ORIGINAL PAPER The Chalcolithic Period of the Southern Levant: A Synthetic Review Yorke M. Rowan Jonathan Golden Published online: 9 April 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract In the southern Levant, the late fifth millennium to mid-fourth millennium BC—traditionally known as the Chalcolithic period—witnessed major cultural transfor- mations in virtually all areas of society, most notably craft production, mortuary and ritual practices, settlement patterns, and iconographic and symbolic expression. A degree of regionalism is evident in material culture, but continuity in ceramic styles, iconographic motifs, and mortuary practices suggests a similar cultural outlook linking these sub- regions. Luxury items found in group mortuary caves provide good evidence for at least some inequality in access to exotic materials. The level of complexity in social organi- zation, however, is still debated. Divergent interpretations of Chalcolithic socio-economic organization suggest that, with the large amount of new information now available, a reevaluation of the debate is due. In this article we synthesize the more recent evidence and weigh interpretations of processes that led to the widespread fundamental changes wit- nessed during the late fifth to early fourth millennium BC. Keywords Chalcolithic Á Southern Levant Á Social organization Á Craft specialization Introduction Archaeological research conducted in the southern Levant highlights the importance of the fifth and early fourth millennia as a time of fundamental change in socio-political orga- nization, craft production and subsistence economy. Intensified agricultural production is attested to by cereal cultivation in previously uncultivated regions and increased reliance on fruits, especially olives; the secondary products of animals also play a key role in the diversification of the economy. Craft production increases in volume, technological Y. M. Rowan (&) The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, 1155 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA e-mail: [email protected]J. Golden Department of Anthropology, Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940, USA 123 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 DOI 10.1007/s10963-009-9016-4
Transcript
ORI GIN AL PA PER
The Chalcolithic Period of the Southern Levant:A Synthetic Review
Yorke M. Rowan Æ Jonathan Golden
Published online: 9 April 2009� Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract In the southern Levant, the late fifth millennium to mid-fourth millennium
BC—traditionally known as the Chalcolithic period—witnessed major cultural transfor-
mations in virtually all areas of society, most notably craft production, mortuary and ritual
practices, settlement patterns, and iconographic and symbolic expression. A degree of
regionalism is evident in material culture, but continuity in ceramic styles, iconographic
motifs, and mortuary practices suggests a similar cultural outlook linking these sub-
regions. Luxury items found in group mortuary caves provide good evidence for at least
some inequality in access to exotic materials. The level of complexity in social organi-
zation, however, is still debated. Divergent interpretations of Chalcolithic socio-economic
organization suggest that, with the large amount of new information now available, a
reevaluation of the debate is due. In this article we synthesize the more recent evidence and
weigh interpretations of processes that led to the widespread fundamental changes wit-
nessed during the late fifth to early fourth millennium BC.
6020 ± 55; AA37206, 5724 ± 47; AA37206, 6020 60) (Aardsma 2001). According to
Aardsma (2001), one possible explanation for this disparity is that the mat, like the hoard,
had some place in a ritual context (perhaps the Ein Gedi temple) and was kept for a
considerable time. The so-called Cave of the Warrior contained six radiocarbon samples
from five artifacts; one date was considered unreliable. A minimum variance estimate
based on the remaining five samples dates the burial to 5023 ± 23, calibrated to 3912–
3777 BC (Jull et al. 1998, p. 111, Table 20.1). The mat, 10 cm below the burial, is dated to
5640 ± 60 (4515–4456 BC calibrated).
Despite over 200 radiocarbon dates, the internal subdivision of the late fifth and early
fourth millennium BC remains to be clarified. Large standard deviations have prevented
finer resolution of internal temporal sequences. As radiocarbon dates of higher precision
are incorporated with stratigraphic and typological analyses, particularly from deeply
stratified sites with rich material remains such as Abu Hamid, Shiqmim, and Tulaylat al-
Ghassul, this situation will change.
Regionalism
Survey and excavation results do not adequately represent all of the different sub-regions
within the southern Levant, given the greater focus on some areas. Nevertheless, a basic
summary of the material culture, faunal assemblages, floral evidence, and architectural
patterns provides some insight into regional distinctions and continuities. Debate regarding
how regions should be conceptualized highlights the amount of research that remains to be
done. For instance, rather than explain differences as the result of archaeological cultures,
Lovell (2001 p. 51) envisions four main traditions: Beersheva (Negev), Neve Ur (North
Jordan Valley), Ghassulian (South Jordan Valley) and Golani (north Israel/Lebanon,
possibly northern Jordan). In contrast, Levy argues that distinct regional cultures emerge
from specific adaptations, creating 11 distinct regional cultures, five in the north (Golan,
Hula Valley, Coastal Plain, Samarian Hills, and Highlands, Jezreel/Beth-Shean Valleys)
and in the south, six more (Jordan Valley/Ammon Plateau, Judean Desert, Negev/Sinai
Coastal Plain, Nahal Patish, Nahal Grar, and the Beersheva valley). Despite the known
presence of Chalcolithic sites, our knowledge of certain areas, in particular the Jordanian
highlands and central plateau, is extremely limited based as it is on surveys and minimal
excavations.
One regional tradition that can be characterized more specifically is the northern Negev/
Beersheva, as a result of the more intensive research carried out in the area and the delayed
impact of modern development. Furthermore, these sites are generally well preserved, both
because of the arid climate and because they were never re-occupied. A complicating issue
14 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
in any discussion of regional patterns is the difficulty of distinguishing regional aspects
from those resulting from chronological change. Other regions that seem to host distinct
cultural ‘sub-traditions’ include the Golan and Jordan Valley.
Beersheva
Sites located in the Beersheva region provide the best evidence for differential site sizes,
with major sites such as Shiqmim, Horvat Beter, Bir es-Safadi, and Abu Matar providing
the bulk of the evidence. We should note that while excavated separately and generally
treated as such, Bir es-Safadi and Abu Matar may be part of a single, extensive site, which
may include Neve Noy, just 150 m east of Safadi (Eldar and Baumgarten 1985). The
manufacturing techniques, morphology, and decorative styles of Beersheva ceramic
assemblages are notably uniform, dominated by open forms (Commenge-Pellerin 1987,
1990). Typical forms include large to small open form bowls, holemouth jars and pithoi,
with smaller percentages of necked jars, churns, basins and kraters. Other vessels, such as
cornets, jars with multiple handles, small closed vessels and goblets are rare to absent
(Commenge-Pellerin 1987, 1990). Like other Chalcolithic flint assemblages, debitage and
tools are dominated by flake-based production, primarily for relatively expedient tools. A
smaller component of the tool assemblage is more standardized, such as sickle blades,
axes, adzes, chisels, and tabular scrapers, some probably produced off-site. Tools such as
the flint ‘stars’ are virtually unknown from the Negev sites, while other artifacts such as
micro-borers, micro-endscrapers and limestone tools are extremely rare. Coupled with the
presence of copper artifacts and their production, ivory figurines, underground complexes
and low frequencies of pig in faunal assemblages, the picture of sites in the Beersheva
region is distinct from that of other regions.
In contrast, sites such as Grar, Gilat, and a series of small sites in the nearby Wadi Gaza/
Nahal Besor area are distinct in a number of ways. Gilead (1995, pp. 473–476) described
this as a culturally based differentiation between the Beersheva cluster and the Besor-Grar
cluster, although he noted our limited ability to interpret the reasons for this dichotomy.
In general, the Besor-Grar sites exhibit little or no copper or ivory working, the presence
of pig bones, and variations in ceramic, flint and ground stone assemblages. In particular,
the presence of the cornets in the Besor-Grar assemblages contrasts to their virtual absence
in the Beersheva sites (a few were recovered from Horvat Beter: Dothan 1959, p. 16),
although the lack of quantified reportage limits our ability to estimate their frequency
relative to the overall ceramic assemblage. Although Gilat represents a specialized ritual
site (Alon and Levy 1989), possibly in connection to mortuary practices, some similarities
to Grar and certain Wadi Gaza sites are evident. Like other Chalcolithic sites, open form
bowls are the most common form, although lower in relative frequency at Grar than
Shiqmim (Gilead 1995, p. 203, Fig. 4.28). Based on ceramic typologies, some similarities
between Gilat and Ghassul are also apparent. These sites typically have an abundance of
cornets, and the morphologically similar goblets. The initial appearance and gradual
increase of cornets at Ghassul (Lovell 2001, p. 200) suggests that the presence of these
bowls at a site may represent a chronological element. Churns are generally more frequent
at Ghassul than at the Beersheva sites (Lovell 2001), but are just as common at Grar
(Gilead 1995, Fig. 4.28). Increasing frequencies of fenestrated stands, cornets and churns
at Ghassul (Lovell 2001, Fig. 4.62) hint at the probability that these distribution patterns
reflect some element of time as well as regionalism. Also apparently common to Gilat and
Ghassul are small vessels, such as small bowls with multiple handles, footed goblets and
cups (Garfinkel 1999b, Fig. 133, Ph. 113).
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 15
123
Relative to the Beersheva sites, Grar, Gilat, and Ghassul share other similarities. As
noted below (‘‘Environmental Conditions and Changes’’), pigs comprise a higher fre-
quency of the faunal assemblage at sites such as Wadi Gaza Site D, Gilat and Grar
(Grigson 1987b, Table 7.2, 1995, Table 10.3), reflecting the minor yet significant grada-
tions in humidity. Bladelets and microendscrapers, both manufactured from a specific fine
semi-translucent flint, are significant components of the tool assemblage. Sickle blades
constitute a higher percentage of the flint assemblage at Gilat and Grar than the Beersheva
sites (Gilead et al. 1995; Rowan 2006). Rare tools such as micro-borers are also known
from Gilat and Grar and are virtually nonexistent at the Beersheva sites (Rowan 2006,
Table 11.1A). Copper, of course, is absent at Gilat and Grar, and limited to ‘very rare’
basic tools at Ghassul (Bourke 2001, pp. 143–145). Basalt vessels tend to be smaller;
pedestalled, fenestrated forms are also smaller with similar decorative techniques, con-
trasting with those of the Beersheva sites (Rowan 1998; Commenge in press; Gilead 1995).
Although additional radiocarbon dates from Gilat and Ghassul are now available, these
chronometric data have not resolved questions about the primary causes for the distinct
characteristics of these assemblages. As increasing evidence supports the difference
between sites along these two drainages, however, we are at least confident that these
portray an accurate representation of the assemblages.
Jordan Valley
The Jordan Valley is probably the most difficult region to summarize because of the long
occupation at some major settlements, with complex stratigraphic and material cultural
changes that are slowly becoming available (for example, Abu Hamid, Tulaylat al-Ghassul,
Tell esh-Shuna), complemented by more limited information from sites such as Tell Fendi,
Abu Habil, Ghrubba, Abu al-Kharaz, Tell el-Mafjar, Neve Ur, and Kateret es-Samara. This
is further complicated by the different emphases placed on material derived from limited
earlier excavations that often constrain discussion to small pools of ceramic sherds derived
from poorly published or unclear contexts. Complete synthetic review of surveys and
excavations in the Jordan Valley is beyond the scope of the present paper (for a thorough
review, see Bourke 2001) but a few general points are possible. A greater settlement
density in the Jordan Valley in contrast to the surrounding valleys and foothills is attested
(Joffe 1993, Figs. 6, 7) and has been known for some time, based on Glueck’s surveys
(1951) and early excavations at Beth Shean (Fitzgerald 1935) as well as more limited
investigations at Tall esh-Shuneh, Tall Abu Habil (de Contenson 1960, 1961; Leonard
1992), and Neve Ur (Perrot et al. 1967). In addition to those, major sites are known at
Pella, Abu Hamid, Umm Hammad, and Tall el-Handaquq. Ceramics of the region exhibit
variability, although more detailed analyses indicate that specialized forms such as the
cornet increase through time at Ghassul (Lovell 2001). Other evidence for the development
of ceramic distribution networks recognized at Abu Hamid is discussed in greater detail
under ‘‘Ceramics’’.
Some flint types also exhibit limited geographic distribution. With the exception of one
each at Bir es-Safadi and Abu Matar (Perrot et al. 1967, Figs. 6:7, 9:1), the perforated discs
and star-shaped flint objects are virtually unknown from the Beersheva sites, and absent
from Gilat and Grar, but found from the Jordan Valley northward (Hanbury-Tenison 1986,
pp. 142–143; Noy 1998, pp. 277–283, Pls. XLIX-LVI). Two broad categories of perfo-
rated discs are known: those with multiple points, and those without, typically manufac-
tured of light to dark brown flints similar to those used for the tabular fan scrapers. Jordan
Valley sites also lack evidence for ossuaries and basalt pillar figurines, with very few
16 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
objects of copper or ivory. Nevertheless, there are major sites along the Jordan Valley, as
well as many much smaller sites, which may argue for some centralized function of the
larger sites.
Eastern Highlands
East of the Rift Valley, comparison to other regions becomes so difficult that researchers
working on either side sometimes used similar terminology for different material culture
and chronology. Beyond the immediate hills adjacent to the Jordan Valley clear affinities
to the Chalcolithic of these other regions are difficult to establish. There has been an
additional problem of terminology: although the term ‘Late Chalcolithic’ is commonly
used on either side of the Jordan Valley, in some cases the material has later been rec-
ognized as EBIA (Adams and Genz 1995; Hanbury-Tenison 1986). In truth, where surveys
catalog pottery in the single category of ‘Chalcolithic/EB’, the material often turns out to
be EBI (Bourke 2001, p. 114).
Beyond the Jordan Valley, only a few excavations have been conducted, although
numerous sites have been documented via survey, many quite small in contrast to the large
sites of the Jordan Valley or Negev. A few larger sites, such as Sahab near Amman,
provide architectural layout and construction techniques of field stone foundations with
mudbrick superstructure similar to other Chalcolithic sites, such as Ghassul (Ibrahim 1987,
p. 75). Associated with the broadroom structures at Sahab, a series of pits (Ibrahim 1984,
Fig. 9) were interpreted to indicate some element of centralized control of agricultural
surplus (Bourke 2001, p. 128). A smaller site, Abu Snesleh, exhibits similar rectilinear
broadrooms, courtyards and possible storage facilities (Lehmann et al. 1991; Kerner et al.
1992). Clusters of sites are known to the north, near the large site of Sal, as well as further
to the west in the Harra (Betts 1992). Survey at Sal included a variety of artifacts familiar
from Chalcolithic sites in the Jordan Valley and further east: the basalt vessel fragments
(Kamlah 2000, Fig. 67.2) closely match examples from Gilat and Zeita (Rowan 1998,
Fig. 32E, Fig. 31A, respectively). To the south, small sites are documented in the Madaba
Plains region, the Karak Plateau (MacDonald 1988, 1992) and the Wadi Faynan region
(Barker et al. 1997, 1998).
Southern Jordan and Israel
The absence of similar material culture is particularly perplexing between the Beersheva
valley sites (Abu Matar and Shiqmim) and the Faynan region, despite the presumed uti-
lization of copper ores from the Faynan area (Golden 1998; Namdar et al. 2004; Shugar
2001). The relationship of southern Jordanian material cultural to Ghassulian and
Beersheva assemblages remains unclear, although a possible link may exist at el-Maqass,
near Aqaba, where copper exploitation is attested (Khalil 1987, 1992). Investigations at
Tell Wadi Fidan indicate occupation from the Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic (Najjar
et al. 1990), with Pottery Neolithic pottery similar to earlier assemblages at Ghassul
(Bourke 2001, pp. 115–116).
Southern complexes, referred to as ‘Timnian’, consist of small, ephemeral hamlets or
seasonal camps in the southern arid regions of Jordan (Henry 1995) and Israel, and are
suggested to be related to those of Sinai (Kozloff 1974, 1981). Timnian material culture
assemblages differ substantially from those of sites further north. Chipped stone assem-
blages lack the standard blades of northern Chalcolithic sites and include more microliths.
The rare pottery is a thick plain ware with chert temper, and architecture is typically
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 17
123
curvilinear stone pithouses, retaining walls and storage pits (Kozloff 1974, 1981; Henry
1995, p. 354). The short-lived nature of the remains in Sinai and the southern arid regions
suggests to Henry (1995) that such remains are indicative of transhumance similar to that
practised by historic Bedouin groups of the region, although the Timnian economy also
relied heavily on gazelle hunting (Henry 1995, p. 355). This is in contrast to the agro-
pastoral economies in the northern Negev described as ‘village based transhumance’ by
Levy (1992, p. 73). Gilead (1992), on the other hand, views these as primarily sedentary
agricultural economies based on cereal cultivation and animal husbandry that includes
‘seasonal encampment of Fellahin’ (Gilead 1992, pp. 38–39) along areas just to the south
of the major Beersheva sites, such as Nahal Sekher (Gilead and Goren 1986; Gilead 1992;
see ‘‘Subsistence Economy’’ for farming and herding practices). Unfortunately, radiocar-
bon dates of the southern Jordan sites date from at least c. 4000–5700 BP (Henry 1995,
p. 369), and material culture assemblages suggest the Timnian may have persisted nearly
three millennia from the Late Neolithic to the later phases of the Early Bronze Age,
preventing close linkage to Chalcolithic sites to the north.
