https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk
https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-worlds-oldest-mirrors-found-in-neolithic-atalhyk-site
Obsidian is volcanic glass so shards of it can be exceptionally sharp. It can even be used as surgical scalpel blades.
Obsidian is hard, brittle, and amorphous; it therefore fractures with sharp edges. In the past, it was used to manufacture cutting and piercing tools, and it has been used experimentally as surgical scalpel blades.
For a long time I've known that obsidian is very sharp and that it was historically used to make stuff like arrowheads. But it wasn't until a few years ago that I learned how sharp it was. A redditor said it's used as scalpels. I thought that was copypasta nonsense but I googled anyway and I learned I was wrong.
I tried knapping obsidian and it did not go well, probably didn't help I was using a nail pounded into a wood handle. Glass is a much easier material to work with.
Catalhoyuk my beloved 💜 such an incredible site, shines an amazing window onto the lead up to the dominance of agriculture and the transition to it. An egalitarian, hierarchy free, sustainable, semi-nomadic community! Unfortunately, they had to progress further into farming and thus into hierarchy, but still, a beautiful look into the distant past.
