The Groundstone Assemblage from the Pottery Neolithic Site at Tel Yosef (Tell esh-Sheikh Ḥasan)

Three distinct occupation strata were identified in the Tel Yosef excavations, attributed to two cultural horizons: Strata III and II are attributed to the sixth millennium BCE, and Stratum I, to the late fifth millennium BCE (see Covello-Paran, this volume). Sixty groundstone artifacts were unearthed in the excavations. 1 In most cases, however, their stratigraphical attributions are not secure and therefore, the groundstone assemblage is presented typologically, according to the classification suggested by Wright (1992; 1993). Tools that do not correspond to Wright’s typology are described under Varia (see Table 1). The raw material used for manufacturing these artifacts was mainly limestone; approximately 60% of the artifacts were manufactured of either hard limestone or dolomite. Another 30% were made of fine-grained or vesicular basalt, and the rest, of sandstone, beachrock, granite and exotic minerals, such as quartzite.