Chapter 5: Neolithic 3 Tannur (Pages 350-351)

Pre-History and Archaeology Glossary

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Tannur which lies on the east bank of the Wadi Ayun is the farthest north of these (Jordan Valley) sites. A few rough potsherds were found there which may be Neolithic. Among the flint tools were a number of tanged pressure-flaked arrowheads. Some of these were Amuq [Valley] types I and 2; the tang of one of the latter was swollen at the base, a trait found rarely on arrowheads in Lebanon but common enough further north. There was also a tanged and notched arrowhead of a type found at Munhatta and Tell Ramad in Neolithic 2.

Most of the sickle blades were segmented and backed; these were usually coarsely denticulated but some were nibbled. The blades for these and other tools were almost all struck off pyramidal cores although one double-ended core was collected from the site.

Flaked axes were the most numerous tools found at Tannur. Oval and almond-shaped ones were more common than those with straight cutting edges; the latter were triangular, trapezoidal or rectangular in shape. Some of these tools had polished cutting edges. An adze and a few picks were collected at the site but it seems that other heavy flaked tools were rare.

Two large stepped open-ended basalt querns and fragments of several more were found at Tannur. These were like querns found at Jericho, Munhatta and Tell Ramad in Neolithic 2. There were also a number of basalt rubbers and a fragment of a basalt bowl.

Some of the finds from Tannur are types found on excavated sites in Neolithic 2 contexts so presumably the site was first occupied then. The rest of the material, particularly the arrowheads and sickle blades, is more typical of Neolithic 3 so it seems that the site continued to be occupied until sometime in the 6th millennium ...

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