The obsidian found at Göbekli Tepe and at contemporary sites in the region thus documents sustained exchange networks operating across significant distances.

The movement of obsidian from its volcanic sources to the communities that used it required either direct travel to the source — long-distance expeditions to specific volcanic areas — or a system of hand-to-hand exchange in which material moved through networks of communities, each passing it along to the next.

Both mechanisms likely operated in the PPN world, and the specific patterns of obsidian distribution across sites can sometimes shed light on which mechanism was dominant for specific source types.

The social importance of long-distance exchange in hunter-gatherer and early agricultural societies extends well beyond the purely economic value of the materials exchanged.