The Mystery of the Neolithic Marked Arrowheads [10:22]

[snip] Between roughly 7,650 and 6,600 BCE, people in Central Anatolia produced rare obsidian arrowheads decorated with strange geometric incisions. More than 50 examples have now been discovered, yet archaeologists still don’t know exactly why these markings were made.

A new study of 11 incised arrowheads from Tepecik-Çiftlik in Cappadocia provides fresh clues. Were the marks the equivalent of a hunter's personal signature? Did they identify an owner, serve a technical purpose, or have some kind of symbolic or social meaning?

In this video, I discuss the archaeological evidence from Tepecik-Çiftlik, Çatalhöyük, Can Hasan III and other Central Anatolian Neolithic sites and see what the new paper concludes about this interesting subject. [/snip]
YouTube transcript reformatted at textformatter.ai *may* follow.

I suspect they denoted the weight class of the points. ;-D

My guess is the guy who made the arrow heads was an artist type and didn’t just want plain old arrow heads. OR, aliens from beyond Alpha Centauri decided to visit earth and make a bunch of arrow heads with their alphabet etched on them, then took off for Egypt and built a bunch of pyramids. (Ancient alien theorists say, “yes”.)

Interesting.

I thought this remark in the comments by someone theorizing this was an interesting point:

@intractablemaskvpmGy
1 hour ago
I don’t think it was to identify a particular hunter or a makers mark, since the shaft and fletching would be more distinctive. I suspect the markings were used to imbue power, or special ability to the point- think enchantment...

Whole thing reminded me of Tyler Robinson (guy who murdered Charlie Kirk).

He engraved words on his bullets with messages. I wonder if the hunt at Central Anatolia was not directed to animals but to another tribe looking to claim the area. Warfare? But then I’d guess they’d find skeletons, or is it too many years and they’d be gone by now?

The shaft and fletching were different crafts. The points may have been flaked many miles away. The maker’s mark would tell the buyer wehere to get more

Wonder if they are using the 32(?) symbols.

Oooh, interesting question. I wonder if the lack of continuity between the symbols on the arrowheads and the local symbology means these were manufactured for export in Anatolia / Cappacodia?

Probably to identify who shot the arrow.

Transcript

Chapter 1: New Discovery of Incised Arrowheads

Between the late 8th and early 7th millennia B.C.E., unusual obsidian arrowheads were manufactured in central Anatolia, seemingly to be used for hunting. This period of time is known as the late ceramic Neolithic because pottery had not been produced in that region yet, but agriculture was well underway. What’s strange about these arrowheads is not their shape, not their size, and not that they were made of obsidian, which was locally available. No. What’s peculiar about them is that they are incised with geometric markings and it’s not clear what they mean. A new study on 11 of these incised arrowheads recently recovered from the settlement of Tepecik-Çiftlik [transcript originally showed “Tuchik Chifflick”] in Cappadocia brings a fresh analysis to the subject.

Chapter 2: Where Have These Arrowheads Been Found?

A total of 54 incised arrowheads have been found so far, and these are all in central Anatolia. There’s nothing comparable anywhere else. The vast majority were discovered at the Neolithic settlement of Can Hasan 3. Only four of these were in stratified contexts and dated to phase 2 between 7650 and 6600 B.C.E. Five incised arrowheads were discovered at the famous settlement of Catal Huyuk, dating to between 7100 and 6050 B.C. Others were recovered from similar domestic contexts, such as at Sir Khalepe. But there are also examples from obsidian workshops and a place associated with various Neolithic activities, including salt exploitation. Before the latest discovery at Tepecik-Çiftlik [transcript originally showed “TEIC Chief Leak”], only one had previously been found there.

Lots of different explanations for these marks have been suggested over the years. One of the most popular hypotheses is the idea that they were hunter marks, potentially identifying the owner of the tool so that an animal could be claimed by them. There are ethnographic similarities to this in Inuit groups. However, the incisions appear to be quite random. No clear patterns in terms of style or distribution have emerged that would support such a hypothesis.

A detailed technological and functional analysis of these arrowheads has not been carried out in a long time. Since the first comprehensive study on them, the collection has grown. So when archaeologists discovered the 11 arrowheads at Tepecik-Çiftlik [transcript originally showed “Teachic Chifflick”], they decided a new approach was needed to solve the mystery. They wanted to answer the questions: why are these arrowheads so rare? How were they produced? Did the markings have symbolic, technical, or social functions?

Tepecik-Çiftlik [transcript originally showed “Depict Chief Leak”] is located on the Melendiz plain in the volcanic Cappadocia region, 1,600 m above sea level.

Chapter 3: Tepecik-Çiftlik Archaeological Site

The site consists of an oval mound where excavations have been ongoing since 2000. It was in use from the pre-pottery Neolithic to the early Chalcolithic, although earlier layers may also exist. Excavations have revealed domestic structures, hearths, storage features, burials, and evidence of a fully developed agropastoral economy with the pottery Neolithic phase being the most extensively studied.

The mound is located 5 km from the Goludac volcano and 20 km from the Nanzi Dag volcano, meaning obsidian was easily accessible to those that lived at the settlement. Obsidian has consequently been found in all stratigraphic layers. Although high altitude farming presented environmental constraints, the authors of the paper point out that the extensive obsidian resources probably helped the settlement remain resilient.

