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BONE TOOLS

by Nerissa Russell

During the 1997 season, I recorded 96 bone tools, bringing the total analyzed to 187. All tools recognized in the field or encountered while studying the animal bones were recorded. More will no doubt be found in the animal bone as the rest of it is studied. Most of these (107) are from the Mellaart area, with 58 from the North area and small numbers from the Summit, Bach, and Kopal excavations.

In terms of tool types, the pattern seen in 1996 has generally been maintained, with just over half of the tools being points, and most of the remainder ornaments, especially bone rings. The pattern of distribution of bone ornaments has changed, however. While pendants are still much more common in the North area, rings are now proportionately more common in the North as well, largely due to a single burial with five rings (fig 19). The greater proportion of pendants in the North is also due to the four specimens found in burials. So far, the burials excavated in the Mellaart area have not contained bone tools. Several new tool types have been recovered this year as well. The 1997 season brings further confirmation that bone tool manufacture did occur in the area of Mellaart's earlier excavations, contra Mellaart (1967), who argued that the sector he excavated was a residential area for priests because craft manufacture did not occur there.

Figure 19: Five bone finger rings found in a burial.

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