"Shaft straighteners" in Northern Mesopotamia during the Neolithic

During the Epipaleolithic period grooved stones of a special type, the so called «shaft straighteners» appeared in Southwest Asia. They were widespread during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period whereas by the end of the Ceramic Neolithic they practically went out of use. Based on the chronological, cartographical, morphological as well as figurative and compositional analysis, the paper describes the time and the place where such objects appeared, the area and changes over the time in their dissemination, local and regional distinctive traits of occurrence and decoration of «shaft straighteners» in Northern Mesopotamia during the Neolithic.