Lunate is a crescent or moon-shaped

microlith A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 60,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Austral ...

. In the specialized terminology of

lithic reduction In archaeology, in particular of the Stone Age, lithic reduction is the process of fashioning stones or rocks from their natural state into tools or weapons by removing some parts. It has been intensely studied and many archaeological industrie ...

, a lunate flake is a small, crescent-shaped

flake Flake or Flakes may refer to: People * Christian "Flake" Lorenz, German musician and member of the band Rammstein * Gisa Flake (born 1985), German actress and singer * Jake Flake, American politician * Jeff Flake (born 1962), American polit ...

removed from a

stone tool Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or knapped stone, the latter fashioned by a ...

during the process of

pressure flaking In archaeology, in particular of the Stone Age, lithic reduction is the process of fashioning stones or rocks from their natural state into tools or weapons by removing some parts. It has been intensely studied and many archaeological industrie ...

. In the Natufian period, a lunate was a small crescent-shaped stone tool that was sometimes used to harvest grasses. In archaeology a lunate is a small stone artifact, that has a sharpened straight edge and a blunt crescent shaped back. The word originates from the Latin word ''lunatus'' which means to bend like a crescent, and from luna meaning moon in Latin. A lunate object can be typically used as a decorative piece or as a stone tool.

Israeli lunate

In the earlier findings of Epipaleolithic lunate in the

Natufian The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...

Harifian Harifian is a specialized regional cultural development of the Epipalaeolithic of the Negev Desert, in the southern part of the Levant. It corresponds to the latest stages of the Natufian culture, and represents a culmination of the local Natufi ...

, and Negev

Kebaran The Kebaran culture, also known as the 'Early Near East Epipalaeolithic', is an archaeological culture of the Eastern Mediterranean dating to c. 23,000 to 15,000 Before Present (BP). Its type site is Kebara Cave, south of Haifa. The Kebaran wa ...

periods in Israel, they were roughly 10–40 mm long and were formed on small blades or bladelets. While the later findings Natufian and Harifian range of lengths varied then between 9 mm and 17 mm. In the later period, the lunate resulted in three specific types: *

Helwan Helwan ( ', , ) is a suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The area of Helwan witnessed prehistoric, ancient Egyptian, Roman and Muslim era activity. More recently it was designated as a city until as late as the 1960s, befor ...

Backing (Bifacial) * Plain Abrupt Backing * Bipolar Backing (anvil) The differences among these three types are also associated with the length of the lunate objects, with Helwan lunate normally being the longest and bipolar being the shortest. For unknown reasons, the epipaleolithic lunate tool type disappeared and did not reappear until around the end of the 4th millennium B.C. These Lunate tools were most likely used as barbs in arrow shafts, or as transverse arrowheads coated with poison. The Lunate are also a very rare artifact from the Early Bronze Age because there was not as much emphasis on hunting during that period. The reappearance of Lunate after several millennia could shed some light on the hunting emphasis in the society. Lunate have been found as far north as the Azor tombs in Israel and was far south as south Sinai in this particular region.

Other cultural examples

Lunate artefacts have been discovered among early

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

stone carving in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The original lunate pendant found in

appears to be of clear transparent

pounamu Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture. Name The Māori word ...

(greenstone), from

Ruapuke Island Ruapuke Island is one of the southernmost islands in New Zealand's main chain of islands. It is located to the southeast of Bluff and northeast of Oban on Stewart Island. It was named "Bench Island" upon its discovery by Captain James Cook i ...

, in

Foveaux Strait Foveaux Strait ( ; ) is a strait that separates Stewart Island from the South Island of New Zealand. The width of the strait ranges from about , and the depth varies between . The strait was first charted by an American Seal hunting, sealer, O ...

. Its characteristics include a notched edge and the stone itself is thought to originate from Tangiwai, New Zealand. There was a second rare lunate-shaped object discovered in the New Zealand ethnological region as well. A handful of ancient societies shaped their tools in the form of lunate such as the

Puebloan peoples The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

who originated around

San Juan County, Utah San Juan County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 14,518. Its county seat is Monticello, Utah, Monticello, while its most popu ...

. There have also been findings of lunate used by Puebloan peoples dating back to the 3rd/4th millennium B.C.

References

{{Reflist Lithics Ruapuke Island Natufian culture Kebaran culture