Academic Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003552121000066

This episode of palaeoanthropological news takes us to the Turkey. A relative black hole in the Palaeolithic record, where the site of Surmecik is revealing a rich deposit of stone tools crafted by Homo neanderthalensis
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Surmecik is located in Usak Province, 4 kilometres to the south west of Banaz. Given how tectonic active the Anatolian peninsula is, it is no surprise that Surmecik has a tortured geological history, with many faults running through the site. These fault lines have allowed substantial thermal springs to develop forming deposits of calcium carbonate also known as Travertine strata. Some of these layers reach 5 metres in places, but beneath archaeologists found a 30 cm layer of clay, with over 82,000 knapped stone objects and a diversity of fauna remains.
Sadly, a ceramic factory is located less than a kilometre from the site and was positioned there to take advantage of the limonite and hematite deposits. This extraction activity has displaced much of the archaeology, making it practically worthless to archaeologists. You see, once archaeologists can’t find a stone tool lying on the surface, there is no way to identify how old it is, without identifying the stratigraphic layer from which it came. Remember that next time you find a stone tool lying on the surface. Its only useful to science if you can provide evidence that it came from a particularly location or even better identify the stratigraphic layer it came from. If you can identify the stratigraphic layer from which your newly discovered stone tool came from, archaeologists will set about estimating the age of the artifact. An archaeologist could be very relieved to find that your stratigraphic layer is sandwiched between two volcanic layers in which case, they can employ radiometric dating techniques. Ar/Ar dating is often used for hominin evolution sites older than 100,000 years of age. If this is not the case, you may find your archaeological site is sandy, in which case you may be able to employ luminescence dating. Normally, the archaeologists can conduct an excavation at the site and identify the various animals in the same layer as the stone tool. By looking at other previously excavated sites that have been radiometrically dated, they can find stratigraphic layers that have the same group of animals. In the case of Surmecik, a thick layer of Travertine caps the archaeological sediments. A Uranium Series Disequilibrium Dating technique will provide the archaeological team with a minimum date for the site. Further investigation of the bedrock, might reveal more travertine or igneous rocks which can be both radiometrically dated to give a maximum age for the site.
So, while Surmecik were badly damaged by the extraction works, a rescue excavation was conducted to gather up all the archaeological and zooarchaeological remains. But more importantly, identify areas that were not damaged by the works. These pristine layers could then be accurately dated later on. The rescue excavation was conducted by the Usak Museum in 2016 and 2017. The sediments were dry sieved with mesh gaps 1 cm across. With the help of a tanker full of water, the artefacts were washed, in preparation for marking and packing. The artefacts are now in storage at the University of Ankara.
The excavation seasons of 2016 and 2017, revealed 83,002 stone tools, 72% of which were debitage and flakes. Debitage sounds very grand, but in a language that is not very graceful, rubbish doesn’t sound quite as good. The flakes were referred to here as chipping products, which are pieces of stone that the knapper does not want, a by-product of the stone tool manufacturing process. Barely, 10% of the assemblage was made up of the most interesting stone tools.
Prepare yourselves, because we are going to talk about Prepared Core Technology or the Levallois Stone tool manufacturing technique. A Paris, Mon cheree! In the 19th century, an archaeological site in the Levallois-Perret district of Paris, revealed the first stone tool of a type that would receive the name of the site it was first identified at. Beginning with a stone core, careful removal of flakes, prepares the core for an important moment. That one moment will make or break the ability to produce a single robust stone tool. With one robust swing of the arm and a focused strike at a specific point on the core, you can produce the Levallois Flake. Evidence of this stone tool manufacturing technique has been found at African sites dated to over 315,000 years of age. But no other continent seems to harbour more of these flakes than Europe. Which has led many to associate the technique with the hominin Homo neanderthalensis. Nearly 60% of the Surmecik stone tool assemblage comprised Levallois flakes. So, west-central Turkey might be playing host to the Neander Factor.
A discussion of stone tools would not be complete without a word about the type of stone used. The raw materials used at Surmecik included Quartzite and metamorphosed sandstone, Chalcedony, a crystalline form of silica, and flint a crystalline form of Quartz. One of the most prized raw materials in the British Isles over many thousands of years, was Flint. The fine crystalline structure made it incredibly easy to craft sharp flakes to efficiently cut meat among other uses. Surmecik also produced evidence that early hominins were using mica-schist and radiolarite, which may suggest that they were willing to experiment or in a moment of need, they grabbed the nearest stone and started knapping it. Both Mica-schist and radiolarite are not particularly good raw materials to make stone tools from.
By looking at the assemblage of stone tools at Surmecik, the archaeologists noted trends that added further weight to the identity of the hominin. Side scrapers, End scrapers, stone points and Levallois flakes all pointed to Homo neanderthalensis. These are often referred to as Classic Mousterian. But side scrapers and stone points reminiscent of those found at Quina Cave, Gardes-le-Pontaroux, Charente, France. These are often referred to as Charentian or Quina Type stone tools. In 2021, the conclusion, can be summed up as follows. The two styles of lithic manufacturing, might suggest that there are two groups of hominins manufacturing stone tools here. One group in the Lower Palaeolithic and another group, we would identify as Homo neanderthalensis. We know that the Quina types stone tools are associated with Homo neanderthalensis, because the Quina cave stone tools show similar knapping results to those of Surmecik. And Quina Cave, produced undeniable evidence of Homo neanderthalensis remains including La Quina H5 and 18. Many sites in mainland Europe contained Classic Mousterian stone tools that date to as much as 160,000 years of age, while the Quina type tools date to a more recent bracket of between 70,000 and 45,000 years ago. Based upon these time frames, it seems very likely that Surmecik will not reach beyond 200,000 years of age. But, the radiometric dating of the Travertine was projected to start towards the end of 2021.
As of early 2021, no radiometric dating was conducted at the site, so any hope of determining, whether the “Classic Mousterian” was manufactured by an earlier hominin will remain. The archaeologists appear to be dealing with an open air site at the edge of a marsh or lacustrine environment, formed by the thermal waters. The animals recovered so far are primarily horse teeth, with the promise of a more diverse faunal array in the years to come. This site has more to reveal, from the stone tools, to the radiometric dating to the fauna assemblage and the possible carcass processing at the site.