Upper and Lower Galilee
Most of our information on the Galilee during the Chalcolithic is based on surveys, with
only a few limited excavations, primarily of caves such as Abu Senan (Frankel and Gophna
1980), Asherat (Smithline 2001) and Peqi’in (Gal et al. 1997, 1999). Ceramic vessel forms
are similar to those in other regions, with variable regional characteristics. These wares—
the Galilean, Golan, Hula, and Painted/Abu Senan—vary in concentration across sites
located in the Upper and Lower Galilee, but display more common attributes than dif-
ferences. Galilean wares include V-shaped bowls, ‘chalices’ and churns, about half of
which are brown or red slipped (Shalem 2008). In her comparison of ‘Enot Kochav (Lower
Galilee) and Beer Zonam (Upper Galilee), Shalem (2008, pp. 99–102) notes that Golan
wares and low frequencies of Hula wares are more common at the Upper Galilee site;
cornets were found at the ‘Enot Kochav, but not at settlements in the Upper Galilee.
Unslipped versions of the Painted Wares are found across the Galilee. Beyond ceramics,
we have little information about the Upper and Lower Galilee during the Chalcolithic; even
when published, the rich mortuary goods in the Peqi’in burial cave will offer a skewed
perspective of area.
Golan Heights
A regional variant of the Chalcolithic has also been identified in the Golan region, span-
ning the Golan, the eastern Galilee, the Damascus Basin and northern Jordan (Epstein
1978b, 1998; Hanbury-Tenison 1986). Diagnostic features of the Golan material culture
include a recognizable corpus of ceramics, undecorated open form basalt vessels (Fig. 10h,
i), flint star and perforated tools (Fig. 2a), and anthropomorphic pillar figurines (Fig. 15a).
Locally produced ceramic vessels were largely coil built by hand, with use of a tournette
frequently evident (Epstein 1998, p. 160). Forms include pithoi (Fig. 13a), holemouths,
pedestalled fenestrated stands (Fig. 13d), spouted kraters (Fig. 13e) and simple open form
bowls (Fig. 13g). Decoration is fairly common among the Golan assemblages, featuring
primarily en relief rope decor (Fig. 13a–d), simple slashes, incisions (Fig. 13e) and
punctured dots. Particularly notable are applique animal horns, most often attached to a
vessel shoulder, frequently pithoi and fenestrated bowls (Fig. 13f; Epstein 1998, p. 168,
pls. XXIII, XXIV). Painted decoration is notably absent.
18 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Fig. 2 Flint tools: a perforated disc from Golan (from Noy 1998, Pl. LIV.1); b fan scraper (from Noy 1998,Pl. XLVI.4); c chisel (from Barkai 2004, Fig. 7.11: 2); d adze (from Barkai 2004, Fig. 7.7: 2); e sickle blade(from Noy 1998, Pl. LX.14); f awl (from Noy 1998, Pl. LXII.14)
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 19
123
Some artifact forms found in other, more southerly regions are unknown in the Golan
assemblages. This includes types that are relatively rare in most Chalcolithic contexts, such
as palettes, violin-shaped figurines, and ossuaries; rare materials such as ivory and copper
are also entirely absent. Only one macehead, of hematite (Epstein 1998, Pls. XLIII.26), is
published from the region. The wood of olive trees as well as olive stones have been found
at several of the Golan Chalcolithic sites, along with spouted vats used for separating oil
(Epstein 1993). As this was an area where olive trees thrived, settlements of the Golan may
have functioned as centers for olive oil production (Epstein 1993).
Other regions, although considered distinct archaeological entities (Levy 1998), are
underrepresented by settlement data. For instance, settlements along the southern coastal
plain are known (Gophna and Beit-Arieh 1997; Joffe 1993, p. 33) but no excavations of
settlements are published (but see van den Brink et al. 2001). Although many sites have
been excavated, primarily in rescue operations, until recently these were all mortuary
burials and skewed our understanding of the region. For this reason, earlier scholars
suggested that the central coastal plain served as a burial area for populations from a
variety of regions (Gonen 1992; Perrot 1984). Many mortuary sites are concentrated in the
coastal plain and piedmont (Shephelah), but only recently are non-mortuary sites being
investigated (van den Brink et al. 2001). The discovery of a burial cave at Nahal Qanah in
the western highlands suggests that as yet undiscovered settlements may lie somewhere in
the region.
Environmental Conditions and Changes
A wide variety of methods have been employed in efforts to reconstruct the ancient climate
of the southern Levant, much of it focused on Pleistocene climates. This imbalance is being
redressed with data derived from palynological, geomorphological, and isotopic studies;
although the data are inconclusive, there are several indications that parts of the southern
Levant were somewhat more humid during the Chalcolithic (Bar-Matthews et al. 1998,
1999). The southern Levant today is characterized by diverse micro-environments and
seasonal fluctuations in rainfall patterns. In the past, portions of the region that received
over 400 mm (up to as much as 1,200 mm in some areas) supported Mediterranean
woodland and open parkland vegetation, while steppe vegetation characterized the Irano-
Turanian climatic zone and desert plants that of the Saharo-Arabian, with both zones
receiving \400 mm (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen 1992). Up until the eight millennium
BP, sea levels had been rising, the culmination of a process that had begun during the Late
Glacial Maximum, with the coast shrinking some 10–15 km (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen
1992). Based on isotope studies of speleothems from the Soreq caves in Israel, Bar-
Matthews et al. (1999) have suggested a rapid warming with the beginning of the Holocene
at 9500 BC, after cooler/dryer conditions of the Younger Dryas.
Several researchers have attempted to track the changing sea levels of the Lisan Lake
(today, the Dead Sea) as one way to measure overall shifts in climatic conditions. Though
the data vary, there seems to be a consensus that Dead Sea levels were generally higher
between 4000 and 2500 BC than they are today (Frumkin et al. 1991; Avner et al. 1994).
Evidence from the caves of Mount Sedom also suggests a wetter climate (Frumkin et al.
1991, 1997). One index used is the ratio of cave-passage elevation to width where a
diminished rate of cave widening indicates a drier period. The distribution of driftwood is
also considered, as fewer driftwood fragments also reflect less humidity. Based on these
factors, as well as more general cave morphology, Frumkin et al. (1991) conclude that the
20 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
period from c. 6000–5200 BP (Stage 2b), corresponding to the middle of the Chalcolithic,
represents the transition from an arid to a moister climate. Varying levels of 18O, an isotope
found in snail shells, have also been used to reconstruct the middle Holocene environment,
as this reflects variation in the amount of rainwater (Goodfriend 1991; Rosen 1995). The
values from shells dated to 6800–4300 BC are low, indicating changing atmospheric
conditions resulting in a greater frequency of storms, which would indicate more rainfall
during the earlier part of the Chalcolithic.
There are indications that the central Mediterranean coastal region was somewhat wetter
as well, at least during the Chalcolithic. Arboreal vegetation of this area during the fourth
millennium BC was dominated by Pistacia palaestina (Terebinth) and Quercus calliprinos(Kermes oak), species that are absent today; in fact, most of the primary vegetation of this
region is now extinct (Liphschitz 2004). Examination of dendroarchaeological remains
from sites such as Shoham, Nevallat, and Giv’at Ha’Oranim also reveal the presence of
Olea europaea (olive) (Liphschitz 2004). Palynological evidence is contradictory. Evi-
dence from Lake Hula (core UP 15), specifically the amount of oak, indicates that the
humid phase in the north began as early as 8000 BP and peaked c. 3340 BC (Horowitz
1971; van Zeist and Bottema 1982). Based on the most recent pollen data from Lake Hula,
Baruch and Bottema (1999) argue that around 7500 BP anthropogenic effects on the
vegetation can be observed, most conspicuously in a rise in the values for olive.
Further to the north, increasing arboreal pollens on the Ghab diagram suggest a humid
phase from 11500 to 8800 BP, decreasing after that point (Bottema and van Zeist 1981).
This drying phase, however, does not necessarily reflect climate in the south, because
during the Late Pleistocene the northern Levant was drier than the southern Levant (Butzer
1978), a pattern that may have continued into the Holocene. Bar-Yosef and Meadow
(1995) have also noted an early Holocene (10000–8000 BP), moister than today observable
not only in pollen cores of the Levant, but in global climatic models as well (Cooperative
Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP) 1988). By the late seventh and sixth millennium
BP, the region experienced a warm period with increased precipitation (Bar-Yosef and
Meadow 1995).
Varying subsistence strategies employed during the Chalcolithic can also give an
indication of the climate at the time, and this is reflected in the faunal and floral assem-
blages. The southern Levant is characterized by diverse micro-environments allowing
different communities to practise dissimilar subsistence strategies (Grigson 1987a; Hesse
1990). Sheep, goat, cattle, and pig were the primary species for animal husbandry, but the
latter two require more water and therefore their presence may reflect greater humidity
(Grigson 1987b, 1998; Hesse 1990). Chalcolithic people apparently either relied fairly
heavily on pig consumption or not at all (Table 1; Fig. 3; Grigson 1987b; Gilead 1989b;
Hesse 1990; Josien 1955; Kolska Horwitz 1990; Levy et al. 1991a). Hypothetically set-
tlements where pigs were completely absent were located in areas that were drier, that is,
where it was all but impossible to raise pigs, and, indeed, pig bone distribution matches
present rainfall patterns (Grigson 1998, Fig. 12; Levy et al. 1991a). At sites located in
areas that receive \200 mm of rainfall today—namely Shiqmim, Abu Matar, Bir es-
Safadi, and Horvat Beter—pig bones are absent (see Table 3).
At sites with over 250 mm annual rainfall along the boundary of the northern Negev,
however, pigs make up a significant part of the faunal assemblage: 17.9% at Gilat, 22% at
Grar, and as much as 36% at Wadi Gaza D (see Fig. 3). Knowing that pigs require moisture
in the area of at least 250 mm of rainfall per year, the distribution of pig bones at Chal-
colithic sites of the Negev suggests that the 250–300 mm isohyet fell in a similar position
then as it does today. Pig bones also form a significant part of the faunal assemblage at
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 21
123
Ghassul (Koeppel 1940; Mallon et al. 1934), but there is a notable decrease in the number
of both pig and cattle during the final phase of occupation at the site (Bourke 1997b, 2001).
This trend, coupled with the fact that the frequency of sheep and goat remains constant
(roughly 70% of the assemblage) during this time, may reflect decreasing humidity. This
inclination is also evident in other dimensions of the Ghassulian subsistence economy, in
particular, the cultivation of less desirable crops such as legumes (e.g., vetches) that were
used either as fodder crop, or perhaps even ‘famine food’ (Bourke 1997a, p. 253).
Although no data is published yet, there is also apparently a return to some reliance on wild
animals (gazelle) in the latest levels at Ghassul (Lovell 2001, p. 16), reversing the well-
established practice of herding domesticates.
Of course, patterns of human settlement should give some indication of ancient climate as
we may assume that certain climates are less likely to attract and sustain large populations.
During the Chalcolithic period, people spread into several previously unoccupied areas such
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Shiqmim
Khirbet et-Bitar
Bir es-Safadi
Abu Matar
Horvat Hor
Grar
Gilat
Munhata
Wadi Gaza D
Tel Aviv, Jabotinsky St.
% of Pig Bones in Faunal Assemblage
Fig. 3 Bar graph summarizing the relative frequency of pig bone in the faunal assemblages of selectedsites
Table 3 Percentage of pig bonesin the faunal assemblages ofChalcolithic sites in relation torainfall
Site % Of pig bones Rainfall (mm)
Shiqmim 0.1 *180
Khirbet et-Bitar 0 *200
Bir es-Safadi 0 *200
Abu Matar 0 *200
Horvat Hor 0 *200
Grar 16.1 *250
Gilat 17.9 *250
Munhata 26.0 *250
Wadi Gaza D 36.0 *250
Tel Aviv, Jabotinsky St. 11.0 *500
22 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
as the northern Negev, a fact that may reflect a shift in climate. Yet this could partly reflect
people’s increased ability to adapt to this type of environment, for instance, developments
such as the ability to convert milk into second dairy products and to more effectively capture
what little rain there was. Goldberg and Rosen (1987) argue that the last major Holocene wet
pulse in the southern Levant was at about 5500 BP, which, when calibrated, is *4500–
4200 BC. This corresponds well with early dates when Chalcolithic settlements began in the
northern Negev. Based on the change from alluvial gravels to an increasing depositional
period of fine alluvial silt and sand, Goldberg (1987, p. 39) suggests a drying trend.
These fluctuations, although not nearly as dramatic as the cold dry transition between
the Pleistocene to Holocene (Younger Dryas c. 11000–9600 BP), could have important
ramifications for new agricultural communities operating on marginal land such as that of
the northern Negev.
Subsistence Economy
Subsistence economy during the Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze follow
very similar patterns, first established during the later stages of the Neolithic. Although
clearly there are changes in production, storage, and distribution through this long period,
there is little evidence for striking innovations in the mixed subsistence economic pattern
(Bourke 2001, p. 116). At this point most populations are sedentary, with subsistence
based on mixed farming and pastoralism, although the more arid regions in southern Jordan
and the Sinai probably supported people practising both pastoralism and foraging (Henry
1995, pp. 370–371). Cultivation of cereals and legumes were well established, vital
components of the diet, including the hulled einkorn and emmer wheats (Triticummonococcum, T. turgidum), six-rowed and two rowed hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare, H.distichum), chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), lentils (Lens culinaris) and peas (Pisum sativum).
At Shiqmim, for example, two-rowed barley (Hordeum distichum) constitutes the over-
whelming majority of the sample (83%), followed by emmer (Triticum dicoccom), einkorn
(T. parvicoccum) and lentil (Lens culinaris) (Kislev 1987); the predominance of barley was
supported by phytolith evidence at Shiqmim, which contrasts to that at Horvat Beter
(Rosen 1987, pp. 244–245). Interpretation of the phytoliths further (Rosen 1987, p. 246)
suggests that simple basin irrigation farming may have been practised. The very low
frequency of pulses from the Shiqmim sample is interpreted by Kislev (1987) as evidence
for greater reliance on animal products.
Olives (Olea europaea L.), one of the earliest fruit trees to be cultivated and collected in
the wild long before cultivation (Zohary and Hopf 1993, p. 141), were clearly exploited
intensively during the Late Neolithic (Carmi and Segal 1994; Elbaum et al. 2006; Galili
and Sharvit 1994–1995; Kislev 1994–1995). At the submerged Wadi Rabah site of Kfar
Samir near Haifa and the Carmel mountains, a round pit lined with limestone contained a
large number of crushed olive stones and pulp identified as olive (‘jift’) along with stone
tools for chopping and crushing, a woven basket, and straw and wood branches that may
have been used as a strainer (Galili et al. 1997; Galili and Sharvit 1994–1995; Kislev
1994–1995). According to Kislev (1994–1995), a method called shemen rahutz (washed
oil; also, zet tafah, Dalman 1928–1942, IV, pp. 235–38), where the olives are crushed and
then covered with water and agitated until the oil floating to the top could be skimmed off,
may have been used.
