings by Nawal Hawari).

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M. al-Nahar, D.I. Olszewski / Quaternary International xxx (2015) 1e12

backed bladelets (22.6%). These are followed by La Mouillah points (10%) and attenuated curved backed bladelets (8.2%), also often called double arched backed bladelets. Attenuated curved backed bladelets are very typical components in Nebekian assemblages (Garrard and Byrd, 2013) (Fig. 1B). This upper occupation at Tor Sageer also yielded a small number of geometrics (n ¼ 11), which are mostly trapezes (see Fig. 1B). Some of these can be considered a variant form of attenuated curved backed bladelets as they have slightly angled rather than curved distal and proximal ends (see Section 2.5 below).

2.3. Tor at-Tareeq Tor at-Tareeq includes two Early Epipaleolithic occupations, the earliest of which is Nebekian and yielded dates ranging from 21,800 to 18,300 calibrated BP (Clark et al., 1988: 265; calibrated using IntCal13, OxCal v4.2.4). An upper occupation in Areas A and B may be Qalkhan, although, while it has a modest frequency of Qalkhan points (see Fig. 1B), these are not as numerous as at KPS-75 (middle occupation; see below). The lithics described here are from the Area A excavations in 2012, which are 10 m2, four contiguous 1
1 m units to the west of

Table 1 Frequencies of nongeometric microliths at the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites. TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KPS Lower

TS Upper

Attenuated curved Curved Ouchtata Qalkhan point La Mouillah Backed and truncated Truncated Dufour Inverse Pointed Shoulder bladelet/point Blunta Double backed Irregular backed Partially backed % (N)

28.4 4.0 14.2 3.4 4.5 4.5 11.9 1.7 1.1 17.6 0.0 3.4 2.3 0.0 2.8 100 (176)

37.9 9.3 11.0 1.7 1.3 7.3 6.9 0.2 0.6 17.5 0.0 1.5 1.5 0.4 2.8 100 (464)

41.9 15.2 7.9 2.2 2.9 7.2 4.0 1.4 3.6 6.5 0.0 2.2 1.1 0.4 3.6 100 (277)

14.4 12.6 31.4 2.5 2.1 14.4 3.9 0.3 0.5 10.2 0.2 3.0 1.5 0.3 2.6 100 (609)

15.7 13.7 22.8 7.1 2.6 11.1 3.1 0.0 0.0 12.3 0.3 6.0 2.0 0.6 2.8 100 (351)

49.2 11.9 3.8 2.4 2.2 11.1 3.8 0.0 0.8 7.0 0.3 1.4 0.8 0.5 4.9 100 (370)

8.2 22.6 4.7 1.2 10.5 23.3 7.0 0.4 1.9 9.4 0.0 0.4 2.3 0.0 8.2 100 (257)

Fragments (N) Microliths Grand total (N)

(84) (260)

(199) (663)

(54) (331)

(289) (898)

(91) (442)

(73) (443)

(54) (311)

a

A microlith with a blunt end is not pointed or truncated; its distal end is simply perpendicular to the lateral edges.

2.2. Yutil al-Hasa The Yutil al-Hasa rockshelter includes an Early Epipaleolithic occupation which was exposed in Areas C, E, and F. Like Tor Sageer, the lithic assemblages of the Early Epipaleolithic at Yutil al-Hasa are Nebekian. Those discussed here are from the 2010 excavations in Area C (somewhat different methods of analysis were employed in earlier excavation seasons and those have not yet been integrated with the 2010 methodology), which comprises about 2 m2 excavated in three nearly contiguous units of varying sizes (large boulders prevented excavating a completely contiguous area), to a maximum depth of 80 cm for the upper occupation. While Yutil alHasa Area C yielded two occupational levels (upper and lower) within the Early Epipaleolithic deposits, the lower occupation is excluded from this analysis because it yielded only a small number of pieces. Overall, microliths at Yutil al-Hasa upper comprise 66% of all tools. The upper occupation includes 331 nongeometrics, of which 54 are unidentifiable fragments. This upper occupation is dominated by attenuated curved backed bladelets (35%), followed by curved backed bladelets (12.7%). There also are Ouchtata bladelets (6.6%) and backed and truncated bladelets (6%). The attenuated curved backed bladelets average 3.7 mm in width, with an sd ¼ 0.7 mm. Among the small number of geometrics (n ¼ 11) are narrow trapezes and rectangles, again reflecting some variance in the shape of the distal and proximal ends of microliths that may in some cases be related to the manufacture of attenuated curved backed bladelets within the nongeometric category (see Section 2.5 below).

the 1 m wide 1984 trench and six contiguous 1
1 m units to the east of the trench, with the upper occupation being 15 cm in depth and the lower occupation, 40 cm in depth. Microliths in the lower occupation are 75% of all tools and, in the upper occupation, are 64% of all tools. The lower (Nebekian) occupation included 465 nongeometric microliths, of which 199 are unidentifiable fragments (see Table 1). There are many more attenuated curved backed bladelets (average width ¼ 3.6 mm, sd ¼ 0.4 mm) in this occupation (37.9%) compared to the upper one (28.4%) (average width ¼ 3.7 mm, sd ¼ 0.6 mm). The upper occupation has 176 nongeometrics, as well as 84 unidentifiable microlith fragments. This upper occupation (possibly Qalkhan) included a high percentage of Ouchtata bladelets (14.2%) and truncated bladelets (11%), as well as a modest representation of Qalkhan points (3.4%). Both lower and upper occupations have similar amounts of pointed backed bladelets (upper: 17.6%; lower: 17.5%). With regard to geometric microliths, the lower occupation has 57 pieces and the upper occupation has 32, and these thus are not common in the tool assemblages. These geometrics are primarily narrow rectangles (frequencies refer to type within the geometric microlith class only; lower: 18.8%; upper: 26.8%) and narrow trapezes (lower: 34.4%; upper: 29.3%), and thus mirror the geometric microliths recovered also from Tor Sageer and Yutil al-Hasa. 2.4. KPS-75 The Kerak Plateau rockshelter at KPS-75 yielded three occupation phases based on lithic assemblage characteristics (nongeometric microliths); these serve as proxies for the chronological

