Archaeometric investigation of the Early Bronze Age stone tools from Tilbeshar Mound

One hundred sixty-seven stone tools were found in the excavations carried out in Tilbaşar Höyük, located within the borders of Gaziantep province, in the years 2015-2018 evaluated within the scope of the thesis. All the stone tools were recovered from the houses of the people living in the south lower city and the city wall area. This study aims to shed light on the economic activities of the people living in the age in question by analyzing the stone tools belonging to the EBA with typological and archaeometric methods. According to their production techniques, stone tools were primarily examined in two groups, as chipped and ground stone tools. Chipped stone tools represent only 10% of the stone tool assemblage. These are cutter and driller tools. Ground stone tools showed great diversity in terms of raw materials and typology. More than half of stone tools are food preparation tools. Basalt grinding stones and mortars are among the food preparation tools. In addition, stone tools show that the people living here were engaged in weaving, mining, and trade, besides the wood and stonework. The archaeometric analysis includes thin-section, X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) analyses of non-study specimens representing the same species the stone tools. The analysis results revealed that the people living here mostly benefited from the local stone resources.