The olive appears to have grown wild in highland areas such as the Golan, Galilee,
Carmel, and the southern Judean Mountains and Western highlands (Kislev 1994–1995,
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 23
123
1996; Liphschitz 1996a, b, c; Zohary and Hopf 1993). Domestication of olive is generally
attributed to the Chalcolithic (Galili et al. 1997). A growing body of evidence suggests that
olive cultivation may have played a significant role during the Chalcolithic, perhaps as
early as c. 4800–4400 BC (Carmi and Segal 1994). In some regions, site location may be
related to the potential for olive cultivation (Banning et al. 1998, p. 154; Lovell 2002). The
initial spread of the Chalcolithic population into the uplands may have been related to olive
exploitation (Finkelstein and Gophna 1993; Gibson and Rowan 2006; Kamlah 1998). The
importance of an olive culture—limited to oil production at this time—is underscored by
archaeological evidence such as measurements of olive pits (Neef 1990, p. 300) and
bedrock grinding features probably related to oil extraction (van den Brink et al. 2001; van
den Brink 2008) in the lower western hill country. The discovery of olive stones at Tulaylat
al-Ghassul in the Jordan Valley suggests they were cultivated, because the trees would not
have grown in that area; the region remains too arid for olive cultivation (Meadows 2005;
Neef 1990). Olive harvesting is indicated from the hill regions as well as the northern
Jordan Valley, based on stones found at Pella and wood found at Tel Tsaf, Tell Abu
Hamid, and Tell esh-Shunah (Bourke et al. 2000; Gophna and Kislev 1979; Neef 1990;
Wilcox 1992). Evidence for olives has also been discovered at several of the Golan sites
(Epstein 1993), as well as Shoham (Liphschitz 2005), Nahal Zehora (Liphschitz and Bo-
nani 2000), and Nevallat (van den Brink et al. 2001). Stones of wild and cultivated olive
are not distinguishable (Neef 1990, p. 298), but based on the measurements of olive stones,
those recovered from Nevallat, Shoham (N), and Nahal Zehora II are considered wild (van
den Brink et al. 2001, pp. 42–43; Tables 1, 2). Conflicting interpretations of whether olives
were cultivated or wild suggest additional work is necessary to resolve this issue, but the
bulk of evidence appears to support Chalcolithic cultivation in a number of regions,
including the Jordan Valley sites Abu Hamid, Tulaylat al-Ghassul, and Tell esh Shuna
(Neef 1990; Zohary and Spiegel-Roy 1975). The nature of olive exploitation is central to
understanding the role and integration of intra-regional economies (Lovell 2008).
Date stones (Phoenix dactylifera), representing another of the earliest fruit trees culti-
vated in the Old World, were discovered at Nahal Mishmar and Tulaylat al-Ghassul (Bar-
Adon 1980; Mallon et al. 1934; Zaitschek 1980; Zohary and Hopf 1993, p. 157; Zohary
and Spiegel-Roy 1975). Additional evidence attests to other fruits and nuts, such as fig,
peach, pomegranates, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios (Kislev 1987, pp. 263–4,
Table 9.1; Zaitschek 1961, 1980). The exceptional preservation at Nahal Mishmar even
conserved garlic and onion (Zaitschek 1980). Evidence for changes in plant exploitation
during the period is limited, but increased reliance on wheat and olive, facilitated by simple
irrigation systems, is indicated at Ghassul (Bourke 1997a, b).
Much as at Wadi Rabah sites (Horwitz et al. 2002), faunal assemblages are dominated
by domesticated sheep, goat, cattle, and variable frequencies of pig at different sites. The
presence of hartebeest and gazelle suggests dry open conditions and continued reliance on
hunting in some areas, even at sites such as Grar, where both wild and domestic pigs have
been found. Much smaller numbers of equids, fish, dog, hare, gazelle, hyena, fox, marten,
lion, birds (particularly ostrich), and fish are recovered where thorough excavation methods
and good conditions for preservation are complemented by more complete publication
(Grigson 1987b, 1995). Despite the presence of many wild animal taxa, the number
underscores the limited role hunting played in the subsistence economy. Although ovi-
caprines dominate assemblages, Grigson notes that by approximating meat weights based
on bone counts, cattle provide at least 50% of the meat (Grigson 1998, p. 251). At Grar, for
instance, Grigson estimates that cattle contributed nearly 70% of the meat consumed, with
sheep and goats (c. 11%) and pigs (c. 8%) contributing roughly similar amounts (Grigson
24 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
1995 pp. 412–413, Table 10.20b). Bourke (2002a, b) reports similar frequencies for the
Ghassul faunal assemblage, where detailed faunal analysis suggests the minor hunting
component of earlier phases further declines in the later phases.
Site faunal profiles vary, with notable variability of the pig component in assemblages.
At the Beersheva sites, pig (Sus scrofa) are rare to absent, but are significant in the faunal
profiles (up to 15%) from sites only slightly to the north, and closer to the coast, such as
Wadi Gaza site D, Gilat, and Grar (Grigson 1998, p. 251, Fig. 12). As noted earlier, this
differential distribution may reflect slightly moister conditions than at present in those
areas (Grigson 1998; Levy et al. 1991a, b). Increasing frequencies of pigs from south to
north in the Jordan Valley, with lesser quantities at Ghassul than Abu Hamid (Bourke
2001, p. 118) and even greater frequencies at Tell esh-Shuneh (Baird and Philip 1994),
support this thesis. The low numbers of pigs at the Beersheva sites, where both pulses and
the sickles used in their harvest are also less prominent, may imply a greater dependence
on animal products (cattle, sheep/goat) in this area, although social factors may also be
relevant.
Substantial debate focuses on the nature of pastoralism, particularly in the Negev (Levy
1983; Levy and Alon 1987b; Esse 1989; Goren and Gilead 1986; Grigson 1987a, b). Levy
suggested that specialized pastoralists moved herds of primarily sheep and goat from the
Northern Negev to coastal areas or to inland dunal areas for spring grazing, where small
sites are posited to be pastoral encampments (Levy 1983, 1992, 1998). Grigson (1998,
p. 259, 2006, p. 228), however, suggests that a sedentary model of subsistence, with some
limited transhumant pastoralism, is more appropriate than one of nomadic or semi-nomadic
pastoralism, as suggested by Levy (1983, 1992, 1998). Others (Gilead 1992; Gilead and
Goren 1986) also contend that limited village pastoralism is more likely than the full
transhumance system posited by Levy. Small, ephemeral camp sites, such as those iden-
tified along the Nahal Sekher (Gilead and Goren 1986), are widely interpreted as pastoralist
camps, but the relationship of those sites to larger permanent villages is debated; Levy
views such sites as part of an optimization strategy and part of a larger migration system,
while others argue against semi-nomads moving on a regular or seasonal basis and view
such sites as short term encampments of herders from larger habitation sites (Gilead 1992,
p. 35).
Changes in age-class may reflect increasing reliance on secondary products as well,
with cows presumably contributing significant milk. Broadened epiphyses and osteitis may
indicate that cattle were being used for drafting (Grigson 1998). The En Gedi bull, which is
depicted with a churn on its back, and the sheep or ram with cornets from Gilat indicate the
use of pack animals (Grigson 2006; Ussishkin 1980).
Following Sherratt’s (1981) ‘secondary products revolution’ model, Grigson (1987a, b)
and Levy (1992) suggest that Chalcolithic goat and sheep kill-off patterns indicate that
sheep were kept for exploitation of wool and milk. Recent study of the Gilat faunal
assemblage, which yielded one of the largest Chalcolithic faunal assemblages in the
Middle East, suggests that the high survival rate of sheep/goat to adulthood suggests a
herding strategy directed at wool production rather than milk (Grigson 2006), which
accords well with the concentration of evidence for spinning and weaving at the site (Levy
et al. 2006c). Bone pathologies on cattle may indicate that they had begun to serve as
draught animals as well (Levy et al. 1991a, p. 407).
Based on the archaeological evidence, there is no longer any reason to draw major
divisions between subsistence activities of the Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze, with the
possible exception of grape cultivation (Stager 1985). Most fruits were apparently under
cultivation by the Chalcolithic (Grigson 1998), flood-water farming is attested (Levy 1998;
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 25
123
Rosen 1987) and deep-ploughing may have begun in the semi-arid regions of the Negev, as
well as the uplands (‘Amr et al. 1993, p. 274; Grigson 1998, p. 267). Inter-regional and
intra-regional transport, attested by laden zoomorphic figurines (Epstein 1985), is sug-
gested by evidence of donkey domestication (Grigson 1998, p. 258), although this relies on
only a few equid bones identified as donkey (Grigson 2006, p. 224). Nevertheless, the
rarity of bones from non-food, pack animals comes as no surprise (Davis 1987; Grigson
2006; Whitcher Kansa 2004) as there would have been few animals, and many would have
died away from settlement sites. The possibility of pack animals would have had important
ramifications for the transport of ore, olives (or oil), and more exotic materials. Crop
agriculture, animal husbandry and horticulture were developed by the Chalcolithic,
establishing a Mediterranean/Levantine economy and forming productive modes between
diverse micro-environments that encouraged interaction and exchange between different
populations.
Human Populations, Diet, and Paleopathology
In general, a high level of environmental stress and poor health is noted for the Chalcolithic
in this region. Increasing severity and frequency of dental and skeletal pathologies are
noted from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (Smith et al. 1984,
2006; Smith 1991). Populations in the southern Levant show an increase in severe dental
attrition from the Natufian to the Neolithic, probably reflecting increasing carbohydrate
consumption; the incidence of dental hypoplasia, an indicator of environmental stress,
increases during the Neolithic (Smith 1998, pp. 68–69).
Poor preservation, secondary mortuary practices and neglected collections contribute to
the rarity of detailed pathological analyses from Chalcolithic populations. Nevertheless, a
number of studies are now available. Enamel hypoplasia, a non-specific indicator that
probably reflects both nutritional and disease factors, is a pathology that typically increases
in frequency as sedentary populations become gradually more reliant on agriculture. High
frequencies of enamel hypoplasia are noted for Chalcolithic populations as well, under-
scoring the physiological stresses to which the young were exposed in the southern Levant
(Agelarakis et al. 1998; Smith et al. 1984; Smith 1998; Smith and Horwitz 1998). The high
frequency of hypoplasia, molar wear rates and caries frequencies, and other dental
pathologies revealed by the recent examination of 100 mandibles from the Peqi’in mor-
tuary cave, indicate reliance on cereals and low nutrition (Lev-Tov et al. 2003). That study
further suggested that within age groups, nutritional resources and exposure to disease
were similar at Peqi’in.
Despite the relatively poor preservation, Gilat remains an important example of the
potential information provided by fully published physical anthropological analyses, rarely
reported from burial or other sites of the period. At Gilat, an estimated 91 individuals were
distributed across all strata excavated, predominantly primary burials without grave goods
(Smith et al. 2006). The population at Gilat reflects one of the poorest in health for the
southern Levant (Smith et al. 2006). The fragmentary condition of the skeletal remains
prevented estimates of overall pathologies for the population, but prevalence of disease
was high, with periostitis, inflammatory changes on the internal cranial surface of one
individual, cribra orbitalia, spina bifida and arthritis noted. More pronounced than among
the population at Peqi’in, enamel hypoplasia, often severe, was identified among all
individuals. Dental attrition was also severe at Gilat, and discoloration of the teeth was
noted in some individuals, the latter possibly reflecting fluorosis from the drinking water,
26 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
where high concentrations of fluorides in the Negev continue to the present (Smith et al.
2006). High fluoride content in water is known to exacerbate enamel hypoplasia and
attrition. In short, as an indicator of health, the dental status at Gilat is worse than that of
other Chalcolithic populations (Smith et al. 2006). Other studies of smaller samples, such
as skeletal lesions on individuals at Kissufim, also suggest poor health among Chalcolithic
populations (Zagerson and Smith 2002).
Chalcolithic Settlement Patterns and Site Structure
Our knowledge of Chalcolithic settlement is highly variable and biased in favor of a few
regions and larger, more visible sites, but an increasing number of surveys indicate the
extensive distribution of Chalcolithic sites in many areas. Wadi Rabah sites, which seem to
cluster in the northern sections of Palestine, including the Jordan Valley and central hill
country, are generally small, lacking any that are in the order of late PPNB sites or large
Chalcolithic sites (Gopher 1998, p. 214). Occupation at a few sites such as ‘Ein Assawir
may prove to be large, but the general impression is one of smaller, autonomous sites
predominating during the Wadi Rabah.
In contrast, Chalcolithic sites are sometimes considerable, ranging up to 10 ha in some
regions (Levy 1998, p. 229; Bourke 2001, p. 113). A major expansion of Chalcolithic
settlements, indicated by the establishment of new arid zone sites where few existed during
the Late Neolithic (e.g., northern Negev), argues for an increased population exploiting
new areas more intensively (Alon and Levy 1980; Levy and Alon 1987b; Levy et al.
1991a, b, 1994). Survey of the Beersheva–Besor drainage basins, where 75 Chalcolithic
sites were discovered, indicates that in the same area, only 11 Late Neolithic sites were
identified (Levy and Alon 1987b). The northern Negev region, where the most intensive
investigations of well-preserved sites were conducted during the late twentieth century,
skews the view of the period. Differentiated site sizes are documented for some regions, in
particular the Beersheva Valley (Levy and Alon 1987b; Levy 1998) and the Jordan Valley
(Bourke 2002a, b; Joffe 1993). Sites such as Shiqmim, Abu Matar and Bir es-Safadi are
clearly larger than other sites in the same area, although the nature of the relationship
between these larger and smaller sites remains unknown. Similarities of material culture
recovered from the smaller satellite sites near Shiqmim suggest occupation within the same
broad time frame without apparent distinction that might indicate different site functions
(Levy et al. 2006b).
Surveying sites in the Jordan Valley and to the east, Bourke notes that although there are
large (over 10 ha) and mid-size (c. 5 ha) sites, attempting to establish rank-size distribu-
tions or sub-regional relationships is premature. Chalcolithic sites are located along the
major wadis, with larger settlements correlated with the size of the floodplain and smaller
sites along the upper courses of the wadi systems (Bourke 2001, p. 113). There are many
sites, but over 90% are \2 ha in size (Bourke 2001, p. 113).
Other regions exhibit less differentiation in site size. Chalcolithic remains in the north
and central areas have been known for some time at sites such as Beth Shan, Gezer
(Amiran 1955; Kenyon 1985; de Vaux 1971); Megiddo (Engberg and Shipton 1934); and
Tell Farah North (de Vaux 1971; de Vaux and Steve 1947, 1948), but subsequent occu-
pation at these deeply stratified tell sites seriously limits knowledge about the Chalcolithic
levels. Chalcolithic sites in the Beth Shan and northern Jordan Valleys (Garfinkel and
Rowan 2005; Sadeh and Gophna 1991; Tsori 1958) are known primarily from survey or
limited investigations, which indicate that numerous large Chalcolithic sites such as Abu
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 27
123
Hamid, Tall esh-Shuna, Tall Fendi, Pella, Tall Abu Habil, Tall al-Handaquq, and Kataret
es-Samra were established along the valleys and the wadis feeding into the Jordan.
Until the 1980s, data on Chalcolithic sites in the Galilee and central highlands were very
limited (Gophna and Tsuk 2005). Surveys conducted in the small valleys between the deep
gorges of the western highlands foothills have turned up at least four sites occupied during
the Chalcolithic, as evidenced by the ‘Ghassulian’ pottery, including pedestalled bowls,
cornets, holemouth jars, triangular and loop handles, and churns, in addition to fragments
of footed basalt vessels (Gophna and Tsuk 2005, p. 14). Since then, additional published
surveys (Gilead 1989a; Frankel and Getzov 1997; Gal 1998; Frankel et al. 2001) confirm
an impression of small site size in the mountainous areas of Galilee. Shalem (2008, p. 96*)
identifies 22 settlements in the Upper and Lower Galilee, with most small (c. 0.4–0.5 ha), a
few 1 ha and only a few large (c. 4–5 ha). The small size of these settlements, with perhaps
a few dozen people each, along with their pottery and secondary burials in ossuaries,
suggests similar traditions to communities along the Coastal Plain.
Systematic surveys of the coastal plain (Gophna and Portugali 1988) document set-
tlements representing populations possibly responsible for the coastal burial caves. Initially
thought to represent the mortuary remains of pastoralists visiting the region from the
Beersheva sites (Perrot 1984), these burial caves are now viewed in the context of Chal-
colithic people living in the coastal plain. Larger settlements are known along the northern
coastal plain at ‘Ein Assawir (Yannai 2002, 2006); Natzur 4 (Yannai in press); near Dor
(Gibson et al. 1999); Meser (Dothan 1957, 1959); and others (Gophna 1978; Paley and
Porath 1979; Yannai 2002). Sites are also recorded in the Carmel range, although none has
been investigated methodically (Olami 1984). Further to the east in the Lower Galilee,
larger sites include Beit Netofa I and II (Gilead 1989a); Abu Snan (Frankel and Gophna
1980); Beit Ha-Emeq (Frankel and Kempinski 1973); Horvat Usa (Ben-Tor 1966); and Tel
Qiri (Baruch 1987). The Beit Netofa sites include Neolithic artifacts, but the bifacially
flaked perforated discs would indicate contemporaneity and affinities with the Golan,
northern Jordan Valley and Galilee Chalcolithic sites. In the Upper Galilee, an increase in
the number of Chalcolithic sites is documented relative to the ‘Early Chalcolithic’ (Wadi
Rabah) and Pottery Neolithic (Frankel et al. 2001). In the Hula Valley, ancient re-use,
intensive cultivation and modern development have caused extensive damage to archae-
ological sites, but a few, such as Tel Te’o (Eisenberg et al. 2001) and Tel Turmus (Dayan
1969; Smithline et al. 2000), have been excavated. These sites indicate a Chalcolithic
presence, but site size and distribution remains poorly understood.