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periods represented, as there are no radiocarbon dates available (alNahar et al., 2009). The lower levels were assigned to the Nebekian (two noncontiguous 1
1 m units, with a maximum depth of 70 cm), the middle levels to the Qalkhan (five 1
1 m units, four of which are contiguous, to a maximum depth of 30 cm), and the upper levels (seven 1
1 m units, six of which are contiguous, to a maximum depth of 50 cm) more generally to the Early Epipaleolithic (see geometrics below; see Table 1). Microliths for these three occupations are as follows: 78% of all tools in the lower, 77% of all tools in the middle, and 79% of all tools in the upper occupation. The lower occupation included 443 nongeometrics (370 are identifiable, while 73 are unidentifiable fragments). The lower occupation is dominated by attenuated curved backed bladelets (49.2%) (average width ¼ 3.2 mm, sd ¼ 0.5 mm). There also are some curved backed bladelets (11.9%) and backed and truncated bladelets (11.1%). There are very few Ouchtata bladelets in this occupation (3.8%). The middle occupation yielded 442 nongeometrics, with 351 identifiable and 91 unidentifiable fragments. Attenuated curved backed bladelets in this occupation average 3.3 mm in width, with an sd ¼ 0.6 mm. One notable feature of this occupation is that it has the highest frequency of Qalkhan points (7.1%) compared to the other occupations at KPS-75, as well as to the other Hasa region sites (Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, and Tor at-Tareeq). The upper occupation included 898 nongeometrics; of these 609 are identifiable and 289 are unidentifiable fragments. In this occupation, attenuated curved backed bladelets average 3.5 mm in width, with an sd ¼ 0.4 mm. Both the middle (22.8%) and upper (31.4%) occupations are dominated by Ouchtata bladelets. Compared to the nongeometric microliths, the number of geometrics from the three occupations is small. They are as follows: the lower occupation has 27 pieces; the middle occupation yielded 19; and, the upper occupation has 67 pieces. As with all the other Early Epipaleolithic occupations at sites in the Hasa region, the most frequent geometric types are rectangles and trapezes. Although the numbers of geometric microliths are small and thus cannot be taken as definitive markers, the lower occupation geometrics are 48% trapezes, 22% rectangles, and 18% scalene triangles (frequencies reflect presence of types within the geometrics only). In contrast, rectangles comprise 52% of the geometrics in the middle occupation, while trapezes are 31%; this is the occupation with the highest frequency of Qalkhan points. Finally, the geometrics present in the upper occupation at KPS-75 consist of about 46% rectangles and 38% trapezes, which is broadly similar to the middle occupation.

2.5. Summary Various types of nongeometric microliths have long been considered hallmarks for the division of the Early Epipaleolithic. Use of these types in conjunction with radiocarbon dates where available both here in the Hasa region, as well as in other areas such as the Azraq Basin (see Garrard and Byrd, 2013), suggests that Nebekian occupations are present at Tor Tareeq (lower), Yutil al Hasa (upper), KPS 75

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(lower), and Tor Sageer (upper). These Nebekian occupations usually are characterized by relatively high frequencies of attenuated curved backed bladelets (double arched backed bladelets), although Tor Sageer does not quite match this pattern. Assemblages that are attributable to the Qalkhan (but see Olszewski, 2006; for issues with the Qalkhan) might be represented by Tor Tareeq (upper) and KPS-75 (middle). These are characterized by Qalkhan points, which are particularly abundant at KPS-75 middle, where they are found in all stages of manufacture. The probable Qalkhan at KPS-75 also has a high frequency of Ouchtata bladelets. Beyond that, based on the narrow widths of the nongeometrics, the upper occupation at KPS-75 is also Early Epipaleolithic, but probably not Qalkhan. Nor is it Nizzanian as identified in the Azraq Basin as an industry that immediately follows the Qalkhan (Garrard and Byrd, 2013: 354, 380). However, this upper occupation at KPS-75 has the highest frequency of Ouchtata bladelets. Although geometrics are not common in these Early Epipaleolithic occupations, those present are usually trapezes and rectangles, at least some of which are likely to be variations on the attenuated curved backed bladelets that are commonly found in Nebekian assemblages. The average widths of trapezes and rectangles from the various Nebekian occupations ranges from 4.3 to 5 mm (with sds from 1 to 1.3 mm). This is somewhat larger than the average widths for attenuated curved backed bladelets (ranging from 3.2 to 3.7 mm in average width, with sds from 0.4 to 0.9 mm); individual trapezes or rectangles which are within the widths of attenuated curved backed bladelets may exemplify variability within this nongeometric type. The average widths for trapezes and rectangles, moreover, fit with the widely recognized narrow character of Early Epipaleolithic microliths. The frequencies of microliths (excluding unidentifiable fragments) at the seven site occupations range from 64% to 79% of all tools.

