Resumen de Southwest Asian Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age Demand for "Big-Tools": Specialized Flint Exploitation Beyond the Fringes of Settled Regions
Cortical scrapers ("fan scrapers") and large blades ("Canaanean blades") belong to the characteristic larger-sized types in Southwest-Asian lithic tool assemblages in the fourth to early third millennium (Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age). However, the provenance of the raw material of the respective tools and the locality of their production are almost unknown; related workshops and mines have rarely been identified. Following the presentation of two hitherto unknown mining areas for large blades and cortical tools, the factors limiting our ability to identify such production sites and the probable socio-economic reasons for the locations of these mines are discussed.