To the south, in the central highlands, a demographic increase is suggested from the
Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze and attributed to olive cultivation (Finkelstein and
Gophna 1993), but Chalcolithic sites are still relatively small and sparsely distributed
through the central highlands at the higher elevations (Finkelstein et al. 1997). Small sites
thinly spread across the western foothills of the western highlands are also typical, with no
evidence for settlement hierarchy or large central sites (Gophna and Tsuk 2005).
A similar picture is evident for the highlands to the east. In the uplands of Jordan, east of
the Jordan Valley, most sites also seem relatively small and concentrated on the western
side of the upland plateau, with a concentration noted in the northern uplands around the
largest site of Sal, where a similar demographic increase may be related to olive cultivation
(Bourke 2001, p. 114). Although many excavations in Jordan have concentrated on larger
sites in low-lying areas, there are exceptions in addition to Sal, such as al-Khawarij (Lovell
et al. 2005); Abu Snesleh (Kerner et al. 1992; Lamprichs 1998; Lehmann et al. 1991);
Wadi Ziqlab (Banning et al. 1998, 2004); and Sahab (Ibrahim 1984, 1987). Approximately
20 sites are known from surveys between al-Husn and Jerash (Hanbury-Tenison 1987;
28 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Leonard 1987; Sapin 1992), with a similar number around the Amman region, dominated
by Sahab (‘Amr et al. 1993; Abu Dayyeh et al. 1991; Ibrahim 1984; Najjar and ‘Amr
1992), where large silos and a seal fragment were recovered (Ibrahim 1984, 1987). Also
near Amman, the smaller, limited assemblages of Abu Snesleh, contrasting with that of
Sahab (Kerner et al. 1992; Lehmann et al. 1991), are suggested to be possibly the result of
a stronger pastoralist component (Bourke 2001, p. 115). Further to the south, smaller sites
predominate among those recorded in the Hisban/Madaba Plains survey (Harrison 1997;
Mortenson and Thuesen 1998), although much of the material from around Mt. Nebo may
date to the Early Bronze. Kerak plateau surveys also recorded a low density of small
Chalcolithic sites (Miller 1991; Mattingly 1996). Additional sites are documented in Wadi
al-Hasa (MacDonald 1988, 1992) and the Tafila-Busayra area, the former indicating an
increase in population over the Late Neolithic and the latter suggesting a low frequency of
sites distributed widely (Neeley 2004). Only a few sites are documented in the Wadi
Faynan area; Tell Wadi Faynan and Site 51 indicate an affinity with Late Neolithic or early
Chalcolithic sequences (Barker et al. 1997, 1998; Levy et al. 2001; Simmons and Najjar
1999). The absence of Chalcolithic sites in the Wadi Faynan area with dates or material
culture related to those of the Shiqmim, Abu Matar or Bir es-Safadi underscores the point
that ore importation was for smelting at the Beersheva sites. Sites located in the eastern and
western highlands indicate a relatively low level of integration with autonomous site
development, a trajectory which continues into the EBA (Harrison and Savage 2003).
Village and Household Organization
Rectangular structures are the most common architectural element found at domestic set-
tlements during the Chalcolithic, broadly similar from the Golan to the Negev, and
extending to the east as far as the central uplands area beyond the Jordan Valley. These
rectilinear buildings, termed broadrooms, typically have an entrance on one of the long
walls, sometimes marked by a door socket, and may include a low stone or mudbrick bench
along the inside of the wall. Curvilinear architecture, small ‘platforms’ of flat stone, and
semi-subterranean features are also known. A few well-preserved walls, such as one from
Shiqmim preserved over 2.0 m in height, indicate that the superstructure was made of
mudbrick set on a stone foundation (Levy et al. in preparation). At Shiqmim, broadrooms
range from 2.5 9 5.5 to 5.0 9 10.0 m and were often attached to courtyards of variable size
and shape, separated by alleys and plazas. Small pits, hearths with re-used grinding slab and
handstone fragments, and other features were commonly associated with these rooms and
courtyards. At Abu Hamid, similar dwellings, courtyards and storage rooms were exposed;
these were attached to smaller rooms associated with storage jars (Dollfus and Kafafi 1988,
1989, 1993). One semi-subterranean house was found with a large storage jar that may have
served as a grain silo (Dollfus and Kafafi 1988, p. 46). At Abu Hamid, plaster lined pits are
not unusual, but they are less common at other sites (e.g., Gilat, Shiqmim).
Although rooms are variable in size, received wisdom suggests that no size differen-
tiation, hierarchy in room sizes or obvious elite areas exist (Gilead 1988, p. 418; Gonen
1992; Porath 1992). A few rooms at Shiqmim are quite large; the final season of excavation
at Shiqmim (1993) exposed a large building (15.0 9 4.0 m, in Area X) built on the edge of
the site (Levy et al. in preparation). Associated with the construction of Room 30 was the
intentional deposit of a disc-shaped copper macehead, possibly a votive deposit related to
the construction of the building (Levy et al. in preparation). The fact that this large building
was associated with a small subterranean area on the nearest hillock directly above may
indicate differential access to storage areas for some village inhabitants.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 29
123
The largest exposure of Chalcolithic architecture outside of the Negev is found at
Tulaylat al-Ghassul (Fig. 4). Like at most other sites, houses are rectilinear, with dried
mudbricks set on either clay or stone foundations. Unlike at most other sites, however,
there is evidence for plastered walls, some repeatedly, including those with polychrome
painted designs and symbols (Cameron 1981; Mallon et al. 1934: frontispiece, pl. 66–72).
Reexamination of Tulayl 1 (Mallon et al. 1934) and Tulayl 3 (Koeppel 1940) settlement
plans suggests to Bourke (2001) that substantial variability of size, shape and construction
exists between individual dwellings and the attached courtyards. Tulayl 3, for instance, is
dominated by several multi-room complexes with brick-built bins, stone-lined storage pits
and large pithoi within the courtyards or storage and workrooms that open on to the
courtyards (Bourke 2001, p. 120). Bourke further asserts that there are correlates between
artifact types, building form and the plastered wall paintings, where there is sufficient
recorded detail, implying special, probably ritual functions for these structures.
Settlements in the Golan include broadroom structures similar to those of other regions,
but these are built end-to-end in what Epstein (1998, pp. 6–8) referred to as ‘house chains’
(Fig. 5). Epstein, who conducted research in the Golan for over 30 years, argued explicitly
against any architectural evidence for differentiation in dwellings, which typically measure
15–16 by 5–6 m. The lack of evidence for structural distinctions that might indicate social
status distinctions is supported by the near absence of status or prestige goods; in exca-
vations of about 100 structural complexes, only one macehead, of hematite, was recovered
(Epstein 1998, Pl. 43.26). No copper, ivory or exotic goods were discovered, although
vessels and pillar figurines manufactured from the local basalt outcrops are plentiful.
Larger pits are also known, varying from large bell-shaped pits to what some argue are
semi-subterranean dwellings. Examples are known from an array of sites, including Gilat
Fig. 4 Teleilat Ghassul, Tell 1, village plan (after Mallon et al. 1934, Fig. 12)
30 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Levy et al. (2006a), Shiqmim (Levy et al. 1991a, b, 2009), Abu Matar (Perrot 1955),
Horvat Beter (Rosen and Eldar 1993), Bir es-Safadi (Eldar and Baumgarten 1985; Perrot
1959a, b), and others.
Subterranean features, known from Bir es-Safadi (Fig. 6), Abu Matar, Shiqmim, Horvat
Hor (Govrin 1987), and Horvat Beter, are limited to the Beersheva region. Dug into the
Pleistocene sediments along the wadi terrace, stratigraphically complex tunnels link
underground chambers, some with pits in the floors or interior bins built with low walls.
Fig. 5 Golan ‘house chains’, ‘Ein el-Hariri (Site 20) adapted from Epstein 1998, Site Plan 2
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 31
123
Perrot, who first recognized them during his pioneering investigations at Abu Matar (Perrot
1955, 1984), suggested the underground rooms and tunnels represented the initial stage of
residence at the site as an adaptation to the hot desert environment, with subsequent
buildings set above ground. The function and chrono-stratigraphic relationship of these
features to the above-ground villages is debated (Gilead 1987; Levy et al. 1991a, b). In
addition to the absence of manufacturing debris (ceramic, flint or any other) and rarity of
Fig. 6 Site plan of Bir es-Safadi village, southern corner. Dark shaded features represent rectilinear surfacearchitecture; curvilinear features represent subterranean architecture (adapted from Commenge-Pellerin1990; Fig. 2a)
32 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
hearths or other domestic features, the dark, cramped and unventilated nature of these
chambers renders this improbable living space. At the same time, at least one grinding
installation, as well as a possible hearth, was discovered in a subterranean context at
Shiqmim, so at least some domestic activities occurred (Levy et al. in preparation).
Defense, or a combination of storage (Gilead 1988) and defense (Levy 1998), may have
been the primary function, although primary and secondary human burials are also not
unusual (Levy et al. 1991a, b, Figs. 17, 18). Semi-subterranean features are documented
from the pre-dynastic site of Maadi in the Egyptian delta (Caneva et al. 1987, 1989), but
this could be a similar adaptation to a somewhat similar environment, and may relate more
closely to the early phases of the EBI when semi-subterranean features are also known.
Chalcolithic settlement indicates a clear trend to an increase in the size and numbers of
sites compared to the Late Neolithic. Intensified production is also suggested, based on the
increasing number of sites in upland locations and semi-arid to arid regions, possibly the
result of more flexible pastoral, agricultural and horticultural practices (Bourke 2001,
p. 116).
Material Culture Assemblages
Ceramics
The ceramic repertoire of the Chalcolithic period, rich with distinctive features, is well
known through a number of thorough and careful analyses (Commenge et al. 2006a, b;
Commenge-Pellerin 1987, 1990; de Contenson 1956; Epstein 1998; Garfinkel 1999b; Levy
and Menachem 1987). Understanding this diverse corpus, however, is not without its
challenges. For one—and this is an issue that concerns many aspects of material culture—
assemblages from the northern Negev sites are overrepresented. In addition, earlier
typological studies obscured the diversity of techniques used to manufacture pottery, and
which may be used to discern patterns of production fundamental to insights about craft
production. Moreover, complete reports from sites in the north are few, although the
publication of Tel Te’o (Eisenberg et al. 2001) and Epstein’s 1998 publication of the Golan
sites have dramatically increased the available information. Limited excavations in the
Jordan Valley by Contenson and Mellaart at sites such as Tel Abu Habil, Tel el-Mafjar
were published by Leonard (1992), yet remain tantalizing, narrow soundings. Precise
definition of the different assemblages and their chronological significance remains elusive
(Bourke 1997a, b, p. 397). Until recently, Early Chalcolithic assemblages were barely
known, but recent work at Jordan Valley sites such as Abu Hamid, Tell esh-Shuna, and
Pella is beginning to appear; these analyses are ongoing, however, and have not yet
delineated the chronological positions of different ceramic traditions (Garfinkel 1999b;
Lovell et al. 1997; Lovell 2000, 2001).
Another considerable challenge results from the absence of even one site that spans the
entire duration of the Chalcolithic, forcing archaeologists to string together ‘horizontal
stratigraphies’ for the purposes of using ceramic seriation as a chronological tool. No
consensus on internal ceramic chronology has been achieved; substantive disagreements
between the ceramic chronologies of Garfinkel (1999a, b) and Lovell (2001) highlight this
problem. A focus primarily on the relative stratigraphy and radiometric dates to create
phasing models has not yet resolved the chronological issues (Blackham 2002; Bourke and
Lovell 2004). The present summary will be limited to highlighting major forms and
possible chronological, regional and functional variations, while recognizing the ongoing
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 33
123
problem of type-fossil and non-stratigraphic approaches that continue to frustrate attempts
to understand long-term sequences (cf. Lovell 2001, pp. 29–30).
Pottery vessels include a wide diversity of both closed and open forms. The most
common forms include open form bowls in particular, such as the ‘V-shaped’ bowls of
various sizes, as well as pithoi, globular pots, pedestalled, fenestrated stands, hole-mouth
and necked jars, basins and large bowls (Fig. 7g, h). Some types, such as the thin-walled,
well made V-shaped bowls, as well as churns, are considered hallmarks of the Chalcolithic
ceramic repertoire. V-shaped bowls are typically decorated with a thin red paint line along
the rim; larger open form bowls frequently have this paint motif as well. Churns (Fig. 8b,
c) apparently begin during the fifth millennium BC, corresponding to the initial ‘Secondary
Products Revolution’ (Sherratt 1981), and were first recognized as a Chalcolithic hallmark
Fig. 7 Ceramic vessels: a miniature churn (from Goren 2002, Fig. 4.5.3); b amphoriskos (from Goren2002, Fig. 4.4.4); c goblet (from Gilead and Goren 1995, Fig. 4.8: 4); d jar (from Gilead and Goren 1995,Fig. 4.15.5); e jar (from Goren 2002, Fig. 4.4.5); f pedestalled goblet with handle (from Goren 2002, 4.2.4);g, h open bowls (from Scheftelowitz 2004, Figs. 3.4.6, 9)
34 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
by Amiran (1969). The morphological similarity of these vessels to skin containers used by
some traditional societies in the region for the production of yogurt and butter suggests the
ancient forms may have been used in analogous ways (Grigson 1998). Although others
suggest that the vessels may have served as water vessels (Amiran 1989, p. 56), residue
analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry supports the presence of fatty acids
more similar to milk fat (Burton 2004, p. 595, Fig. 9.9). Other forms, more limited in
distribution but characteristic of the Chalcolithic, include the ‘torpedo’ jars, an amphora-
like vessel known only from Gilat (Commenge et al. 2006a, Fig. 10.34: 3; 10.35: 1, 3), and
one fragment from the site of Titorah, near Jerusalem. In fact, the northern Negev/coastal
plain site of Gilat shows a greater diversity of forms than other typical Chalcolithic sites,
with a number of miniature versions of standard vessels as well as forms unknown or
virtually absent at other sites. This includes many miniature vessels, such as cylindrical
basins, tubular beakers, pointed bases (Fig. 7c), chalices on stems, as well as closed forms,
including miniature churns (Fig. 7a) and the torpedo jars (see Commenge et al. 2006a;
Levy et al. 1995). Cornets, long, slender conical shaped cups with a pointed base, known
primarily from the Besor sites extending eastward at least to Tulaylat al-Ghassul, are also
known from basal levels or in the fills of major tell sites (such as Megiddo, Tell Jemmeh,
and Ashkelon). These may be useful as a chronological indicator, as they appear to be
popular early but fade prior to the end of the period. In particular, evidence from Ghassul
Fig. 8 Sample of pottery from Bir es-Safadi: a large open form bowl (24: 5); b, c churns (Fig. 55: 11, 14);d deep bowl with red-painted decoration (Fig. 20); d large jar with lug handles (Fig. 42: 5, 6). All fromCommenge-Pellerin 1990
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 35
123
and Abu Hof accord well with an earlier prevalence of cornets and subsequent drop off
(Burton 2004). The form of the cornets would suggest that they may have served as cere-
monial vessels, and their similarity to horns has been noted (Cameron 1981, pp. 24–25).
Broadly, handles may be grouped into two major types, perforated and non-perforated
(de Contenson 1956; Levy and Menachem 1987). Many vessels have a pale white to buff
slip, with reddish to red-brown paint. Red painted lines along the vessel rim, and horizontal
bands are the most common decorative motifs. Linear painted pieces, which at Ghassul
appear in the same stratigraphic sequence as the churn and the increasingly common
cornet, continue into the last phases of the site (Lovell 2001, p. 40). Petrographic studies of
Chalcolithic pottery highlight the local production and consumption of pottery at almost all
sites studied, with the exception of Gilat (Goren and Gilead 1987; Gilead and Goren 1989,
1995, pp. 187, 192–196; Goren 2006; Goren and Fabian 2002). The torpedo vessels—
large, thick-walled, narrow and upright vessels that probably served as a transport and
storage container—were typically manufactured off-site, primarily with clays originating
in Judea or the Shephelah. Identification of lipids that probably represent degraded olive oil
(Burton and Levy 2006), coupled with the clay sources off-site, indicates that oils were
brought to the site from olive growing regions to the north. The near absence of torpedo
fragments from other sites supports the contention by Alon and Levy (1989, pp. 200–202)
that these vessels were not associated with normal domestic activities.