3. Site comparisons of the non-microlith components 3.1. Debitage The debitage analysis includes the following categories: flake, blade, bladelet, large debitage fragment (distal and medial pieces), core-trimming elements, microburin, burin spall, small bladelet (<10 mm), small flake (<25 mm), small debitage fragment (distal and medial pieces of small bladelets and small flakes), and shatter. Site comparisons (Table 2) suggest that all occupations contain approximately equivalent numbers of flakes and blade/bladelets. At the time of analysis of the Tor Sageer lithics, the methodology did not separate large debitage fragments from the flake, blade, and bladelet categories and thus the frequencies for these in Table 2 are inflated. There are somewhat more flakes and blade/bladelets in all three occupations at KPS-75 compared to the other sites, and this appears to be partially correlated with the fact that the three occupations at KPS-75 have fewer distal and medial fragments (large debitage fragments). The bladelet frequency is somewhat higher in the upper occupation at Yutil al Hasa (4.6%) and the lower occupation at KPS 75 (4.4%).

Table 2 Frequencies of debitage from the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites. Debitage types

TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KPS Lower

TS Upper

Flake Blade Bladelet Large debitage fragment Microburin Burin spall Small bladelet (<10 mm) Small flake (<25 mm) Small debitage fragment Shatter % (N.)

4.9 2.5 2.9 10.2 1.2 0.5 3.9 42.4 23.2 8.4 100 (7264)

4.9 2.8 3.2 12.7 2.4 0.8 4.6 36.6 26.1 5.9 100 (12225)

5.3 1.5 4.6 11.4 5.0 1.1 4.0 35.1 25.8 6.2 100 (6878)

7.7 5.7 2.5 7.2 0.6 0.2 11.8 24.7 38.0 1.6 100 (11,630)

7.6 4.3 2.1 6.8 1.1 0.2 9.0 24.8 42.8 1.3 100 (4661)

7.8 4.4 4.4 9.3 1.9 0.5 6.6 26.7 36.2 2.0 100 (6994)

23.0 7.7 19.1 0.0 1.5 0.3 0.0 34.7 0.0 13.6 100 (5458)

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There are core-trimming elements in each of the site occupations. The frequency of these pieces within the debitage (complete and proximal pieces) is somewhat variable (Tor Sageer upper: 7%; Yutil al-Hasa upper: 8%; Tor at-Tareeq lower: 4.3%; Tor at-Tareeq upper: 3.7%; KPS-75 lower: 6.9%; KPS-75 middle: 5.5%; KPS-75 upper: 5.8%). Core trimming elements include core tablets, crested blades/bladelets, platform (ridge) blade/bladelets, and rejuvenation blades/flakes, with the least common type being crested blades/bladelets (0%e0.3%). The occupations at Tor Sageer upper, and KPS-75 lower, middle, and upper tend to emphasize platform blade/bladelets, while the occupations at Yutil al-Hasa upper, and Tor at-Tareeq lower and upper have a more even distribution between core tablets, platform blade/bladelets, and rejuvenation blades/flakes. These pieces indicate some preparation and/or maintenance of the cores for removal of blanks. Microburin technology is present in all occupations at all sites with the upper occupation at Yutil al Hasa having the highest frequency (5%). Calculation of the restricted microburin index (IMBTR) augments the pattern seen in frequencies of microburins within the debitage. IMBTR yields the following values for the

KPS-75: upper (11.8%), middle (9%), and lower (6.6%). Small flakes (<25 mm), which result from processes such as core preparation and retouching, are present in relatively high frequency in all occupations at all sites, ranging from about 25% to 42%. Both large debitage and small debitage fragments indicate breakage patterns, some of which might be due to breakage during manufacturing, while others likely represent breakage during taphonomic processes (e.g., trampling). 3.2. Cores Two types of tables were generated for the cores: core types (Table 3) and core technology (Table 4). Although there are differences between the site occupations in terms of the volume of sediment excavated for each context, in general, the upper occupation at KPS-75 produced a very high number of cores (n ¼ 548 cores and core fragments). As can be seen in Table 3, core fragments range from about one-quarter to over one-half of the total for each site occupation.

Table 3 Frequencies of core types in the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites.

Core-on-flake Multiple Ninety degree Opposed Discoidal Pyramidal Prismatic Single Sub-pyramidal Sub-prismatic Tested Other Core fragment

TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KPS Lower

TS Upper

5.3 1.3 2.7 2.7 0.0 1.3 0.0 24.0 0.0 1.3 5.3 0.0 56.0 100 (75)

3.4 8.0 8.0 15.9 1.1 0.0 0.0 23.9 2.3 1.1 2.3 0.0 34.1 100 (88)

11.9 3.0 7.5 4.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 38.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 34.3 100 (67)

4.6 5.7 3.6 5.5 0.2 0.2 0.4 42.9 0.4 2.4 8.9 0.4 25.0 100 (548)

5.0 8.4 1.7 4.2 3.4 0.0 1.7 24.4 0.8 0.0 10.1 0.0 40.3 100 (119)

0.6 4.6 2.3 7.4 0.6 0.0 0.6 49.1 0.6 0.6 9.7 0.0 24.0 100 (175)

0.0 7.9 5.0 6.9 1.0 0.0 0.0 43.6 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 34.7 100 (101)

Table 4 Frequencies of core technology in the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites.

Blade Core Bladelet Core Flake Core Mixed Core N/A Core fragment % (N.)

TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KPS Lower

TS Upper

13.3 12.0 13.3 5.3 0.0 56.0 100 (75)

12.5 20.5 20.5 12.5 0.0 34.1 100 (88)

9.0 26.9 16.4 13.4 0.0 34.3 100 (67)

9.7 23.9 15.7 22.8 2.9 25.0 100 (548)

3.4 19.3 14.3 22.7 0.0 40.3 100 (119)

6.9 41.7 11.4 12.0 4.0 24.0 100 (175)

3.0 36.6 18.8 6.9 0.0 34.7 100 (101)

seven site occupations: Tor Sageer upper (23.8), Yutil al-Hasa upper (54.6), Tor at-Tareeq lower (35.9), Tor at-Tareeq upper (28.9), KPS-75 lower (28.6), KPS-75 middle (25.2), and KPS-75 upper (15.1). As can be seen, four occupations have similar IMBTR, but Yutil al-Hasa upper and Tor at-Tareeq lower have elevated indices, while KPS-75 upper has a very low index. These indices suggest more emphasis on microlith production at Yutil alHasa upper and Tor at-Tareeq lower, and very little emphasis on microlith manufacture using microburin technique in KPS-75 upper. Small bladelets (<10 mm) and small flakes (<25 mm) are elements that are sometimes classified by other researchers as “chips.” Small bladelets are the most frequent in the three occupations at

Excluding core fragments from consideration, Table 3 shows that single platform cores are the most dominant type at all sites, which is not surprising for Early Epipaleolithic contexts. Beyond this, most of the other core types vary in frequency from site occupation to site occupation, for example, the lower occupation at Tor at-Tareeq has a substantial number of opposed platform cores (15.9%) while the other occupations yielded from 2.7% to 7.4% opposed platform cores. The relatively high frequency of cores-on-flakes in the upper occupation at Yutil al Hasa is a tentative assignment that may change with additional analysis. Tested cores represent nodules with one or two removals; they are particularly frequent in the three occupations at KPS-75, perhaps suggesting close proximity to nodular sources of flint/chert (see Section 4 below).

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As for core technology, Table 4 documents that the final removal scars are predominantly those of bladelets, especially in the Tor Sageer upper and KPS-75 lower occupations. In contrast, the upper occupation at Tor at-Tareeq has few cores with bladelet removal scars, but this occupation does have approximately equal representation for bladelet, blade, and flake cores. Flake cores, in general, are moderately represented in all occupations. Besides core types and the technologies they reflect, in combination with raw material, debitage and/or tools, cores also have been used as a proxy for examining relative levels of mobility. This is frequently recorded as blank-to-core and tool-to-core ratios, with the underlying premise that higher ratios indicate more intensive use of cores at a site occupation and thus likely are a measure of lower levels of mobility (e.g., Torrence, 1983; Bamforth, 1986; Shott, 1986; Parry and Kelly, 1987; Nelson, 1991; Kelly, 1992; Zvelebil and Green, 1992; Kuhn, 1994; Bamforth and Becker, 2000; Close, 2000; Schuldenrein and Clark, 2001; Holdaway et al., 2010). Blanks are defined here as all debitage that is complete or proximal (medial and distal fragments are not used in the calculation of this ratio). The blank-to-core ratios for the seven Hasa region site occupations are: Tor Sageer upper (not calculated because medial and distal debitage fragments were not separated from complete and proximal blanks), Yutil al-Hasa upper (17.8:1), Tor at-Tareeq lower (23.1:1), Tor at-Tareeq upper (22.6:1), KPS-75 lower (8.7:1), KPS-75 middle (9.2:1), and KPS-75 upper (4.5:1). Tool-to-core ratios are: Tor Sageer upper (6.9:1), Yutil al-Hasa upper (1.9), Tor at-Tareeq lower (1.9), Tor at-Tareeq upper (2.3:1), KPS-75 lower (2.7:1), KPS-75 middle (3.2:1), and KPS-75 upper (3.7:1). The blank-to-core ratios, in particular, suggest mobility interpretations that are contra those gleaned from other lithic analyses. These are discussed in more detail in the Discussion section below. 3.3. Macrotools Macrotools include endscrapers, burins, perforators (borers), backed pieces, truncations, notch/denticulates, retouched pieces, composite tools (multiple tools), special tools (usually sidesrapers, and sometimes also pi
eces esquill ees), core tools, and varia (Table 5). There are very few hammerstones or groundstone tools across these seven occupations, therefore, they are not shown in Table 5.

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well as the lower occupation at Tor at-Tareeq (see Table 5). Burins have moderately high frequencies in all site occupations except for KPS-75 upper. Truncations are most abundant in the lower occupation at Tor Tareeq and in the lower and middle occupations at KPS-75. The moderate frequency (6.5% or n ¼ 6) of Special Tools in the lower occupation at KPS-75 is composed of sidescrapers and pi
ece esquill ees. All other macrotool types in the different occupations at the sites have relatively low frequencies. Some of the macrotool classes, particularly endscrapers and burins, are sometimes used in interpretations for specific activities such as hide scraping and engraving of bone and stone, respectively (Andrefsky, Jr., 2005; Terry et al., 2009; Hinguant et al., 2012; Clarkstone et al., 2015). 4. Cortex and raw material Study of the amount of cortex within a given assemblage can aid in assessing aspects of core reduction at sites and/or the import/ export of artifacts. As a first approximation, the lithic assemblage was divided according to cortex intervals as follows: noncortical (0e10%), some cortex (10e60%), and cortical (60e100%). Fig. 2 shows that noncortical pieces are the most prevalent in all occupations at all sites. However, there are some differences. About one-third of the total assemblage in the upper occupation at Tor Sageer has some cortex (33.4%), and cortical blanks (approximately 5%) at this site are also the highest frequency of all site occupations. Overall, the three occupations at KPS-75 have modest amounts of cortex (ranging from about 15% to 19% when combining the some cortex with cortical intervals). On the other hand, the Yutil al-Hasa upper and both the Tor at-Tareeq occupations have assemblages with very little cortex (less than 10% per occupation when combining the some cortex with cortical pieces). The frequency of cores at Tor Sageer and KPS-75 ranges from 1.7% to 4.3% (the other site occupations are 0.7%e0.9%), and thus the somewhat higher frequencies of elements with cortex may indicate the simple fact of more cores brought into Tor Sageer and KPS-75. Stone raw material is widely available in the Hasa region both as flint/chert nodules and as bedded flint/chert; there are fewer instances of the use of lag gravel or wadi bed cobbles (Olszewski and Schurmans, 2007). With respect to types of stone raw materials in Fig. 3 and based on the counts of the assemblage in each site

