Obsidian Cache

During the 1997 season at Çatalhöyük the usual varieties of obsidian artifacts were found including projectile points, blades, flake tools, and of course, waste flakes. But the most notable discovery was a small storage (or cache) pit containing 50 large, heavy obsidian flakes that had been intentionally and carefully hidden away for later use. According to James Conolly, the evidence indicates that they were not made at the site, but instead were "pre-formed imports from the obsidian sources in Central Anatolia brought to Çatalhöyük and, without significant modifications to their original state, cached."