Some ceramic studies indicate that pottery production techniques change, while dis-
tribution networks expand through time (Bourke 2001; Commenge et al. 2006a; Lovell
2000; Roux and Courty 1997; Roux 2003). For instance, there is some indication that V-
shaped bowls manufactured in the northern Negev were found at Abu Hamid (Roux and
Courty 1997, p. 25). Study of ceramic assemblages from Abu Hof, Abu Matar, Zoumeili,
and Abu Hamid indicate that small bowls were frequently made or finished on a wheel
(Burton 2004; Commenge-Pellerin 1987, 1990). At the same time, a variety of techniques
were used to manufacture vessels, indicating different, probably overlapping, systems of
production. Vessels might be manufactured from a lump of clay, or they might be built
through pinching, coiling, throwing, or the use of slabs and strips (for detailed discussion,
see Commenge et al. 2006a, pp. 400–406); vessels were often manufactured using a
combination of techniques. Beersheva assemblages reflect much greater use of the wheel
than at Gilat; whereas 90% of V-shaped bowls at Abu Matar were thrown, and 100% at Bir
es-Safadi (Commenge-Pellerin 1987, p. 39, 1990, p. 11), at Gilat the wheel was used
\20% of the time (Commenge et al. 2006a, Table 10.5a). If the occupation of Gilat is
generally earlier, this pattern may reflect an increased use of the wheel over time. Small
beakers tend to exhibit much higher frequencies (ranging from 27 to 81%, Commenge
et al. 2006a, Table 10.5b) for sections (rims) that were thrown. This stands in stark contrast
to Abu Hamid, where wheel-shaping was utilized solely for V-shaped bowls (Roux 2003,
p. 20).
Additional differences between ceramic assemblages suggest changes in production
techniques through time. Chaff temper, typical of Late Neolithic ceramics, is a technique
commonly found in assemblages at Gilat, Grar, Ghassul, and Abu Hof (Levy et al. 1995;
Gilead 1989b; Lee 1973; Lovell 2001), but less commonly among vessels from the
Beersheva sites (Commenge-Pellerin 1987, 1990). Although most vessels in the northern
Negev are manufactured of local clays, ‘cream ware’ vessels (Amiran 1969, pp. 28–29) are
finely sorted, white to light buff wares produced from materials originating in upper Eocene
chalk deposits, and include a variety of common pottery forms (Gilead and Goren 1989,
p. 9). Cream ware vessels are concentrated at the northern Negev sites along the Besor and
Beersheva drainage basins, but examples are known from as far north as Ghassul and Gezer.
36 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
The elaboration of pottery created using a wheel has been noted many times and may
relate to craft specialization, although few explicitly attempt to record and quantify
attributes of wheel production (but see Burton 2004; Commenge-Pellerin 1987, 1990;
Commenge et al. 2006a; Roux 2003). Some vessel types, such as small bowls, are clearly
wheel-made and removed from the wheel with a string-cut (Gilead and Goren 1995).
Larger forms were typically created by first making a base on the wheel, with the later
addition of walls (Commenge-Pellerin 1987). To some analysts, the increasing diversity of
ceramic forms, such as pedestalled, fenestrated bowls and churns, and the overall uni-
formity within vessel categories for various attributes (for example size, manufacturing
methods) underscore a level of incipient craft specialization (Kerner 1997, p. 423); this
pattern is especially apparent at Abu Hof (Burton 2004, pp. 138–143).
On the other hand, the use of wheel manufacture for elements of ceramic vessel con-
struction should not be accepted as a priori proof of a desire to increase efficient pottery
production. For example, the ceramic vessel corpus at Gilat, with twice as many forms as
the Beersheva assemblages, is manufactured with a variety of techniques, including use of
a wheel for addition of some components of some vessels (Commenge et al. 2006a). Such a
mode of manufacture could suggest a lack of concern for time saving measures, and a
greater investment of time, energy and attention. Indeed, scholars note that wheel shaping
does not seem related to increased productive efficiency, at least in the earlier phases of
Chalcolithic wheel use, but instead originates with secondary techniques that are labor
intensive (Commenge et al. 2006a; Roux and Courty 1998, 2005; Roux 2003). Future
studies of ceramic assemblages should establish richer understandings of the dynamic
changes in production, distribution and consumption through time.
Setting aside for the moment the question of whether these differences have chrono-
logical or regional significance, or both, broad patterns can be detected. Comparing the
Grar ceramic assemblage to that of other northern Negev and southern coastal plain sites,
Gilead and Goren (1995) find greater similarities between the Beersheva sites, such as Abu
Matar, Zumeili, and Shiqmim (and including Qatif, Y-2), while En-Gedi and Azor form a
second group. In the first group, bowls are the most common type, the V-shape in par-
ticular, followed by holemouth jars. Other aspects distinguish Grar from other sites. Most
obvious is the high frequency of cornets, the second most common form, which is typically
an unusual form. At Beersheva sites, cornets are generally absent (Shiqmim, Zoumeili) or
extremely rare (for example, 0.1% at Abu Matar, 0.03% at Bir es-Safadi). Only very low
frequencies of fenestrated stands are found at any of these sites.
En Gedi and Azor are different, as non-habitation sites. En Gedi, a single building
complex thought to represent a ritual site, is perched on a promontory immediately
overlooking the Dead Sea to the east. Azor, a burial cave on the coastal plain included
numerous ossuaries (Perrot and Ladiray 1980). Thus, these sites differ in function, and to
some extent the ceramic assemblages reflect these differences. This similarity of ceramic
frequencies suggests that Grar is more similar to other sites such as Gilat, Tulaylat al-
Ghassul, and some of the Wadi Gaza sites, such as Site O (Macdonald et al. 1932, Pl. 35).
Chipped and Ground Stone Assemblages
Like the production of ceramic vessels, chipped, and ground stone assemblages exhibit
continuity from Late Neolithic assemblages. Chipped stone tools found at Chalcolithic
habitation sites are typically characterized by flake production using locally available flint
and limestone (Rosen 1987a, 1995). The technology of manufacture can be characterized
as expedient, or ad hoc (Rosen 1987a, p. 282), with tools typically made on flakes, such as
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 37
123
scrapers, borers and awls (Fig. 2f), notched pieces and denticulates, as well as various non-
standardized retouched and utilized flakes. More standardized tools typical of most habi-
tation sites include sickle blades (Fig. 2e), celts such as axes, adzes (Fig. 2d), chisels
(Fig. 2c), and picks and tabular scrapers. Projectile points are not typically found at
Chalcolithic sites and are unknown from Mediterranean zones (Rosen 1997, p. 43);
transverse arrowheads, manufactured on bladelets, are reported from sites in the southern
Negev possibly dating in the late fifth to early fourth millennium BC (Rosen 1997, p. 44)
and Sinai (Bar-Yosef et al. 1986, Fig. 11).
Tool types are variable, possibly reflecting localized adaptations, cultural traditions and
specialized production. Sickle blades, for instance, have a higher relative frequency in tool
assemblages at the sites of Gilat (c. 14%: Rowan 2006) and Grar (Gilead et al. 1995,
Table 5.8) than that at Shiqmim (6%), possibly reflecting the more arid conditions at
Shiqmim relative to Gilat and Grar (see Fig. 9). Cores and debitage provide evidence that
blade tools such as sickles were made on-site, while a cache of blade cores and blades
representing all stages of manufacture suggests the possibility of specialized production at
Gilat (Rowan 2006). The recent discovery of a specialized blade production site during
rescue excavations in the Beersheva area (Gilead et al. 2004) further underscores some
degree of specialized production for non-prestige, subsistence tools.
Other tool forms may also be the result of specialized production. Evidence for spe-
cialized bifacial celt manufacturing is known at Wadi Gaza Site A, first discovered by
Macdonald et al. (1932) and subsequently studied by Roshwalb (1981). Specialized
Northern Negev Tool Assemblages
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
oNct h
B
rero neD
it.c
Sicsed
rap.
parcs .baT
ers
arcS
pre
Sickle eC
tl
.teR
lf
sekaeR
edalb .t
teledalB .teRM
ic-oren
.d
P
b .msir
l.aVr ai
egal
bmessa l
oot f
o %
Shiqmim (n=3986)
Gilat (n=3935)
Grar (n=695)
Fig. 9 Relative frequencies of chipped stone tools based on assemblages from Shiqmim, Gilat and Grar.Based on data from Grar (Gilead et al. 1995), Gilat (Rowan 2006) and Shiqmim (Rowan pers. obs.)
38 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
production was apparently involved in the manufacture of tabular scrapers (Fig. 2b), a
misnomer based on the mistaken belief that these large cortical flakes were manufactured
from tabular veins of flint. Sometimes referred to as ‘Ghassulian fan scrapers’ (Lee 1973;
Mallon et al. 1934; McConaughy 1979), these scrapers are also recovered at Late Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age sites. Production probably took place where large blocks of material
were found, with several production locales suggested, including the western Negev
(Rosen 1993, 1987a), Jordan (Muheisen et al. 1988, pp. 482–483) and possibly Sinai
(Kozloff 1974). Larger quarry sites are now documented in the arid regions of southern
Jordan, along the al-Jafr basin ridges (Fujii 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003; Quintero and
Wilkie 1998, 2002), and northeastern Jordan near ar-Ruwayshid (Muller-Neuhof 2006),
although their dating is problematic, and exploitation may have continued from the Late
Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The greater distance from these sources, coupled with
the absence of manufacturing debris of the easily recognizable homogenous brown flint at
most habitation sites, suggests either occasional specialized forays by select producers, or
specialists, involved in their production and distribution. Henry (1995, p. 372) suggested
that these scrapers could have functioned as sheep shears, a hypothesis supported at least in
part by the dissimilarity of tabular scraper microwear in contrast to standard flake end-
scrapers (McConaughy 1979; Rowan and Levy 1991). Similar flint was used for the
production of large prismatic blades known from only a few sites, such as Gilat (Rowan
and Levy 1994), Shoham (N) (Marder 2005), and the Cave of the Warrior (Oshri and
Schick 1998, pp. 59–62, Fig. 12.1–4). Although not a significant component of Chalco-
lithic flint tool assemblages, these blades are notable for their exceptional size, symmetry
and homogenous flint. Their correlation to non-domestic contexts hints at their value as
exotic or luxury items. Where these blades were produced is debated; recent evidence
suggests that a local origin is possible (Shimelmitz and Mendel 2008).
Like ceramics, regional correlates are visible in a few flint tool forms through their
presence, or their relative frequencies. Bladelet tools, rare or absent at Beersheva and
Golan sites, are more common in the Jordan Valley, central hill country and sites such as
Grar and Gilat (Gilead 1984, 1995; Rosen 1987a). A particular bladelet tool first recog-
nized by Nasrallah (1936) and Neuville (1930a, b, p. 69, Pl. 1:6), termed a ‘microend-
scraper’ (Gilead 1984), has a similar distribution. Limestone tools are generally restricted
to Grar and Gilat (Gilead 1989b; Gilead and Fabian 1995; Rowan 2006), strengthening the
notion that these sites are part of a distinct cultural entity, and moreover, one which might
be earlier. Perforated flint disks (Fig. 2a), manufactured from flint similar to that of the
tabular scrapers, are known primarily from Jordan Valley and Galilee sites, though they are
also found at Golan sites (Perrot et al. 1967, Figs. 7.1, 8.1, Pls. 38.1, 39.1–3, 40.1–3; Noy
1998, pp. 277–283, Pls. XLVIX: 1–3; L:1–3; LI: 1–3, LII: 1–4). One was also found in the
Nahal Qanah burial cave (Gopher and Tsuk 1996, Fig. 4.13), and thus, the flint assem-
blages are also regionally distinct. This is yet another example of why lumping the
Beersheva assemblages with ‘Ghassulian’ is inaccurate—a point made by Rosen nearly
20 years ago (Rosen 1987a, p. 282).
Substantial numbers of ground stone artifacts are typically recovered at habitation sites,
although they are only beginning to be reported in a methodical, quantified fashion.
Ground stone assemblages reflect sedentary and agriculturally based subsistence practices,
with tools such as grinding slabs, handstones, and mortars; a variety of more expedient
cobbles, hammers and perforated cobbles were also used for grinding and pounding.
Available resources, which varied locally, include limestone, ‘beachrock’ (a sedimentary
rock), sandstone, chalk and basalt. Smaller ground stone artifacts, sometimes made of non-
local rock, include spindle whorls, palettes, bowls, maceheads, and decorative items such
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 39
123
as beads and pendants. Stone vessels, typically made of basalt, beachrock or limestone
are common, while others made of phosphorite, calcite, granite and sandstone are quite
rare.
Fragments of bowls manufactured of basalt are typically found in small quantities at
most sites (Amiran and Porat 1984; Rowan 1998), with the most elaborate forms associated
with mortuary contexts (van den Brink et al. 1999), such as Nahal Qanah (Fig. 10d;
Gopher 1998), Peqi’in (Fig. 10b; van den Brink 2009), Shoham (N) (Rowan 2005) and
Giv’at Ha-Oranim (Fig. 10a, c; Scheftelowitz 2004, pp. 59–67). Basalt bowls generally
Fig. 10 Basalt vessels, A–D from mortuary contexts: a unique pedestalled square vessel from Givat Ha-Oranim (from Scheftelowitz 2004, Fig. 4.7: 3); b pedestalled vessel from Peqi’in (from van den Brink et al.1999, Fig. 9); c pedestalled vessel with raised bands from Givat Ha-Oranim (from Scheftelowitz 2004,Fig. 4.4: 2); d pedestalled vessel fragment with interior extra support from Nahal Qanah (from Gopher andTsuk 1996, Fig. 4.16: 3); e solid pedestalled vessel from Tel Te’o (from Gopher and Eisenberg 2001,Fig. 9.4: 5); f pedestalled, fenestrated stand from Wadi Zeita; g pedestalled vessel (adapted from Perrot et al.1967, Fig. 13.1); h, i flared flat base bowls (from Epstein 1998, Pl. 34.9, 11); j from Gopher and Eisenberg2001, Fig. 9.3: 6); k convex bowl from Golan (from Epstein 1998, Pl. 36.4)
40 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
come in two broad classes, a flat-based, open form bowl and a bowl set atop a hollowed
pedestal with fenestrations (Fig. 10g; Amiran and Porat 1984); each general class sub-
sumes a variety of types (Rowan 1998). Although fragments of these basalt bowls are not
uncommon, the actual quantities of bowls they represent are typically small. For instance,
the 37 fragments found at Grar were estimated to represent *20–30 vessels (Gilead 1995,
p. 319). Even at Gilat, with one of the greatest quantities of basalt bowl fragments (nearly
300 fragments and complete vessels), a conservative estimate is only *60 vessels (Rowan
et al. 2006, pp. 597–602). The majority from Gilat, however, are fenestrated, pedestalled
forms (similar to Fig. 10f), a proportion more similar to burial cave sites than typical
occupation sites. The high frequency of the fenestrated pedestalled type is mirrored in the
analogous ceramic form at Gilat, of which there were at least 200 examples, constituting
the largest number discovered at any site in the southern Levant (Commenge et al. 2006a,
p. 443). Some of the best known, and largest, examples of either basalt bowl form are
known from the Beersheva sites of Bir es-Safadi and Abu Matar (Commenge in press;
Perrot 1955, Pl 18A, B; Perrot 1979, pp. 78, 83), sites that are rather far from any basalt
flows. The general rarity of the bowls and their discovery at sites distant from the potential
sources found in basalt flows to the east in Jordan or to the north in the Galilee and Golan
suggests that these were objects of some value (Philip and Williams-Thorpe 1993; Rowan
1998). The absence of evidence for their manufacture at any Chalcolithic site suggests that
they were made off-site, perhaps near the streams and flows where the basalt is found.
Given the distances, difficulty of working basalt with stone tools, and the fine workmanship
involved, there is good reason to believe these were created by some skilled, perhaps
specialized producers; however, the low quantities and absence of known workshops argue
for part-time or occasional specialists rather than full-time specialized producers.
Metallurgy
Though copper first appears during the Neolithic elsewhere in the ancient Near East (Iran
and Anatolia), by the Chalcolithic the metallurgical techniques of the southern Levant are
on a par with, if not surpassing, those of other contemporary peoples. Understanding the
evolution of metal technology in the southern Levant is complicated by the fact that some
Chalcolithic sites seem to either predate the introduction or discovery of copper metal-
lurgy, or exist outside of the production and distribution of metal artifacts. Sites such as
Shiqmim and Abu Matar provide unequivocal evidence for the local smelting of copper
ores as well as the finished products (Golden 2009; Golden et al. 2001; Shugar 2001).