Table 5 Frequencies of macrotool types in the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites.

Endscraper Burin Perforator Backed piece Truncation Notch/Denticulate Retouched piece Composite Special Tool Core-Tool Varia % (N)

TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KSP Lower

TS Upper

13.8 9.5 2.6 6.0 6.9 20.7 37.1 0.9 0.9 0.0 1.7 100 (116)

18.1 7.7 0.5 3.8 11.0 17.6 37.9 1.1 0.5 0.0 1.6 100 (182)

9.7 10.5 1.6 4.0 6.5 36.3 28.2 0.8 0.8 0.0 1.6 100 (124)

28.8 1.9 1.0 4.8 3.8 13.5 40.4 0.0 3.8 1.0 1.0 100 (104)

24.4 6.7 2.2 4.4 11.1 17.8 26.7 2.2 2.2 0.0 2.2 100 (45)

9.6 11.7 2.1 2.1 10.6 20.2 34.0 0.0 6.4 3.2 0.0 100 (94)

10.2 11.0 3.9 3.9 3.9 10.2 48.0 1.6 4.7 0.0 2.4 100 (127)

As is common in many lithic assemblages, the most frequent macrotool types are notch/denticulates and retouched pieces, both of which are temporally nondiagnostic. However, depending on their specific appearance, notch/denticulates can be indicators of taphonomic processes such as trampling, as can marginally retouched pieces (McBrearty et al., 1998). Endscrapers are particularly abundant in the middle and upper occupations at KPS-75, as

occupation, Tor at-Tareeq (upper and lower) and Yutil al Hasa (upper) have higher uses of a variety of types. This reflects in part the site situations, for example, Tor at-Tareeq is located in the alHisa Phosphorite Formation where phosphatic flint/chert nodules are found, and siliceous coquina outcrops at the site as well as being present as a rubble surface above the site (Olszewski and al-Nahar, 2006; Olszewski and Schurmans, 2007). Yutil al-Hasa, while

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Fig. 2. Cortex presence in the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at the Hasa region sites.

Fig. 3. Stone raw materials at the seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at sites in the Hasa region (based on counts of artifacts within each raw material type).

situated in the Amman Silicified Limestone Formation, is but a short distance from the al-Hisa Phosphorite Formation. The situation at Tor Sageer is not precisely comparable, as the analysis of the stone raw materials at this site was done prior to recognition of phosphatic chert/flint, and thus at least some of the fine flint at this site may be phosphatic. What is striking is that the KPS-75 occupations all have high frequencies of fine flint. As this site, like Tor at-Tareeq, is situated in the al-Hisa Phosphorite Formation, this may suggest preferential use of particular flint nodule sources; today these nodules mainly occur on the surface (having eroded from geological formations at some point in the past) and thus are not identifiable to specific locales in the landscape. Chalcedony tends to be from bedded sources in the Amman Silicified Limestone Formation and is not as widely distributed as some of the other raw material types. The Amman Silicified Limestone Formation is immediately accessible to the sites of Yutil al Hasa and Tor Sageer, but at some distance from Tor at-Tareeq, perhaps suggesting that use of chalcedony at Tor at-Tareeq indicates preferential targeting of stone raw material. Basalt, limestone, and quartzite (combined into the Other category in Fig. 3), are present in minimum quantities. 5. Discussion The seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations discussed here produced large quantities of lithic artifacts (debitage, cores, and tools) (see Tables 1e5). The assemblages in all occupations included all stages of manufacturing, reflected in part by the high quantities of small flakes and small bladelets, as well as core trimming elements

such as core tablets and platform blades/bladelets. Lithic densities suggest that each of these sites are persistent places in the landscape (see Olszewski and al-Nahar, this volume), which has implications for how one might interpret the patterning present in the lithic assemblages. The occupants of these sites during the Early Epipaleolithic, for example, used these places repeatedly, in some cases resulting in high density accumulations over time, and in other cases, in low density accumulations of lithic artifacts. These time-averaged depositions can include artifacts that were produced or used there and/or can reflect transport of artifacts into or out of these contexts without use at the site. Overall, the accumulations are a record of the occupants’ discard behaviour. We return to the issues raised by time-averaging and site interpretations at the end of this section, after initially examining several cross-cutting variables with respect to better understanding the lithic assemblages within their various contexts. 5.1. Assessment of location contexts As noted in part in Olszewski and al-Nahar (this volume), there are three site occupations from deposits inside rockshelters: Yutil al Hasa upper, part of the lower occupation at KPS-75, and Tor Sageer upper. In general, these three occupations from interior rockshelter spaces include higher frequencies of bladelets (see Table 2) and bladelet cores (see Table 4), which may also reflect temporal placement within the Early Epipaleolithic (see below). For some site occupations such as Yutil al-Hasa upper, when combined with the very high IMBTR (54.6), this suggests that microlith production

