ArchAtlas The Obsidian Trade in the Near East, 14,000 to 6500 BC

The Obsidian Trade in the Near East, 14,000 to 6500 BC (Andrew Sherratt, 2005)
Case Studies 2004-6

Obsidian, a black volcanic glass, was first recognized by Colin Renfrew and his
colleagues J.E. Dixon and J.R. Cann in the 1960s as a uniquely sensitive indicator of
prehistoric trade, both because of the great desirability of this material before the use of
metals, and also because the trace-elements it contains are usually diagnostic of
individual sources. Work on Near Eastern obsidian in the Neolithic period has been a
particular focus of interest, and a summary of current results has been published by M.-
C. Cauvin et al., L'obsidienne au Proche et Moyen Orient: du volcan à l'outil (Oxford:
BAR Int. Ser. 738), from which the information in the following maps has been
extracted. They indicate a remarkable story, from limited circulation (though still over
impressive distances) by late-Pleistocene hunter-gatherers, to its increasing use by the
first farming communities – initially distributed along a few axial routes but then
flowing through a more reticulated network. The maps are particularly useful since they
indicate the flows of material from two major source-areas, initially separate but
increasingly inter-penetrating. (Obsidian from other sources, e.g. around Lake Van and
in the Transcaucasus, is not shown).
1) The earliest evidence of long-distance trade in obsidian occurs during the late-glacial
period, in the still-open landscapes before the spread of forests, when it circulated
among Epipalaeolithic hunting and foraging groups around the Fertile Crescent. Two
chains of connection are already evident: obsidian from the Bingöl region of south-east
Turkey reached Iraqi Kurdistan (via the Hilly Flanks route), and obsidian from the
Cappadocian area of central Turkey was carried across the Taurus to the middle
Euphrates and the northern Levant (the Levantine Corridor).
2) During the rapid climatic swings which brought the late-glacial period to an end, in
which a warmer Allerød phase was followed by a colder Younger Dryas phase,
increasingly sedentary communities continued to trade obsidian, which penetrated the
whole length of the Levant. The middle Euphrates seems to have been an important
intermediate region in this transmission.
3) The first farming communities (Pre-pottery Neolithic A) appeared in the warm
conditions which marked the beginning of the postglacial period, and increased
quantities of obsidian (both from Cappadocian and Bingöl sources) came into
circulation. Although each source dominated in it own area (Cappadocian in the west
and Bingöl in the east), some Bingöl obsidian reached the middle Euphrates and some
traveled further down the Levant.
4) The full impact of farming and domestic livestock came with Pre-pottery Neolithic B
after 8500 BC, when farming communities expanded both to Cyprus and Cappadocia –
in the latter case, no doubt drawn by the high-grade obsidian resources, which were
traded around the entire middle Euphrates and Levant, and indeed over to Cyprus.
Bingöl obsidian now traveled east as far as the middle Zagros.
5) During the Late PPNB the first pieces of Cappadocian obsidian appeared on the
north-Levantine coast, and at the same time greater exchanges between the eastern and
western wings of the northern Fertile Crescent were mediated through sites like Bouqras
on the Euphrates, sustained by its trading links in both directions. In many parts of the
region the traffic was handled by major sites such as Çatalhöyük, Tell Abu Hureyra,
Beisamoun, Ain Ghazal and Tell Basta.
6) In the Final PPNB period (in which pottery was in use in some areas) the coastal
parts of the northern Levant, previously showing no evidence of Neolithic occupation
(and probably occupied by forest foragers) now show impressive amounts of
Cappadocian obsidian in Neolithic contexts. This probably indicates a new trade route
to the Levant via Cilicia and the coast. This supplemented the earlier central-Euphrates
route, and reduced the role of the Levantine super-sites such as Ain Ghazal, which had
previously enjoyed a near-monopoly. Obsidian now reached a greater diversity of sites
by a variety of routes.

How to cite this page: Andrew Sherratt (2005), 'Obsidian Trade in the Near East, 14,000
to 6500 BC', ArchAtlas, Version 4.1,
http://www.archatlas.org/ObsidianRoutes/ObsidianRoutes.php, Accessed: 21 March
2018