Other sites, such as Gilat and Grar, have recovered no copper objects or evidence for any
stages of metallurgical production. The temptation to consider Gilat and Grar earlier than
the Beersheva sites is supported by some patterns in material culture, but confounded by
other evidence and radiocarbon dates. The overlapping radiocarbon dates for sites such as
Gilat and Shiqmim were discussed previously, providing no unambiguous answers.
Likewise, the absence of any copper artifacts at sites located in the Golan, many of which
date to the later parts of the Chalcolithic sequence, further argues against simplistically
determining chronology based on the presence or absence of copper.
Copper artifacts found in the southern Levant have generally been grouped into two
broad categories: (1) artifacts that are ‘utilitarian’ in appearance (tools such as axes, adzes,
chisels, awls), often made from relatively pure copper and then cast in open molds, and
subsequently annealed and hammered to create the finished products; and (2) those created
with lost-wax casting techniques using complex metals for the manufacture of more
elaborate or symbolic objects (standards, mace heads, vessels, ‘crowns’; Fig. 11). This
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 41
123
‘dual industry’ dichotomy, originally suggested by Potazkin and Bar-Avi (1980) and Key
(1980) and later confirmed by Shalev and Northover (1987), has generally held up, though
subsequent research has revealed important exceptions. For example, a disc-shaped
macehead from the Cave of the Sandal site was made of relatively pure copper (Segal et al.
2002), as were two maces from Nahal Mishmar (Tadmor et al. 1995). This contradicts the
simple equation of this material solely with utilitarian items and ‘arsenical’ copper with
non-utilitarian, symbolic objects. The latter (‘crowns’, maceheads and standards) were
manufactured with metals of widely varying compositions (Tadmor et al. 1995, p. 132).
Whereas early studies emphasized the presence of arsenic—the term ‘arsenical copper’ is
commonly used—more recent findings demonstrate that antimony was just as typical of the
complex metals. Finally, in most of the cave assemblages (for example, Peqi’in, Nahal
Mishmar) both types occur together; at the settlement of Neve Noy (Bir es-Safadi) they are
literally bound together with copper wire (Eldar and Baumgarten 1985).
In truth, there is good reason to doubt whether even these ‘utilitarian’ objects were
intended to function as tools. For one, those items that would benefit most from the
superior hardness of the complex metals, the tools (e.g., axe heads), are made of the softer,
‘pure’ copper; it is the ‘prestige’ objects that are manufactured with the harder complex
metal casting. Moreover, none of the tools are manufactured or hardened such that they
would adequately serve as tools. Axes, adzes and chisels made of flint, on the other hand,
are frequently found broken, underscoring their functional use. Copper chisels, axes and
adzes probably served as prestige items, although perhaps not as prestigious as the copper
maceheads, standards, and other items of high symbolic value (Kerner 2001). Thus the
tools should be viewed as one component of an important, symbolically loaded assemblage
of ritual equipment.
Fig. 11 Cast metal objects: a ‘Ibex Standard’ from Nahal Mishmar; b vessel from Nahal Mishmar hoard (aand b by J. Golden adapted from Bar-Adon 1980, p. 44, No.17; and p. 107, No.158); c standard from GivatHa-Oranim (by J. Golden, adapted from Namdar et al. 2004, Fig. 5.2: 1)
42 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Sources of copper are known in the Faynan region, just east of the ‘Arava in southern
Jordan (Hauptmann 1989; Hauptmann and Weisgerber 1987, 1992). Research in the
Faynan mining region yielded evidence for limited copper ore smelting, perhaps test-
smelting, at the mines (Hauptmann 1989), but the dating of these mines is less reliable than
the dating of the village contexts. Another source is also known in Timna, where there is
evidence of copper exploitation from later times to the present (Rothenberg et al. 1978),
but few Chalcolithic sites in the south with possible evidence for copper exploitation
(Khalil 1987, 1992; Rothenberg and Glass 1992). In addition to evidence for local Lev-
antine ore sources, there is ample evidence that copper smelting took place within northern
Negev settlements such as Shiqmim and Abu Matar, using ores matching the chemical
composition, structure and texture of those from Faynan (Perrot 1957; Shalev and Nort-
hover 1987; Shugar 2001). The ‘pure’ copper used to manufacture the tools derives from
southern Levantine sources of oxide ores, such as the Faynan mines (Hauptmann 1989;
Hauptmann et al. 1992; Golden et al. 2001).
The most extensive and thoroughly documented evidence for Chalcolithic smelting is
from the Beersheva region, particularly the site of Abu Matar. Metallurgical production
stations at Abu Matar include oblong ceramic crucibles roughly 8–12 cm in diameter
(Fig. 12d, e) and the remains of furnaces that incorporate a small pit covered with a
ceramic ring (Fig. 12a–c). There is also evidence for slag and ore in varying stages of
reduction (i.e., partly reduced ore that is not smelted completely), as well as bits of ‘raw’
copper and two instances of blocks of metal, akin to small ‘ingots’ (Fig. 12f). The recent
excavations at Abu Matar (Gilead et al. 1991) yielded extensive evidence for metal pro-
duction, especially in Area A, where metallurgical finds included slag, crucible fragments,
furnace fragments, ore and hammerstones, along with scatters of ash and charcoal.
Excavation of Area A also produced an in situ furnace, yielding charcoal radiocarbon dated
to c. 4200–4000 BC (Shugar 2001). Metallurgical remains were also found in Area M,
including one dense concentration which included seven hammerstones, ore, crucible
fragments, furnace fragments and over 1 kg of slag, the highest concentration of slag at the
site (Shugar 2001). Evidence of metal production has also been found in houses j-15 and j-
12, (Shugar 2001, p. 48) confirming the occurrence of household production. In Area B,
there was a pit containing slag and eight large chunks of ore weighing over 0.5 kg, though
there was no evidence for furnaces or crucibles.
Much remains unknown about the manufacturing processes and the origins of the ores
for the complex metals. Earlier scholars assumed that because there were no known
arsenic-antimony copper sources in Palestine, the origin of such sophisticated metallurgy
must be in areas such as Anatolia or Azerbaijan (Bar-Adon 1980; Key 1980). Copper with
arsenic is known from the Transcaucasus and Azerbaijan (over 1,000 km away), but more
recent reports suggest possible sources of copper with arsenic and antimony in Syria
(Ostanali, as cited in Shalev 1996, p. 161). Lead isotope studies of a macehead from the
Judean Desert also hint at a possible connection between the isotopes of this artifact and
others from Ugarit and Ras ibn Hanni in Syria (Stos-Gale 1991, as cited in Shalev 1996,
p. 161). On the other hand, the first arsenical copper ore source in the southern Levant was
recently identified in the southern Sinai Peninsula (Ilani and Rosenfeld 1994), but as yet
there is no evidence for exploitation in antiquity. Turquoise extraction in the Sinai would
suggest that Chalcolithic populations were traveling to distant southern areas for mineral
resources (Beit-Arieh 1980), or at least had contact with populations exploiting those
resources.
Production of the more elaborate artifacts used copper rich in antimony and arsenic, and
more rarely, nickel and silver. These materials have been referred to as ‘complex metals’,
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 43
123
reflecting the fact that multiple metals were present in widely varying proportions, while
avoiding the word ‘alloy’ which implies an intentional admixture (Golden 1998). Whether
the copper was co-smelted with separate, added sources of arsenic or antimony, or copper
sources that already contained higher levels of arsenic and antimony were utilized, is
unknown (Shalev 1996). The pairing of the cire perdue (‘lost wax’) method with the latter
material is unsurprising, since the presence of these other metals in the copper confers
special qualities: superior hardness and appearance to the final product, and most impor-
tant, a lower melting point and increased fluidity allowing for the successful casting of
more intricate forms (Levy and Shalev 1989; Moorey 1985; Shalev and Northover 1987,
1993; see also Shalev 1996).
Fig. 12 Artifacts related to copper production from northern Negev sites: a reconstruction (section) offurnace; b, c fragments of ceramic furnace walls from Abu Matar (b) and Bir es-Safadi (c) with slag andcopper adhering to it; d, e ceramic crucibles; f block (ingot) of ‘raw’ copper from Shiqmim (illustrations byJ. Golden)
44 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Despite close analysis at sites such as Abu Matar, there is as yet no direct evidence for the
manufacture of the symbolic or complex objects at Chalcolithic settlements, and in fact, the
source of the material remains unknown as well. There are some indications that the finished
complex metal castings may have been produced locally using imported materials. For one,
metallurgical and petrographic study of a copper macehead from Shiqmim indicates that the
core was of a glauconitic chalk originating in the region, perhaps from the ‘Arava (Shalev
et al. 1992), meaning that ‘imported’ material encased local material and thus, local casting
of the metal. As for other indications that ‘raw’, unfinished complex metals were imported
into the southern Levant, there is one ‘amorphous’ lump of metal weighing 18 g from the
Nahal Qanah cave tomb with a composition of mainly copper with 5% Sb, 2% As, and
nearly 1% Pb (Gopher and Tsuk 1991), and a small block of metal (ingot?) from Bir es-
Safadi with a composition of roughly 92% Cu, 2.5% Sb, 1.5% Pb, and 0.8% As (Golden
2009). Analysis of materials from renewed excavations at Abu Matar revealed traces of up
to 1% arsenic in some copper found in crucibles (Shugar 2001), but whether this material
could have been used to produce the complex metal castings with much higher concen-
trations of arsenic remains unclear. Based on analysis of the Abu Matar material, Shugar
(2001) identified four types of copper based ore, three of which were determined to come
from the Faynan mining region. The fourth, based on similarities in lead isotope ratio,
geographical proximity, and evidence for regional contact, is posited to originate in Ana-
tolia. Lead isotope data indicate that the alternative source for this fourth ore type identified
at Abu Matar was in central and north central Anatolia, perhaps Kaman-Kalehoyuk and
mines around the central Black Sea (Shugar 2001, p. 178).
The sophisticated nature of the Chalcolithic metal industries is epitomized by the
spectacular discovery of copper objects from the Nahal Mishmar cave site known as the
‘Cave of the Treasure.’ In the early 1960s, a cave discovered in a sheer cliff near the
western bank of the Dead Sea was found to contain hundreds of elaborate artifacts,
including copper maceheads, ‘crowns’, scepters (Fig. 11a, b) and other artifacts. This trove
of impressive items, including other exotic materials such as ivory and hematite, has
inspired great speculation about why this hoard was placed in such an inaccessible cave
that the hoard was connected to the Chalcolithic sanctuary site of En-Gedi, 15 km to the
north, were based on proximity (Ussishkin 1971, 1980), but this is not supported by the
limited amount of material culture recovered from the En-Gedi site. No copper artifacts or
detritus were found, and there are clear distinctions in ceramic assemblages (Goren 1995,
pp. 292–293), such as the presence of cornets at En-Gedi and their complete absence at
Nahal Mishmar cave. The connection between Ein Gedi and Mishmar is tenuous at best,
and may in truth be chronologically untenable. Unfortunately, the relationship of the hoard
to other Chalcolithic sites is difficult to understand, but some aspects of the iconography
and style, as well as the pottery and other finds, leave little doubt as to the Chalcolithic
attribution, derived from a southern Levantine cultural milieu (Beck 1989; Levy and
Shalev 1989; Merhav et al. 1993; Moorey 1988).
As discussed (earlier, Chronology), dating of the organic remains from Nahal Mishmar
indicates that the deposit was probably made towards the late part of the Chalcolithic,
probably during the first quarter of the fourth millennium BC. Based on new AMS dates
obtained on the mat in which the hoard was placed, Aardsma (2001) argues that portions of
the mat may date to as early as c. 4350 BC. This weakens the possibility that the hoard was
deposited there at the very end of the Chalcolithic, perhaps during a period of violence
(Ussishkin 1971), and undermines the use of dates from the cave to define a ‘Terminal
Chalcolithic’ (Joffe and Dessel 1995).
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 45
123
The recent discoveries at the Chalcolithic burial cave site of Nahal Qanah in the low
hills west of the western highlands serve to reinforce both the technological advancement
and the dating of Chalcolithic metal smelting. Associated with a number of burials, basalt
vessels, copper artifacts, eight gold and gold ‘alloy’ (electrum) rings interpreted as ingots
were recovered (Gopher and Tsuk 1996; Gopher et al. 1990). These rings were created by
pouring melted gold into open molds and hammering them into the final circular shape.
Though this technique does not require any additional technological innovation (the heat
required is no more extreme than for copper production, and casting is simple), there is the
possibility that the gold and electrum were extracted from quartz veins rather than col-
lected from alluvial deposits, which does suggest an innovation (Gopher and Tsuk 1996,
pp. 171–172). The Nahal Qanah discoveries, along with Giv’at Ha-Oranim (Namdar et al.
2004) and Peqi’in, are also pivotal in that they represent complex metals found outside of
the northern Negev, formerly the only area where such finds were made (Levy and Shalev
1989). The copper objects outside the Negev, however, seem limited to mortuary contexts.
Copper is known from sites in the Jordan Valley, such as Shuna, Abu Hamid, and Ghassul,
but no copper maceheads are known from those sites, despite the recovery of stone
maceheads at all three sites. The discovery of gold at Nahal Qanah and Giv’atayim (Braun
and van den Brink 2008, p. 646) does not simplify matters: the distances of possible
sources are probably greater than those for copper, and the lack of parallels in the
archaeological record is notable. Nevertheless, the beginnings of metallurgy, and the
sophisticated knowledge it required, are evident, and the possibility that this knowledge
was tightly controlled or guarded must also be considered a potentially important new
element in the organization of craft production in the southern Levant (Levy 1998; Levy
and Shalev 1989).
The dearth of evidence for the production of complex metal castings underscores the
likelihood that it was carried out in workshops distinct from the village workshops, where
there is ample evidence for the processing of ‘pure’ copper (see Tadmor et al. 1995). The
difficulty in obtaining the material, the skill required for their production, and the fact that
they are found primarily in mortuary contexts or in discrete caches suggests that demand
for the complex metal castings was driven by some wealthier consumers, but in the
absence of evidence for their manufacture, it is difficult to say whether this was inde-
pendent or attached specialization (see Costin 1991). Tadmor et al. have asserted that,
based on radiographic and chemical analyses of 28 metal objects from the Nahal Mishmar
hoard, the two classes of objects (‘pure’ copper tools versus complex metal castings) were
manufactured in different locales. Determining where the items from Nahal Mishmar and
other complex metals were created may prove useful for understanding not only control
over copper production, but resource procurement in general. At the Beersheva basin sites,
such as Abu Matar and Shiqmim (Golden 1998; Levy and Shalev 1989; Shugar 2001),
there is ample evidence for ‘pure’ copper metallurgy, and while future research may turn
up other metal workshops, the latter seem to represent the region’s primary production
center. Evidence for production appears in household contexts throughout the site, sug-
gesting independent specialization. Rosen (1993) has argued that despite the technical
dimensions of metal production, it was not significantly different from other areas of craft
production such as basalt vessel manufacture and some types of flint-working. There are
some indications that copper-manufacturing activities at Abu Matar became increasingly
concentrated over time, ultimately leading to the establishment of centralized workshops
(Golden 1998, pp. 306–311; Shugar 2001). And while such activities became more
organized, they most likely operated as a small kin- or family-based industry, without the
need for ‘attached’ control over production. The preference for complex metals for the
46 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
manufacture of the more intricate and evocative goods intimates a distinct desire beyond a
functional necessity for utilitarian effectiveness.