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occurred within this interior space. However, this pattern is not repeated at other interior spaces such as KPS-75 lower, where the IMBTR (28.6) is similar to the IMBTR (28.9) from open-air contexts such as Tor at-Tareeq upper. Beyond this, however, there does seem to be some patterning that is consistent with regard to interior versus exterior contexts (these two contexts do not co-occur at the same site during the same Early Epipaleolithic phase). The rockshelter interior spaces from the three occupations (Tor Sageer upper, Yutil al-Hasa upper, KPS-75 lower) have the highest frequencies of burins (Table 5), which suggests that activities related to burin uses may have been more often done inside these rockshelters. On the other hand, open-air contexts (Tor at-Tareeq lower and upper, KPS-75 middle and upper) have the highest frequencies of endscrapers. This appears to suggest that activities involving this macrotool class were somewhat more common in open spaces (e.g., see Clarkson et al. (2015)), for an assessment of endscraper use, maintenance, and discard. 5.2. Assessment of temporal contexts Another way to examine contexts for lithic assemblages is to see what degree of patterning exists within “slices of time” (time-averaged deposits) within the Early Epipaleolithic. In the case of the Hasa region sites, these time slices are the Nebekian and the Qalkhan, and the occupation in upper KPS-75 which postdates the Qalkhan at that site. As Early Epipaleolithic occupations often are defined in part on the basis of the prevalence of certain nongeometric forms, it is not surprising that Nebekian sites, with one exception (Tor Sageer upper), are characterized by attenuated curved backed bladelets (double arched back form), while Qalkhan occupations have relatively higher frequencies of Qalkhan points (KPS-75 middle and probably Tor at-Tareeq upper). The other relatively consistent features of the Nebekian versus the Qalkhan are that Nebekian occupations have somewhat higher frequencies of bladelets and of bladelet cores (as noted above in the interior rockshelter spaces, although this pattern also holds true to a lesser degree for exterior Nebekian spaces as at Tor at-Tareeq lower), and Nebekian occupations have higher frequencies of tools. Ouchtata bladelets are particularly abundant in the Qalkhan occupations (KPS-75 middle and Tor at-Tareeq upper), although they also are characteristic of the upper occupation at KPS-75. The Ouchtata bladelet was originally noted as characteristic of some Levantine Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP) assemblages (Marks, 1981), but is not temporally restricted to these LUP contexts. One of the problems is that different terminologies have been used to classify this tool type (Ouchtata bladelet). Some researchers, for example, call these “marginally retouched bladelets” when they are found in Epipaleolithic assemblages (Byrd, al-Nahar personal communication, 1999), or straight retouched bladelets, or medial segments of straight backed bladelets (Henry, 1995; al-Nahar, 2000; BelferCohen and Goring-Morris, 2002). Because of these terminological

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differences, similarities between assemblages are more difficult to immediately recognize, and may mean that Qalkhan occupations need to be re-evaluated for other Early Epipaleolithic sites in the southern Levant (see also Olszewski, 2006). Beyond these few slice of time patterns, however, there is little other consistency in features of the lithic assemblages from the Nebekian or Qalkhan in the Hasa region sites. This means that these assemblages are far more variable from site occupation to site occupation within the Nebekian or within the Qalkhan than they are similar. Reasons for this can be attributed to the time-averaging of activities within deposits (occupations) and to the history of use of place over time. 5.3. Time-averaging and interpretation contexts Time-averaging is a concept borrowed from paleontology (Stern, 1994), which recognizes the usually long-term nature of deposition that ultimately forms a particular layer. Because of this, the individual components within a layerdin our case, the lithic artifactsdare the result of many discard events representing activities and accidental losses that are combined together. Even though, in many cases, we can obtain calibrated dates that indicate the timeframe for these accumulated deposits (e.g., Nebekian or Qalkhan), we cannot identify each individual discard event in each layer because we do not know precisely which combination of artifacts are associated with each other to form an individual discard event. Thus, when we attempt to examine concepts such as the level of mobility, we are often faced with lithic measures that contradict one another. One example of this can be seen for the Hasa region site occupations when comparing blank-to-core, tool-to-core, lithic density, and core frequency within each of these contexts. Lithics researchers, for instance, have suggested elsewhere that lower levels of mobility are indicated by ratios that record higher levels of blanks and tools to cores, based on the notion that more intensive use of place can be translated into more intensive use of stone at that place (Parry and Kelly, 1987; Nelson, 1991; Wallace and Shea, 2006). Greater amounts of materials (density) deposited at a place are a potential corollary to lesser mobility because when groups stay in one place longer, they generate greater amounts of lithics (e.g., Barton and Riel-Salvatore, 2014). However, at KPS-75 middle, a relatively low ratio of blanks to cores suggests high mobility, but this occupation has the highest lithic density/ m3, which would suggest a lower level of mobility (Table 6). At Yutil al-Hasa upper, on the other hand, the occupation has the lowest lithic density of all these site occupations, suggesting higher levels of mobility, but the blank to core ratio is quite high, suggesting lower levels of mobility. Then again, there does seem to be a pattern with respect to tool-to-core ratios. With one exception (Tor at-Tareeq upper), when a site occupation has more cores and less blanks-to-cores, then tools-to-cores are somewhat higher. This might suggest that more blanks are made into tools in these contexts.

