Chipped stone assemblages of Körtik Tepe (Turkey)

Körtik Tepe is a low mound on the Tigris in Southeastern Turkey, dated to the end of the 11th and the 10th millennia BC. The lithic assemblage from the earliest level at Körtik Tepe is late epi-Palaeolithic in character, and dates to the Younger Dryas. The levels above are dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A [PPNA] period, strata that produced rich lithic industries, hundreds of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic decorated stone vessels, undecorated stone vessels, decorated ritual bone objects, thousands of marine shell beads and several kinds of stone beads, animal decorated stone plaques, bone tools, bone fishing hooks, perforated stones large and small in size, and many kinds of mortars and pestles. This paper represents the first detailed report of Körtik Tepe's chipped stone assemblages.