Exploitation of the cereals during the Pre-pottery Neolithic of Dja'de-el-Mughara: Preliminary results of the functional study of the glossy blades

The village of Dja'de-el-Mughara (Northern Syria, excavated by E. Coqueugniot) is essential to understand the process of neolithisation in the Near East since the settlement was contemporary with the first attempts of agriculture in the area. Regarding that specific context, a key research direction to improve our knowledge of major technical and economic changes occurring in that crucial period is the functional study of the tools used by the inhabitants, more specifically their sickle blades (traditionally related to the glossy blades). This article deals with the various methodological aspects of this research on the one hand, and presents its first preliminary results on the other hand.