Table 6 Lithic measures often used to assess level of mobility.

Blank-to-core ratio Tool-to-core ratio Core frequency Tool frequency Lithic density/m3 a

TT Upper

TT Lower

YH Upper

KPS Upper

KPS Middle

KSP Lower

TS Upper

22.6:1 2.3:1 0.9% 5.4% 2818

23.1:1 1.9:1 0.7% 6.9% 2755

17.8:1 1.9:1 0.9% 6.8% 1160

4.5:1 3.7:1 4.3% 5.1% 2792

9.2:1 3.2:1 2.4% 4.9% 5085

8.7:1 2.7:1 2.3% 6.3% 4560

naa 6.9:1 1.7% 7.5% 1482

not calculated for Tor Sageer upper because medial and distal large debitage fragments were not separated from proximal fragments and complete debitage.

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One of the issues is that, in some cases, these lithic measures are being influenced in part by the overall quantity of cores in a given site occupation, for example, KPS-75 has abundant cores in all three of its occupations and all three of these have lower blank-to-core ratios. In site occupations where core frequency is low, blank-tocore ratios tend to be high, as can be seen in the situation at Tor at-Tareeq upper (see Table 6). But, the lithic density at Tor at-Tareeq upper is neither among the highest nor the lowest of the seven site occupations. One of the reasons that these contradictions exist is that these so-called lithic measures of level of mobility do not consider the movement of lithics across the landscape, that is, the fact that lithic artifacts are both transported into and exported out of sites (e.g., Roth and Dibble, 1998; Holdaway and Fanning, 2008; Turq et al., 2013). Nor do they incorporate the idea of timeaveraging (Bailey, 1983, 2007; Wandsnider, 1992; Stern, 1994; Holdaway and Wandsnider, 2006; Lucas, 2012). One recent effort to address these issues when using lithic assemblages is an agent-based modelling of forager bands by Barton and Riel-Salvatore (2014). They identify several outcomes with
-vis the notions of respect to identifying use of place over time vis-a logistical and residential basecamps (task/resource camps cannot be distinguished from residential basecamps). Among these are: 1) time-averaged deposits that include both logistical and residential/ task uses of place yield a negative correlation between the frequency of retouched artifacts and artifact density; and, 2) exclusive use of place as a residential basecamp/task camp yields high frequencies of retouched pieces and high densities of artifacts. They note that some of the differences are due to the provisioning of place for logistical basecamps as opposed to the situation at residential basecamps/task camps where groups will continually reuse artifacts at the locales each time they visit because they are individually provisioned and thus not carrying much stone with them. It should be also noted that part of the dataset used by Barton and Riel-Salvatore (2014) includes information about lithics from earlier excavations at the Hasa sites under discussion in this paper. Using the Barton and Riel-Salvatore (2014) expected density and retouched artifact frequency outcomes and the information in Table 6, the following can be said. The lower occupation at KPS-75 (Nebekian) has high artifact density and retouched tool frequency, suggesting this place was used exclusively as a residential basecamp/task camp during this period of occupation. The Nebekian at Tor Sageer upper and Yutil al-Hasa upper, as well as the Qalkhan at KPS-75 middle, exhibit negative correlations between lithic density and tool frequency. This suggests that the use of these places alternated between logistical and residential basecamps during these periods of occupation. The situation for Tor at-Tareeq lower (Nebekian), Tor at-Tareeq upper (Qalkhan), and KPS-75 upper (undesignated Early Epipaleolithic) does not appear to fit as easily into the Barton and RielSalvatore modelled outcomes partly because the artifact densities at each are in the mid-range for the seven site occupations, while some tool frequencies are high (Tor at-Tareeq lower) and others are low (Tor at-Tareeq upper and KPS-75 upper). What is interesting in this context is that KPS-75 upper has the highest frequency of cores for all site occupations, which would seem to indicate provisioning of place (at least some logistical basecamp use) and/or continual discard of cores at this locale (which might be another type of provisioning). High core frequency is also characteristic of the other two KPS-75 occupations (middle and lower), as well as of Tor Sageer upper. If an abundance of cores equates to provisioning of place, then all occupations at KPS-75 and Tor Sageer upper most likely include at least some use of these places as logistical basecamps (which has already been indicated for Tor Sageer upper and KPS-75 middle, see above). However, core abundance at KPS-75 lower, which is interpreted as an exclusive residential basecamp/

task camp, would seem counterintuitive as this use of place is unlikely to include provisioning. One obvious factor to consider, then, is the degree to which artifacts were imported and/or exported in these site occupations. This can be assessed using cortex ratio as a quantifiable measure of artifact transport in time-averaged deposits (Dibble et al., 2005; Douglass et al., 2008; Lin et al., 2015). For the Hasa region sites, however, this study has not yet been undertaken and thus is not reported here. Considerations of time-averaging, use of place, and lithic measures to assess mobility strategies are all vital to building interpretations of site occupations. As can be seen above, however, it also is important to carefully consider the parameters and implications of these when dealing with time-averaged activities and what ultimately are the records of discard that constitute the archaeological record.