Overall, 740 arrowheads have been found at the site during excavations. Of these, 10 are made of flint and 730 are made of obsidian. Although only 12 of the obsidian arrowheads are incised, this represents 1.6% of the total assemblage. However, some arrowheads are missing portions or have been retouched, meaning that they may originally have had markings that are no longer present or visible. When these examples are removed from the calculation, the percentage of incised arrowheads from the remaining collection increases to 3%.

The researchers determined that the incisions were anthropogenic in origin using three criteria: whether the mark was visible to the naked eye, whether it involved the removal of material, and whether there was evidence of deliberate execution. Experiments were also carried out to replicate the markings of the incised arrowheads. Around half were determined to have come from the nearest volcano, whilst the others came from the other slightly more distant one.

The individual arrowheads display a range of different incised designs. Arrowhead 8 consists of V-shaped incisions with the lines forming the V-shapes doubled and tripled in places. This suggests that they were made intentionally rather than being accidental scratches. Arrowhead 4 has three repeated square-shaped groups, whilst arrowhead 12 has wavy lines that converge. The markings on arrowhead 9 form a large rough rectangle, whilst arrowhead 11 is incised with an L-shaped design surrounded by vertical and horizontal lines. Arrowhead 7 is decorated with a cross. The markings on arrowhead 2 alternate between vertical and horizontal lines, whilst arrowhead 3 has five markings, including a group of four rough parallel lines. Arrowhead 10 features a chevron design, and arrowhead 1 has a design resembling the letter A. Arrowhead 5 has five parallel markings, although these may not have been intentional. Finally, arrowhead 6 has a single vertical incision.

As you can see, the incisions vary from one artifact to another, and there’s nothing about the markings that correlates with a particular site or layer or the typology of the arrowhead. All of the signs appear to be geometric rather than figurative. However, none of the signs correspond to decorative or symbolic motifs found on pottery and stamp seals at the site. This implies that the incisions had personal or situational meanings rather than belonging to a broader system. There’s also no connection between the quality of the arrowheads and the complexity of the design.

Although we assume the arrowheads were used for hunting, only one example from those studied contains a fracture which suggests that that was its function. Alternatively, it could have been used in combat, but the other arrowheads do not contain any information that indicates what they were for. After looking at all of the data, the researchers conclude that the artifacts were not only a pre-pottery Neolithic phenomenon, but that the production of incised obsidian artifacts continued into the pottery Neolithic as well. However, although this covers a long time period, they are still relatively rare.

Their geographical spread is quite distant but still mostly limited to the coa [probably Konya] plain and Cappadocia. Most of the incised arrowheads are from settlements. Only four examples are not associated with domestic areas, but these are obviously isolated finds. Those from settlements were not found in particular contexts that help to understand them better, for example, from domestic dwellings or certain types of structures. Although there is no consistency in the decorations, overall they do indicate a shared but flexible practice.

There are no incisions on other types of obsidian tools from central Anatolia. So it’s possible that the designs are specifically connected to the function or symbolism of the arrowheads. The authors of the paper looked at other examples of engraved arrowheads from different regions, even those made of other materials such as bone, ivory, and metal. They found a limited number of slate examples from Norway dating to between 4,000 and 1,700 B.C.E. and some slate ones from Alaska dating to the first millennium B.C. However, since the number of these is pretty small, they don’t provide any useful information on the practice.

It was common to decorate spear points with figurative or geometric motifs in the European Upper Paleolithic, but decorations were common across a range of objects, not just arrowheads. So, this doesn’t really tell us anything.

Chapter 4: Looking For A Pattern

Incised copper alloy spearheads are known from the king’s grave tomb in Mesopotamia. These engravings depict a bull’s leg and appear to identify the weapons as belonging to the six deceased individuals they were laid next to, all of whom were the personal god to the main burial. This shows us that these decorations were part of the structured social and hierarchical system of ancient Mesopotamia and are markedly different from the context of the central Anatolian arrowheads.

Phoenician arrowheads dating to the early Iron Age have been found bearing inscriptions in the Phoenician alphabet. These correspond with personal names, so researchers think they may have been used for divinatory practices, archery competitions, or warfare. However, once again, this is a very different context to the examples under consideration in the paper. The authors give a few other comparative examples, including ancient Egypt and southeastern Arabia, but none can really explain those from central Anatolia.

So, the conclusion is a bit disappointing. Hopefully, further research will help to elucidate the situation. Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank you for watching everyone and I’ll see you next time.

[sidebar: map at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bleda-During/publication/231998420/figure/fig1/AS:341309266120710@1458385878660/Map-of-central-Anatolia-showing-the-most-important-Neolithic-sites-the-two-main-sites.png]

Should add that American Indians painted their personal designs on the arrow shaft to ID it was they who shot that arrow.

Could read “Og Sent Me” or “Happy Birthday”. 😁

Or “Die you meat stealing SOB”

If you want to know who made these incised arrowheads, look for a skull with excessive wear on the incisors...

I know what is says.

“Oggs arrowheads.” He was in business to sell arrowheads.

It’s the number of beasts/enemies taken with that arrow.

He got right to the point. /rimshot