Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep The lithic landscape around Kharaneh IV (Azraq Basin, Jordan): Petrographical and geochemical characterization of geological cherts Marta Sánchez de la Torre a,b, ⁎ , Bernard Gratuze c , Xavier Mangado b , Christophe Delage d a PPVE, Universidad de Zaragoza, 12 Pedro Cerbuna St., 50009 Zaragoza, Spain b SERP, Universitat de Barcelona, 6-8 Montalegre St., 08001 Barcelona, Spain c IRAMAT-CEB (UMR 5060), CNRS-Université d'Orléans, 3D Ferrollerie St., 45071 Orléans, France d Department of Prehistory, National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Chert Lithic procurement Geochemistry Petrography LA-ICP-MS ABSTRACT As part of a current archaeological project focusing on the Azraq Basin, through notably the excavation of the Early-Middle Epipalaeolithic site of Kharaneh IV, a geoarchaeological analysis was started to ultimately char- acterize the chert types exploited by the inhabitants of the site and to assess their geographical origins. In order to examine prehistoric lithic procurement strategies, a detailed study of the geological literature and maps of a 3000 km 2 area surrounding the site was completed. This study revealed the presence of three chert-bearing formations dated to the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary in that territory: Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation, Umm Rijam Chert-Limestone Formation, and Wadi Shallala Chalk Formation. A geo-archaeological survey fol- lowed. This survey comprised detailed observations about these silicifications in their sedimentary context and the collection of chert samples in both primary and secondary deposits. This contribution presents the main results of this work. The multiplicity of outcrops and the conditions of embeddedness of the siliceous horizons, on the one hand, and the characteristics of these silicifications (size, shape, quality, etc.), on the other hand, all contribute to illustrate the rich lithic potential of this region. Thus the Kharaneh IV inhabitants had access to a wide range of cherts from which to choose their stone tool kit. Given that the Epipalaeolithic tool kit of the Kharaneh IV inhabitants was based on small size tools, quite small nodules would have been sufficient for these populations to develop their lithic industry, so chert outcrops with both small and large nodules were taken into account in this study. Furthermore we present some observations on the textural, micropalaeontological, petrographical and geochemical characterization of some 104 samples of geo- logical siliceous rocks. Such a dataset will constitute the most reliable reference in the comparison with the archaeological lithic assemblages exhumed at the site. We may already mention that the diversity of chert types documented in the geological reference collection is also present in the archaeological assemblages. Most of these lithic types are thus present in the local en- vironment (< 15 km away). Moreover differences in raw material selection, procurement and exploitation are already noticeable between the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic occupations that will need to be further documented and quantified. 1. Introduction The Late Palaeolithic site of Kharaneh IV is located in the Azraq Basin, about 70 km east of Amman, in Jordan (Fig. 1). It was discovered in the 1970s during a survey led by A.N. Garrard and N.S. Price (Garrard and Price, 1975). A first phase of excavations was carried out in the early 1980s by Jordanian prehistorian Mujahed Muheisen. This phase revealed a wide range of archaeological materials including an abundant lithic and faunal assemblage, associated with some remarkable domestic structures (i.e. huts with living floors and hearths), along with bone tools, grinding stones, perforated shells, and several human burials. These remains were dated to the Early (Kebaran) and Middle (Geometric Kebaran) Epipalaeolithic (Muheisen, 1988a, b). Renewed excavations, as part of the Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project (EFAP), directed by Jay Stock, Lisa Maher, and Tobias Richter, started in 2006 (see Maher et al., 2007). Besides the Kharaneh IV excavations in May–June 2010, we con- ducted a geoarchaeological survey focusing on the recognition and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.05.022 Received 30 January 2019; Received in revised form 29 April 2019; Accepted 20 May 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: PPVE, Universidad de Zaragoza, 12 Pedro Cerbuna St., 50009 Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail addresses: sanchezdelatorre@unizar.es (M. Sánchez de la Torre), gratuze@cnrs-orleans.fr (B. Gratuze), mangado@ub.edu (X. Mangado). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 26 (2019) 101857 2352-409X/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T