6. Conclusion The archaeological interpretive world is far more complex today than some decades ago when it was implicitly assumed that the materials found at a place could be taken at face value for generating an understanding of past activities and behaviors, e.g., identification of windbreaks in Bed I at Olduvai Gorge (Leakey, 1971) or the Lazaret shelter at Nice (Lumley, 1969). Examining sites from the perspective of taphonomic processes is now de rigueur and has substantially altered our viewpoints about the past, but the appeal of identifying specific activities/behaviors and mobility patterns as quasi-discrete events at hunteregatherereforager sites of the Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic persists despite the fact that most researchers understand that processes such as time-averaging are an important consideration (Bailey, 1983, 2007; Wandsnider, 1992; Stern, 1994; Holdaway and Wandsnider, 2006; Lucas, 2012). In this paper, we have examined the lithic assemblages from seven Early Epipaleolithic occupations at sites in the Wadi al-Hasa region of the Western Highlands of Jordan. In describing and discussing these, we have shown that some of the older, standby measures used to identify mobility are, at best, contradictory in their results, which we believe reflects their lesser emphasis on the impact of the movement of lithic materials into and out of site contexts. It also reflects the fact that these lithic measures were designed to measure short-term discrete events but most lithic assemblage contexts represent long-term time-averaged events, which has serious implications for the overall utility of ratios such as blank-to-core and tool-to-core. One recent endeavour to overcome these deficiencies is the agent-based modelling of lithic assemblages from a time-averaged perspective by Barton and Riel-Salvatore (2014). When their observations for interpreting mobility were applied to the Hasa region sites (above), some of the sites (e.g., KPS-75 lower as a residential/ task camp; and, Tor Sageer upper, Yutil al-Hasa upper, and KPS-75 middle as occupations reflecting alternations between logistical and residential/task camps) appear to fit quite neatly into their parameters. However, this was not always the case, as the lower and upper occupations at Tor at-Tareeq and KPS-75 upper demonstrate. And, there also is the issue that residential basecamps and logistical task camps in the Barton and Riel-Salvatore (2014) model cannot be separately identified. As we described elsewhere (Olszewski and al-Nahar, this volume), this likely results at least in part from the fact that most ephemeral sites, which would include task camps on the landscape, are not visible due to archaeological survey methods, as well as the probable non-temporally diagnostic lithics at many of these task locales. Other issues include the difficulty of “seeing” small elements such as microliths on surfaces littered with larger stone artifacts and taphonomic loss of these

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small stone tools from surfaces (e.g., wind winnowing and downward mobility into underlying sediments). The fact that there is no “one size fits all” set of parameters for interpreting lithic assemblages should come as no surprise. This is because each time-averaged deposit represents not just what people did and discarded at places in the landscape, but also the situational contexts of each site. These can include rockshelter, cave, and open-air locations, but as importantly, must also consider the ecological settings and the resources available in those habitats. For the Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic occupations, the fauna include gazelle, equids, aurochs, ibex, tortoise, and birds. All of the sites are dominated by gazelle among the mammalian fauna, and tortoise in the smaller game, and the exploitation of these resources suggests that people had little impact in the landscape (Munro et al., this volume). These animals were present in part because the Wadi al-Hasa drainage system was characterized by instream wetlands (Winer, 2010) and phytoliths recovered from Tor Sageer and Yutil al-Hasa support this attribution (Ramsey and Rosen, this volume). In-stream wetlands have valuable resources such as sedges and reeds, but are not as resource-rich as larger marsh settings, which potentially impacts decisions that prehistoric hunteregatherereforager groups during the Early Epipaleolithic made about their lengths of stay and the number of times they revisited not only the sites but the Hasa region itself. There are several future directions for analyses of the Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site occupations that will be undertaken to better understand the time-averaged events at these persistent places in the landscape. Among these are questions related to: 1) All three occupations at KPS-75 are similar in having high numbers of cores, which on the face of it might suggest provisioning of place regardless of Nebekian, Qalkhan, and other Early Epipaleolithic temporal slices or attribution to specific residential or logistical/ residential alternations (according to parameters of Barton and Riel-Salvatore, 2014); this site is near a seasonal playa, but not the in-stream wetlands that characterize the other Hasa region sites; 2) The extremely high IMBTR at Yutil al-Hasa upper suggests intensive snapping of bladelets as the initial stage in manufacturing microliths; the degree to which this activity over time relates to alternation between logistical and residential camp use (using the parameters of Barton and Riel-Salvatore, 2014) at the site is not clear; and, 3) interior (rockshelter) spaces tend to have more burins, while exterior spaces have more frequent endscrapers among the macrotools; this patterning might suggest long-term trends in the use of space and certain tools for specific/similar activities. Future research on the Hasa region Early Epipaleolithic site assemblages will address these and other research issues. Acknowledgments Excavations at Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, Tor at-Tareeq, and KPS75 and analyses of materials were funded by the National Science Foundation (SBR-9618766; BCS-0917660), Deanship of Academic Research at the University of Jordan, National Geographic Society (Grant No. 6695-00), Wenner-Gren Foundation (Grant No. GR6278), and Joukowsky Family Foundation. Logistical field support was received from the American Center for Oriental ResearchAmman, Department of Antiquities of Jordan, and Hashemite University. This is WHEEP Contribution #9 and EHLPP Contribution #40. References al-Nahar, M., 2000. The Upper and Epipaleolithic Transition in the Southern Levant: Microlith Typology versus Technology. Ph.D. thesis. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Ann Arbor (University Microfilms International).

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Please cite this article in press as: al-Nahar, M., Olszewski, D.I., Early Epipaleolithic lithics, time-averaging, and site interpretations: Wadi al-Hasa region, Western Highlands of Jordan, Quaternary International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.048