From distant volcanoes: obsidian and early Neolithic connections on the Şanlıurfa plateau

Did neighbouring Pre-Pottery Neolithic communities on the Şanlıurfa plateau share obsidian sources? We audit reports from 24 selected localities with Pre-Pottery Neolithic components and compare least-cost paths from three Anatolian source zones. Only three localities have chemical results or reported analyses; no reviewed local report provides independently checkable provenance data for individual artefacts. Surface finds are not necessarily Neolithic. The source profiles in published Upper Tigris and Middle Euphrates samples differ and cannot establish which sources supplied Şanlıurfa. Under the selected endpoints and terrain assumptions, Bingöl/Solhan paths to Harbetsuvan, Karahan and Göbekli are 37.6–42.8% shorter, and Nemrut Dağ paths 15.8–30.8% shorter, than Göllü Dağ/Kömürcü alternatives. These rankings persist across tested model variations but identify neither sources used nor routes travelled. Source analysis of securely dated assemblages could help explain how human mobility and exchange connected Pre-Pottery Neolithic communities and how those connections changed through time.