Craft Specialization
A key issue for understanding the importance of craft specialization in Chalcolithic society
is the identification of production activities (Levy 1993). Rich and diverse assemblages of
finished goods found throughout the southern Levant certainly seem to suggest that craft
specialists were living and working in the region during the Chalcolithic, yet production
contexts (workshops) remain elusive. Perhaps the strongest evidence for specialized pro-
duction extending beyond the domestic sphere is metallurgy; in particular, the production
of complex metal artifacts such as most maces, standards, ‘crowns’ and other intricate
items (see ‘‘Metallurgy’’). Interpretation of the organization of production diverges. Gilead
(1988, pp. 422–423), for instance, discounts the possibility of centralized production or
elite control of copper, and argues that copper metal workers were part-time specialists,
similar to those who made ceramic and flint items. Levy, on the other hand, argues that the
emergence of ranked societies along the Beersheva valley was directly linked to copper
production (Levy 1993; Levy and Shalev 1989). As with any craft, there would still be
tinkerers and household producers and this is evident at the Beersheva sites. The identi-
fication of concentrated production zones at Abu Matar (Shugar 2001; Golden 2009) and
Shiqmim (Golden et al. in preparation), however, demonstrates that specialized crafts-
people were working in these villages. The production of complex metal objects, requiring
access to materials from far away, and the sophisticated nature of cire perdue techniques
underscore the likelihood that there were specialized metalsmiths, yet the location of their
production activities remains unclear. Some clues now place the casting of these artifacts
somewhere in the southern Levant—the identification of a copper macehead’s chalk core
(Shalev et al. 1992) and a piece of clay mold (Goren 2006) indicating local sources, and an
‘unfinished’ block of metal from Bir es-Safadi that matches the composition of many
finished goods (Golden 2009)—yet the precise workshops are unknown and ore sources are
still debated. The lack of identifiable workshops for complex metals in the southern Levant
makes it difficult to discern the degree of control exercised over production, although the
distant sources of ore and the eccentric nature of many of the goods produced may hint at
elite control or ‘attached’ specialists (Costin 1991). Complex metal castings in the north at
Peqi’in and the coastal plain at Giv’at Ha-Oranim indicate a wider distribution than
assumed just a few decades ago. By the beginning of the EBA, the metals industry seems to
have taken a step back. According to Rosen, ‘the socioeconomic contexts of these earliest
experiments in metallurgy were ultimately inadequate to support full-fledged specializa-
tion’ (Rosen 1993, p. 41). No workshops the size of those excavated at Abu Matar (Perrot
1955; Shugar 2001; Golden 2009) are known from the ensuing EBA, nor are any finished
goods of the caliber recovered from Nahal Mishmar and multiple other sites.
Other artifact assemblages thought to be the products of specialized craftspeople include
ivory figurines, basalt vessels, ceramics and flint. Manufacture of the finer basalt bowls, of
extremely hard volcanic stone, a resource unavailable at many sites, necessitated intensive
labor, long-distance transport of heavy materials and some knowledge of how to work the
stone (Philip and Williams-Thorpe 1993). To date, no basalt vessel production site is
known, although a few vessel blanks have been identified at settlement sites (Epstein 1998,
Pl. 38.1–3; Rowan in press) and a few basalt chips at Abu Hamid may indicate the final
stages of manufacture or re-furbishing (Wright et al. pers. comm., basalt chips could also
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 47
123
derive from secondary tool manufacture of broken basalt vessels or rejuvenation of non-
vessel implements). The low number of basalt bowls at each Chalcolithic site does not
support the conclusion that full-time specialists were required. More importantly, the
frequent association of basalt bowls with ritual deposits (mortuary and caches) suggests
that at sites without local basalt flows the bowls were produced for ritual occasions (Rowan
1998). Ethnoarchaeological work by Hayden (1987) on the production of basalt metates in
Guatemala indicates that even the selection of quality material requires highly specialized
knowledge. This would equally have been fundamental to the manufacture of basalt bowls,
particularly the most elaborate forms found associated with burials (van den Brink et al.
1999). Nevertheless, these forms are rare and may have been produced by specialists on an
ad hoc basis for special rites.
Despite the sophisticated skill demonstrated in many Chalcolithic crafts, evidence for
the production of other exotic items is also indistinct or absent. Indications of ivory
production are missing entirely: only finished artifacts have been published, although an
ivory-working locus has been mentioned (cf. Perrot 1959a, b). Pottery and flint assem-
blages also indicate some degree of specialization. Chalcolithic pottery producers incor-
porated use of the wheel during the Chalcolithic (noted above, Material Culture,
Ceramics), but without overt attempts to increase standardization or efficiency. Petro-
graphic studies indicate that most domestic assemblages (as well as that of En Gedi) were
manufactured using local clays (such as the Golan examples, see Fig. 13). Exceptions
include Gilat, and the pottery found in the Nahal Mishmar hoard, both of which exhibit a
variety of petrographic groups (Goren 1995, p. 297). There may be some parallel between
the specialized nature of pottery production for these ritual sites and the production of
basalt vessels for ritual purposes.
Flint assemblages provide some of the best evidence for specialized production, par-
ticularly for the creation of specific, standardized forms, such as celts, tabular scrapers, and
blades, which are known from workshops, activity areas and sites (Rosen 1997). Spe-
cialized workshops for the production of tabular scrapers are known from sites in the
western Negev, such as Har Qeren and Wada Gaza Site A (Rosen 1983; Roshwalb 1981),
although other possible processing sites for tabular scrapers have also been identified
(Muheisen et al. 1988, pp. 482–483, also see ‘‘Chipped and Ground Stone Assemblages’’).
Wadi Gaza sites, in particular Sites A and M, represent some level of specialized flint
production, but possibly a very different mode of manufacture to other sites, such as those
dedicated to the short-lived exploitation of material for large cortical tabular ‘fan’ scrapers.
Increasing specialization in sickle blade production from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze
Age seems clear, but there is no evidence that this blade production was controlled by
elites or served elites exclusively. Instead, blade production fed into the basic needs of the
subsistence economy. Preliminary results of research at a recently discovered very large
blade production site in Beersheva will provide new insights into this aspect of the
economy and the possibility of craft specialists. As Rosen points out, the rise of expedient
chipped flint tool production during the Chalcolithic complements that of increasingly
specialized tool production, perhaps concentrated in the hands of fewer specialists (Rosen
1997, p. 115).
Similar reductions in the number of producers seem to have occurred in other areas of
craft production during the period. Copper smelting, initially conducted through house-
holds, may have been beginning to be concentrated in the hands of fewer specialists
(Golden 1998, 2009). The same may be true for spinning and weaving: analysis of spindle
whorls and bone tools may indicate a similar process at Gilat (Levy et al. 2006a). Basalt
bowl manufacturing, quite common in the Golan where basalt is the primary rock
48 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
available, appears to be more utilitarian. More distant southerly sites typically have only a
few basalt bowls, usually manufactured with care, as if intended for special functions
(Rowan 1998, 2006, p. 603). While much of flint tool production would fulfill subsistence
needs, copper and basalt production seem to have met ritual needs in many cases.
In general, craft production during the Chalcolithic appears to be largely local, some of
it possibly organized in support of ritual events. Despite examples of highly accomplished
manufacturing, outside of the metals industry we have little evidence for centralized
production, or production controlled by ruling elites, and the lack of standardization
suggests that maximizing efficiency was not always the primary goal.
Nevertheless, limited evidence supports the possibility that different communities
specialized in craft production, agriculture, fruit cultivation, and resource extraction,
Fig. 13 Selected Golan pottery: a, b pithoi; c krater; d pedestalled, fenestrated stand; e spouted krater; fpedestalled, fenestrated stand with applique horn decor; g small bowl; h jug. All from Epstein 1998, Pls. 3.1,5.8, 19.1, 22.1, 12.3, 22.4, 18.17, 21.1
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 49
123
thereby contributing to the integration of different regions and populations. Olive pro-
duction, for instance, indicates that olives processed in highland locales found their way to
sites such as Gilat and Ghassul where olives would not thrive. The presence of basalt bowl
blanks in the resource-rich region of the Golan may indicate that northern communities
were involved in supplying basalt to those more distant from potential sources. Likewise,
pottery production incorporating use of the wheel indicates that specific pottery forms were
distributed to other Chalcolithic communities.
Mortuary Practices
Some of the most intensively studied forms of prehistoric ritual practice are associated with
mortuary contexts. Archaeological interest in mortuary practices is concerned with status,
rank and hierarchy, gender, identity, and beliefs about the afterlife (Brown 1971; Chapman
et al. 1981; Morris 1992; Parker-Pearson 2001; Saxe 1970). Significant changes in burial
practices were introduced during the Chalcolithic, and a stream of recent discoveries
underscores the diversity of mortuary practices at that time, yet no comprehensive syn-
thesis has been attempted. Primary interments are found within villages and seem to
include a broad array of ages and both sexes, as in the Natufian (Valla 1998) and the
Neolithic periods (Gopher and Orelle 1995; Gopher 1998, pp. 219–220; contra Joffe 2003,
p. 48). Secondary use of large vessel fragments and storage jars as receptacles for infant
burials continues a practice from the Late Neolithic (Mallon et al. 1934, Pls. 24.1–4, 25: 1–
2). Multiple burials are also not uncommon (for instance, Gilat, see Smith et al. 2006, Pl.
8.3; Shiqmim, Levy and Alon 1987a, Fig. 6.17a, b). Extramural mortuary grounds, a major
innovation, include cave tombs and burial structures. Most extramural interments are
secondary burials, primarily in association with ossuaries, where symbolic representation is
most evident. Burial practices during the Chalcolithic are thus varied, including secondary
and primary interments, intra- and extra-mural, with diverse grave goods ranging from
none to elaborate metals, ossuaries, vessels and basalt and ivory artifacts in a few cases.
Recent discoveries at mortuary cave sites, in particular Peqi’in (Gal et al. 1996, 1997),
Nahal Qanah (Gopher 1996; Gopher et al. 1990), Giv’at Ha-Oranim (Scheftelowitz and
Oren 2004) and Shoham (van den Brink and Gophna 2005), highlight this diversity and the
occasionally rich mortuary goods found in association with secondary burials (see van den
Brink 1998 for compilation of extramural mortuary sites). These burials, their associated
structures, and finds reflect a major alteration in practices and cultural attitudes to death
from the preceding Pottery Neolithic (Gopher and Orelle 1995; Joffe 1993; Rowan and Ilan
in press).
Inclusion of burial goods, varying widely in quantity and quality, is an additional
innovation. Funerary objects, however, usually do not correlate with a single interment, so
evidence for individual ranking based on burial goods remains ambiguous; cave tombs
such as Peqi’in, which appears to have been used over several generations, could represent
status stemming from kin affiliation. Just as we should not characterize all Chalcolithic
sites as typified by the Beersheva and Ghassul sites (Joffe 1993, p. 45), the richest and
most elaborate cave burials should not be regarded as typical of Chalcolithic mortuary
practice.
Although cemeteries may first occur during the Late Neolithic (Avner 1989–1990;
Avner et al. 1994), the best documented and most clearly dated extramural formal cem-
etery occurs during the Chalcolithic at Shiqmim (Levy and Alon 1979, 1985a, b, 1987c;
Levy 1998). At Shiqmim, a series of grave structures are clustered in groups extending
50 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
about 1 km along the Eocene chalk hills above the site. Approximately 100 mortuary
structures were recorded (Levy and Alon 1982, 1985a, b, 1987b). Two main structural
forms are found, predominantly grave circles (in which secondary burials were placed),
and cists (which did not contain human remains but usually had a V-shaped bowl), found
primarily in Cemetery III. Levy and Alon suggest, based on their size, the artifacts and
their proximity to the grave circles, that the cists served as defleshing pits for later reburial
of selected human remains in the circles (Levy and Alon 1987a, b, c, p. 337). A possible
link between the grave circles at Shiqmim and the nawamis (stone built, circular, roofed
tombs) found in the Sinai (Bar-Yosef et al. 1977, 1986) is suggested by their circular shape
and the recovery of shell bracelets (Lambis truncata) from both types of structure (Levy
and Alon 1979, 1985a, b). The cemeteries may have operated on a limited regional scale,
serving other smaller sites in the immediate vicinity of Shiqmim (Levy et al. 2006b).
Other examples such as Adeimah, *5 km northeast of the Dead Sea and Tulaylat al-
Ghassul (Neuville 1930a, b; Stekelis 1935), and Nahal Sekher 111 on the coastal plain
(Gilead and Goren 1986) are problematic. The former includes dolmens and tumuli that
may post-date the Chalcolithic, while the latter is unpublished. Apparently, the human
remains were secondary burials in poor condition, but we know little more. Stone circles at
al-Qasabat, near Iraq al-Amir, also lack material culture and may date to the EB (Ji 1997,
pp. 58–59). The cemetery near Bab edh-Dhra’ is very similar to that of Shiqmim, with
poorly preserved, apparently secondary burial remains placed in stone circles (‘cairns’);
material culture is limited to a few sherds and dentalium beads (Clark 1979). New dis-
coveries at a cemetery site near Palmahim on the central coastal plain combine elements of
burial structures with stone ossuary tubs for yet another expression of mortuary rites
(Gorzalczany 2005).
Another major form of repository for secondary burials is caves. These are commonly
found along the coastal plain and slightly further inland in the low piedmont foothills
(Hebrew, shephelah), dwindling to the eastern sections of the hill country and highlands.
Caves include both naturally karstic caves (e.g., Nahal Qanah, Peqi’in, Shoham) and hewn
bedrock caves (e.g., Azor, Ben Shemen, Bene Berak, Palmachim). All contain ossuaries
and secondary, disarticulated human remains, frequently disturbed through post-deposi-
tional processes (e.g., roof collapse, animal disturbance, re-use by later populations).
Constructed or hewn shelves, on which mortuary items were placed, were common, as at
Azor (Perrot 1993, p. 125) and Bene Berak (Kaplan 1963; Perrot and Ladiray 1980). Stelae
are also common (for example, Ben Shemen, Bene Berak, Giv’atayim, Quleh, and Sho-
ham), and a number were discovered at the non-cave, subterranean mortuary site of
Kissufim (Goren and Fabian 2002). Intensive modern building and concomitant salvage
archaeology may be responsible for the apparent cluster of burial caves in the central
coastal plain and central inland region. This concentration of coastal burial plains led some
(Perrot and Ladiray 1980) to posit that these were the burial grounds for nomadic pasto-
ralists who frequented the region during their seasonal rounds, a hypothesis based in part
on the belief that few local settlements existed in the area. Cave tombs (e.g., Nahal Qanah)
and cemeteries (e.g., Shiqmim) further inland, as well settlements in the coastal plain and
Shephelah area (Gophna 1992; Gophna and Portugali 1988; Joffe 1993, p. 33) cast doubt
on this suggestion.
Grave circles, and the other dolmens and megalithic cemeteries that may date to the
Chalcolithic, are apparently limited to the arid regions around the Dead Sea, the northern
Negev and to the south. Burial caves extend from the Galilee through the central highlands
(see, for example, Clamer 1981), and westward to the piedmont and coastal plain, but are
unknown east of the highlands and the Judean Desert (at sites such as Umm Qatafa, for
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 51
123
example, Perrot 1992, Fig. 4.1) on the western side of the Dead Sea. As Ilan suggested
(1994), the Nahal Mishmar hoard included human burials and may represent a particularly
rich mortuary site. Other mortuary remains from the Judean desert region (for example, the
‘Cave of the Horror’, Aharoni 1962, pp. 188–190) and western Jordan Valley (for
example, Wadi Makkukh, Ketef Jericho: Agur et al. 1988–1989; Patrich 1993) suggest that
these areas too were utilized during the Chalcolithic, and that perhaps many more burials
remain to be discovered in the area. In the north, where Chalcolithic settlement is well
documented (Epstein 1998), there is little evidence for human burials during the Chal-
colithic; in the Golan, burials are unknown.
Ossuaries are commonly found in cave sites such as Peqe’in and Palmachim, as well as
the tomb site of Kissufim. Their presence is also indicated by associated fragments found in
the Shiqmim grave circles and other sites. Perrot and Ladiray (1980) classify ossuaries into
three general classes: open ‘tubs’, enclosed structures and jars. The most common are the
‘structural’ ossuaries, often referred to as ‘house’ ossuaries, based on a posited resem-
blance to structures of the period (Fig. 14e). Some structural ‘house’ ossuaries include
plastic decor on the exterior that may represent architectural elements, such as poles or
beams, but the general parallels to known Chalcolithic architecture are few. The open tub
ossuaries are generally stone and plain, while structural ‘house’ ossuaries are generally
painted ceramic, typically with prominent eyes and nose (Fig. 14a, c, d). Other plastic
exterior decor includes breasts (Fig. 14d), horns, tools and doors. Jar ossuaries are much
less common, but those recently published from the unusual mortuary site of Kissufim are
painted with plant and looping motifs (Fig. 14b; Goren 2002).
A few major burial sites have come to light over the past 20 years that highlight an
impressive diversity of practices surrounding disposal of the dead. Each discovery pro-
vided new perspective on mortuary practices of the period, challenging our earlier per-
ceptions (Ilan and Rowan in press). These intricate burial sites are summarized below in
four case studies, highlighting the diverse material culture associated with the richest
mortuary contexts and the difficulty inherent in trying to summarize mortuary practices.
Case Studies: Nahal Qanah, Peqi’in, Shoham, and Kissufim
Nahal Qanah is an active karstic cave of multiple chambers and passages located in the low
limestone hills where the Shephelah transitions into the central highlands. Excavated by
Gopher and Tsuk (1996), the cave included remains dated to the Pottery Neolithic,
Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I. For the present discussion, we limit our summary to
the Chalcolithic material culture, which forms the majority of the assemblage.
