A chipped stone characterization of Ghwair I: A Neolithic village in southern Jordan

Ghwair I, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) village in the Wadi Feinan in Southern Jordan, has been excavated from 1993 through 2000. The chipped stone recovered from Ghwair I (N = 48,388) has undergone a techno-typological analysis to help characterize the site\u27s chronology and possible function. The analysis of recovered PPNB chipped stone indicators has demonstrated that Ghwair I is a PPNB village that shows minimal variation in its chipped stone proportions from different areas of the site. The analysis presented here also concludes that Ghwair I, although rife with microlithic technology typical of an earlier PPNA occupation, does not contain a PPNA or later PPNC component. Ghwair\u27s possible function as a peripheral site supplying a central settlement with resources (the \u27core/periphery\u27 model in Wallerstein\u27s World Systems Theory: 1974) is refuted, at least in regards to chipped stone, by its standard distribution of chipped stone and lack of workshop or production areas