Transverse grooved stones (TGS) believed to be used as shaft straighteners, first made their appearance at Epipalaeolithic sites in the Near East from where they spread to the Mediterranean coasts of Africa and Europe, but mostly to Northern Eurasia (the steppe, forest-steppe, and semi-desert zones). It has been discovered that the spread of TGA has been carried out along different paths.  Moreover, grooved stones along each of these transmission routes can be distinguished by their unique decorative and morphological characteristics. The aim of this paper is to clarify the circumstances and the date of appearance of the first TGS, localization of their initial areas, and identification of their respective decorative and morphological features. This is a necessary condition for identifying the starting points of the subsequent transit carriers of TGS' tradition and tracing the directions of interaction in Eurasia during the end of the Pleistocene – the first half of the Holocene period using TGS as markers. The initial database was formed on the basis of the scientific publications on the Near East. The following is a presentation of the analytical review of at least 200 grooved stones and 80 sites in their starting area in south-western Asia. The analysis used a systematic approach with emphasis on chronology, environment, petrography, morphology, functional-typological data where such were available, and TGS’ decor.  But first of all, the study pays attention to the distribution of TGS and their cultural and chronological boundaries in this region.  For this purpose, it was performed the mapping of findings in two chronological levels – up to 8000 thousand BCE and after, with the marking of decorated products. The results enabled us to detect that the geographical spread of grooved artefacts of this type is limited in the Near East to the area of central Anatolia and Fertile Crescent, with a boundary along the desert-steppes. At least three concentrations can be clearly distinguished: the Levant, Zagros Mountains, and Upper Mesopotamia - central Anatolia, where the products are characterized by specific features of decorative and morphological design and in one case (Levant) an additional observed petrographic specificity. Currently, the earliest cases are recorded in Early Natufian contexts in the Levant and in Epipalaeolithic contexts of the Anatolian plateau since the 13th millennium cal BCE. Thus, one can confidently state that the introduction of TGS in the Middle East is generally linked to the Epipalaeolithic sites (Natufian, Harifian, and Western Zarzian) and is definitely associated with hunter-gatherers. The heyday of TGS falls on the PPNA and lasts to the beginning of the early Bronze Age, when they finally disappear.

中文翻译：

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欧亚大陆最早的横纹石：近东分布、类型及年代学

横向槽石 (TGS) 被认为用作轴矫直机，首先出现在近东的旧石器时代遗址，从那里传播到非洲和欧洲的地中海沿岸，但主要传播到欧亚大陆北部（草原、森林草原和半沙漠地带）。已经发现TGA的传播是沿着不同的路径进行的。此外，沿着这些传输路线中的每一条的凹槽石头都可以通过其独特的装饰和形态特征来区分。本文的目的是阐明第一个 TGS 的出现情况和日期，它们的初始区域的定位，以及它们各自的装饰和形态特征的识别。这是确定TGS传统后续过境载体的起点，并以TGS为标志，在更新世末期——全新世上半期追踪欧亚大陆相互作用方向的必要条件。最初的数据库是在近东科学出版物的基础上形成的。以下是对西南亚起始区域至少 200 块凹槽石头和 80 个地点的分析回顾的介绍。该分析使用了一种系统的方法，重点是年代学、环境、岩相学、形态学、可用的功能类型学数据以及 TGS 的装饰。但首先，该研究关注 TGS 在该地区的分布及其文化和时间界限。以此目的，它以两个时间顺序对发现进行了映射 - 高达公元前 800 万年及之后，并带有装饰产品的标记。结果使我们能够检测到这种类型的带凹槽的人工制品的地理分布仅限于近东的安纳托利亚中部和新月沃地地区，边界沿沙漠草原。至少可以清楚地区分三个浓度：黎凡特、扎格罗斯山脉和上美索不达米亚 - 安纳托利亚中部，其中产品的特点是装饰和形态设计的特定特征，在一种情况下（黎凡特）还有观察到的岩相学特异性。目前，最早的病例记录在黎凡特的早期纳图夫语境和自公元前 13 世纪以来安纳托利亚高原的新旧石器时代背景中。因此，可以自信地说，TGS 在中东的引入通常与新旧石器时代遗址（纳图夫、哈里夫和西扎尔齐）有关，并且肯定与狩猎采集者有关。TGS 的鼎盛时期落在 PPNA 上，一直持续到青铜时代初期，最终消失。