Sourcing obsidian from Chogha Golan, an Aceramic Neolithic site in west-central Zagros, Iran

The Early Neolithic site of Chogha Golan records the beginnings of the Neolithic way of life in the western foothills of the Zagros Mountains in the province of Ilam in western Iran. The cultural sequence at Chogha Golan dates from 11,700 to 9,600 cal BP. The Tübingen-Iranian Stone Age Research Project (TISARP) excavated the site and carefully floated all the archaeological sediments. During excavations in 2009 and 2010, this approach resulted in the recovery of 23 obsidian specimens from archaeological horizons I and II, dating to 9,800–9,600 cal BP. The stratified artefacts include bladelets and tools made from bladelets, while the surface finds (n = 22) include a core, tools and knapping debris. Non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence analysis (pXRF) of 45 obsidian artefacts indicate that they derived from three volcanic sources: Nemrut Dağ, Bingöl A, and Bingöl B in southeastern Anatolia. Here we discuss the origins of the obsidian artefacts from Chogha Golan and the archaeological insights they provide for socio-economic networks of the Zagros and Taurus regions during the Aceramic Neolithic.