Lithic items from the 2016 field season were analysed by Flavia Amato, who also undertook a revision of the finds from the previous seasons. The data achieved by separation, items-counting, drawings and photography of the lithic material were recorded in the project's FileMaker Pro Database for objects finds. In addition, each lithic find was measured, photographed, drawn and described following a series of categories included in a specifically designed Lithic Tools Database for the Aradetis Orgora materials.
Analysed items were distinguished on the basis of the rock type (obsidian, flint, basalt, igneous rocks, quartz). Flint and obsidian tools were distinguished into the following categories: cores, scrapers, denticulates, perforators, projectile points, blades, sickle blades, microblade cores and microblades. Projectile points were described following the paradigmatic method used by Fowler (1999: 105; see also Binford 1963). Having partially integrated his terminology, in order to describe the objects we considered a set of morphological traits: serration (present or absent to any degree), hafting element (un-notched, side-notched, basal, tri-notched, stemmed), blade shape (triangular, excurvate, incurvate, ovate, incurvate-excurvate), base shape in un-stemmed points (straight, concave, convex, basal notched), stem shape (straight, expanding, contracting, pointed), and stem base (straight, concave, convex, indented, rounded).
Retouch was described following – with minor modifications - Laplace’s terminology (Laplace 1968: 24-32), and considering the following categories:
- Morphology: scaled retouch, stepped retouch, sub-parallel retouch, parallel retouch
- Extent: short retouch, long retouch, invasive retouch, covering retouch
- Position: direct retouch, inverse retouch, alternate retouch, bifacial retouch
- Delineation: linear retouch, denticulate
- Localisation: lateral or side retouch (left, right, bilateral), transverse retouch (distal, mesial, or proximal).
1470 obsidian debitage flakes, 128 flint debitage flakes, 49 igneous rock fragments (probably basalt), 10 quartz pieces, 2 carnelian flakes, 6 water-worn pebbles and 14 unidentified rocks were recovered in the 2016 season.
Furthermore we discovered 38 lithic tools, out of which 25 were obsidian tools and 13 flint tools. The obsidian items consist of 8 blades, 7 scrapers, 3 cores, 4 projectile points, 1 perforator, 1 cutting tool and 1 truncation. The flint items are 6 sickle blades, 4 blades and 3 projectile points.
In the following, a short summary of the finds subdivided by periods (Kura Araxes, Late Bronze, transition Late-Middle Bronze, Middle Bronze, and mixed contexts) is provided.
Five tools come from Kura Araxes layers in Field B. Three are flint arrowheads (2456/2-M-2) (Fig. 27a) (2708-M-2) (2719-M-1), one is a flint blade fragment (2726-M-4), and one is an obsidian truncation (2456/2-M-5).
The tools from the Middle Bronze layers are eleven, ten from Field A and one from Field B. They consist of: one flint blade (2670-M-10), two obsidian points (2670-M-12) (Fig. 27b) (2670-M-14), one obsidian perforator (2670-M-13), three obsidian scrapers (2590-M-5) (2801-M-12), (2801-M-15), two flint sickle blades (2699-M-2) (Fig. 27c) (2801-M-6), two obsidian blades (2670-M-18) (2848-M-3).
Ten are the tools of the transitional MB/LB period: six coming from field B and four from field A. They include: three obsidian scrapers (2567-M-5) (2569-M-2) (2584-M-9), two obsidian blades (2584-M-8) (2584-M-11), a flint blade (2647-M-1), two flint sickle blades (2648-M-1) (2655-M-2) (Fig. 27d), and two obsidian cores (2647-M-6) (2584-M-10).
The tools of the Late Bronze age are eleven, of which four are from Field B and seven from Field A. They consist of: two flint sickle blades (2563-M-3) (Fig. 27e) (2611-M-7), four obsidian blades (2609-M-2) (2611-M-12) (2558-M-4) (2565-M-1), two obsidian points (2624-M-3) (2632-M-6), two obsidian scrapers (2632-M-5) (2639-M-2) and an obsidian core (2720-M-4). Finally, a flint blade fragment (2554-M-3) came from a mixed context in Field B.