Excavations were hampered by the active karstic nature of the caves, which leaves thick
travertine deposits covering the human remains and material culture. Nahal Qanah extends
over five levels, about 25 m in vertical depth and *90 m in length. A narrow tunnel
provides access to the uppermost level, where the Main Hall connects to additional pas-
sages, crevices and tunnels (Gopher and Tsuk 1996, pp. 13–52). Galleries, connected by
tunnels and narrow passages, sometimes have stepped wall terraces. An estimated 22
ossuary fragments and 23 individuals were recovered, and the excavators suggest that all of
the poorly preserved human remains were deposited there during the Chalcolithic (Hers-
hkovitz and Gopher 1996, p. 175). The poor preservation of the human remains in such a
constantly moist climate suggests that the MNI estimates are probably low, with many
bones dissolved. Just over half (60%) of the recovered population was aged to \20 years
(Hershkovitz and Gopher 1996, Fig. 8.2), a surprisingly high number of young people
confirmed by an absence of adult crania. Pathologies were few. There seems little reason to
52 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
doubt that these remains were secondary burials, based on the numerous ossuaries.
Moreover, only one side of an individual was usually represented, and no vertebrae were
found at all.
Material culture found at Nahal Qanah attracted the most attention. The pottery
assemblage included some fenestrated, pedestalled forms, V-shapes, jars, holemouths, and
churns, but no cornets. Finds included stone pendants, maceheads, beads of carnelian,
dentalium and turquoise, and some unusual or even unique goods. Over 100 basalt vessel
fragments were discovered, many of which consist of a bowl atop supports (‘legs’) more
Fig. 14 Ceramic ossuaries: a ossuary facade from Peqi’in cave (from Gal et al. 1999, Fig. 1); b Kissufimmortuary urn (from Goren 2002, Fig. 4.12); c, d anthropomorphic ossuary facades from Peqi’in cave (fromGal et al. 1999; Figs. 5, 7); e box ossuary from Shoham (north), Cave 2 (from van den Brink 2005, Fig. 4.5)
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 53
123
elaborately carved than most (Fig. 10a–d). These rare forms of basalt bowl were recog-
nized as a sub-type at other burials sites such as Peqi’in and Shoham (van den Brink et al.
1999). In addition to three hematite maceheads, copper finds included a standard, a dec-
orative fragment, an adze, and some wire and lumps (discussed further under ‘‘Metal-
lurgy’’). A few ivory pieces were also recovered, including a perforated plaque of
hippopotamus tusk (Gopher and Tsuk 1996, Fig. 4.26, 4.27.1) similar to those known from
Nahal Mishmar (Bar-Adon 1980, pp. 16–23) and Shiqmim (Levy and Alon 1992). The
most surprising and indeed unique discovery from Nahal Qanah was the eight gold and
electrum rings. Without parallel, and transported some distance (nearest potential gold
sources are in either Nubia or the Ural Mountains), the rings represent a form of wealth,
particularly if they are ingots as the excavators suggest (Gopher and Tsuk 1996). The
smelting and casting to create the rings was not as complicated as for some complex metal
castings in copper, but the ore extractions may have been sophisticated, and, coupled with
the long distances involved, their intended use as symbolic or valuable items seems clear.
The karstic cave of Peqi’in, located in the northern Galilee, Israel was discovered
accidentally during road construction. Three units were situated at three different levels,
*17 m in length, and with widths ranging from 5 to 7 m (Gal et al. 1997, p. 145). Primary
use of the cave was for dozens of ossuary and jar inhumations, although there may have
been an earlier Chalcolithic (‘pre-Ghassulian’) phase of occupation. Discoveries at Peqi’in
established the presence of metals and a rich mortuary assemblage in a more northerly
region than previously known. In addition, the particularly striking ossuaries are easily the
most richly decorated of any dated to the Chalcolithic, including painted faces on facades
and lids, applique human facial features, and even three dimensional human heads.
Material culture also included an ivory figurine, copper objects, steatite beads and basalt
bowls.
Published examples of selected decorated ossuaries, thought to number in the hundreds,
include new features of anthropomorphic motifs unknown from other Chalcolithic
assemblages, yet recognizable enough to be seen as expanding the Ghassulian repertoire
rather than standing outside it. Typical Ghassulian facial representation includes an
exaggerated nose and round eyes, with no mouth; rarely, beards or ears are found. The
introduction of hands, hair, nostrils, mouth and teeth are new motifs previously unknown in
Chalcolithic ossuary iconography (Gal et al. 1999, Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9). At the cave site of
Quleh (Milevski 2002), a figurine was recently discovered with features more similar to
those from Peqi’in, highlighting the interconnection of iconographic material across
divisions one might propose based on ceramics or environment.
Located closer to the central coastal plain in the foothills, salvage excavations at the site
of Shoham (North) exposed four interconnected karstic caves, apparently used for both
domestic and mortuary purposes. Caves 1, 2, and 4 are particularly relevant to the present
discussion, while cultural remains from Cave 3 were primarily limited to Early Islamic
sherds. Measuring *12.0 m by 11.0 m E–W, with heights ranging from 1.5 to 2.0 m, Cave
1 included a natural pillar that preserved part of the roof section. Six ossuary jars con-
taining secondary burials stood on stones laid on the bedrock surface. Two additional
secondary burials were found deposited in a basin and large open form bowl next to the
ossuary jars. Immediately to the northwest of Cave 1, Cave 2 (12.0 9 5.0 m, height 1.8 m)
was accessed by bedrock steps leading 2 m into the cave, and had two niches in the rear.
The bottom layer (c. 50 cm depth) exposed Chalcolithic burial remains below ceiling
collapse, including fragments of an estimated 39 house and jar ossuaries. The rear of this
cave linked to Cave 4 via a narrow (c. 50 cm) channel. The roof and natural supporting
pillar of Cave 4 remained intact, with a height ranging from 2.5 to 2.75 m and up to 3.5 m.
54 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Although the only in situ burials were around the cave pillar, over 20 jar and box type
ossuaries were found, along with pottery ground stone artifacts. Two pits in the bedrock
floor contained many ossuary fragments and pedestalled, fenestrated basalt bowl frag-
ments. This material was then sealed by a heavy stone collapse, with a later reuse of the
cave above that collapse.
Like other secondary burials in caves, the assemblage at Shoham includes three ceramic
ossuary forms: vessels (including V-shapes, holemouth jars and basins) typically known
from non-mortuary contexts; dome jars with an opening in the shoulder: and rectangular
vessels with a door in front (‘house’ ossuary; van den Brink 2006). At least 35 rectangular
vessels (Class II, Perrot and Ladiray 1980), 44 domed jar ossuaries (Class III, Perrot and
Ladiray 1980) and 6 secondary vessels were used as mortuary containers (van den Brink
2005). Applied animal horns, possibly ibex, were found on some ossuary jars, a motif
recognized from other ossuaries, such as those found at Azor (Perrot and Ladiray 1980,
Fig. 63: 9), Ben Shemen (Perrot and Ladiray 1980, Fig. 118: 4; 119: 4–10), Bene Beraq
(Kaplan 1963, Fig. 7: 5, Pl. 33A), but expressed in other media as well, such as the copper
finds from Giv’at Ha-Oranim (Namdar et al. 2004, Fig. 5.16, 17; 5.2: 1).
The publication of the Chalcolithic burials at Shoham is the most comprehensive report
of a large ceramic mortuary assemblage, reflecting distinctions between mortuary and
habitation assemblages (Commenge 2005). Summarizing the evidence for ossuaries, van
den Brink cautions that a limestone kiln built later clearly skews our understanding of Cave
1. There, ossuary jars predominate, as they do in Cave 2. Although one ossuary from Cave
1 may have been decorated with animal horns, most ossuaries decorated with animal horns
were found in Cave 2. Box ossuaries outnumber jars in Cave 4, but the variability of this
form seems greater in Cave 2 (van den Brink 2005). Other material culture included
palettes (Rowan 2005), similar to those found at the mortuary site of Kissufim (Fabian and
Goren 2002, Fig. 6.6) and a few Canaanean blades that, based on both associated ceramics
and radiometric dates, are apparently Chalcolithic and do not seem intrusive from EBI
contexts (Marder 2005). Stone vessels were also found, primarily basalt bowls. Like at
Nahal Qanah and Giv’at Ha-Oranim, some basalt bowls are of the more intricate sub-type
(van den Brink et al. 1999).
Kissufim is a unique mortuary site located along Nahal Kissufim, which drains into
Nahal Besor. The site was discovered during roadworks, when bulldozing exposed human
remains, stone burial tubs, shell pendants, pottery ossuaries and stelae in and around a
rectangular semi-subterranean mudbrick structure (Goren and Fabian 2002). Despite the
severe damage caused by heavy machinery, subsequent careful excavation and sieving of
the bulldozed dumps allowed reconstruction of original artifact locations in some cases.
Artifacts were deposited both within and outside a semi-subterranean rectangular mudbrick
structure (2.5 9 4.0 m, interior) with walls still preserved up to 1 m in places (Goren and
Fabian 2002, Fig. 2.5, Plans 2.2–5). Access was probably from above, given the lack of
evidence for a doorway. Shallow pits set into the room floor included vessels such as urns,
stone tubs, ceramic ossuaries, and kraters used for the burials. Various ceramic bottles, jars
and, in particular, V-shaped bowls were found scattered on the floor, some with burning or
traces of organic matter (Goren 2002). Two niches were built within the walls, and burial
goods were placed on benches along the wall interiors, in a fashion similar to some burial
caves of the coastal plain, such as Azor (Perrot 1993, p. 125).
Outside this structure, burials were also found placed in pits, apparently with few finds.
Eleven individuals were buried in one stone lined pit, thought to be the original location of
the stone tubs disturbed during the building activity. At the base of that pit, another in situ
stone tub included the secondary interment of six individuals with ceramic vessels;
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 55
123
additional pottery was found near stelae not far from the pit burial. Shell pendants were
also probably originally associated with the collective burial. Pottery includes a variety of
common forms, such as V-shaped bowls, churns and holemouths; other forms such as
were also found. Unusual forms that are typically associated with non-domestic contexts
include a pedestalled form with a basket handle (Goren 2002, Fig. 4.2: 2, 4–5), a high-
necked bottle, and ceramic rings similar to examples found in Shiqmim, Cemetery I (Levy
and Alon 1987c, Fig. 13.16: 10), and a few other sites. Other finds include a palette (Fabian
and Goren 2002, p. 48, Fig. 6.6), numerous shell pendants (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2002a, b,
pp. 49–52, Fig. 7.1: 1–11) and a bird figurine carved from a lion’s tooth (Poplin 2002,
pp. 53–54, Fig. 8.1). Burial vessels from Kissufim include oval ceramic tubs, box ossu-
aries, jar ossuaries (Fig. 14b) and a krater, displaying unusual diversity for a mortuary site,
particularly a relatively small one.
In line with other sites where secondary mortuary rites were practised, age distribution
indicates a low frequency of the young (infants and juveniles); sites with primary burials
typically have higher relative frequencies of the young (Zagerson and Smith 2002, 61–62,
Table 10.2). Whereas evidence from Ben Shemen indicated intentional defleshing of the
corpse (LeMort and Rabinovich 1994), taphonomic study of the Kissufim remains indicates
that carnivorous scavenger modification (scratches, gnawing, punctures) took place before
reburial occurred (LeMort and Rabinovich 2002, Fig. 11.7: 1–3, 11.5).
Chalcolithic mortuary practices are highly variable, ranging from single primary
interments to complex, multiple secondary burials in subterranean features. Cemeteries
near Shiqmim and Adeimah may reflect visible reminders of territoriality, but the majority
of other burials were below ground, and thus may be assumed to be less public loci of
community praxis (Joffe 2003, p. 51). Few mortuary practices may be taken as repre-
sentative of the whole; the rich sophisticated funerary goods of a few cave sites contrast
sharply to the many primary and secondary interments buried with only a V-shaped bowl,
or nothing. Larger numbers of interred individuals are associated with greater numbers of
burial items, whereas individual burials are less richly appointed (Gopher and Tsuk 1996,
p. 226). Nevertheless, the very fact of secondary burial, elaborate grave structures (Kiss-
ufim, grave circles, and cists, hewn caves), and occasional funerary goods suggest a pan-
regional focus on ritual practices associated with mortuary places, what Joffe (2003, p. 55)
referred to as ‘secret cult activities’. The relationship between mortuary practices and other
possible evidence for ritual activities is deserving of comprehensive treatment, but for the
present we can only summarize some possible evidence that builds upon our knowledge of
mortuary practices during the Chalcolithic.
Ritual Practice and Religious Belief
A burst of visual expression evident in a variety of media, such as painted and modeled
ossuaries, wall paintings, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines and vessels, attests to
a significant degree of symbolic practice and a complex belief system during the Chal-
colithic. The richness of this material has been recognized and studied by a number of
scholars (e.g., Beck, Elliott, Epstein, etc.), who have largely relied on traditional Near
Eastern and art historical approaches better suited to later, historical periods. Although we
probably will never know exactly what people believed, the database awaits more explicit
approaches and synthetic treatment than possible in a short review. Here, we attempt to
first summarize evidence that scholars suggest reflects the residue or locus of ritual
56 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
practices, and then integrate this disparate information into a schematic outline of ritual
practice and possible reflection of a religious belief system.
Traditionally, the starting point for identifying archaeological sites interpreted as spe-
cialized sites for ritual has focused on architectural remains. A number of Chalcolithic sites
exhibit architecture and associated remains interpreted as non-domestic in function; some
of these structures may have been used for communal and/or ritual activities. Sites with
intramural ceremonial areas and enigmatic structures occur, with the attendant problems
when attempting to determine the function(s) of an area. Perhaps the most widely accepted
candidate for a ritual context is the site of Ein Gedi (Gilead 1988, 1995; Goren 1995; Levy
1998; Ussishkin 1980). Situated on a high promontory overlooking the Dead Sea to the east
near a natural spring, Ein Gedi is unique in that it has no evidence for domestic occupation
or production. Rather, the site consists of an architectural complex that shares a number of
common features with the sanctuary from Ghassul, as well as some of the temple com-
plexes of the later Bronze Age, including a pair of broad-room buildings, one large and one
small, and a gate, all enclosed by a stone wall (Bourke 2002a, b; Ottoson 1980; Ussishkin
1980). There is also a central installation in the courtyard similar to the aforementioned
feature at Ghassul (Bourke 2002a, b) and Gilat (Alon and Levy 1989). Within the larger,
long room, a series of small shallow pits included burnt animal horn cores and pottery
fragments, many of them pedestalled, fenestrated bowls. A low bench was built on the
interior of either side of the doorway, and on either side of the semi-circular ‘altar’ feature
where the laden zoomorphic figurine was found (Ussishkin 1980). The base fragment of an
alabaster vessel of predynastic Egyptian form was also found. Based on the material
culture, burned bones in pits, architectural configuration of the long room with pits, and
possible ‘altar’ area, as well as the bounded nature of the courtyard and absence of typical
domestic debris, En Gedi is widely accepted as a locus for ritual activities, although the
nature and particular purpose of those practices remain unclear. Whether or not a per-
manent, formal role was required of practitioners involved with En Gedi is also an open
question, one we explore further below.
Another site where ritual practice has been proposed is Gilat (Alon and Levy 1989;
Levy 2006). Gilat has a rich assemblage of artifacts providing evidence for ritual practice:
eccentric ceramics (Commenge et al. 2006a); stelae (‘massebot’); violin-shaped figurines
(Commenge et al. 2006b), primarily of stone (Fig. 14e); large quantities of distinctive
ground stone vessels (Rowan et al. 2006); unparalleled ceramic zoomorphic and anthro-
pomorphic statuettes (Alon and Levy 1989); and a dog burial that included a unique
ceramic vessel as a mortuary good (Levy et al. 2006a). The anthropomorphic and zoo-
morphic statuettes are perhaps the most recognized artifacts associated with Gilat. The
Ram with Cornets (Commenge et al. 2006b, Fig. 15.4–6, a ram with three cornets
embedded in its back) and the Gilat Lady are unique ceramic vessels, although the ram
does recall the laden donkey found at En Gedi. The Gilat Lady (Commenge et al. 2006b,
Fig. 15.1–3), a seated female with a churn on her head and an object under her arm, has
been viewed as the embodiment of a goddess (Fox 1995; Weippert 1998), and connected to
concerns with fertility, maturation and child-bearing (Amiran 1986; Joffe et al. 2001).
Many of these finds were made in a complex of large buildings surrounding a large open
‘plaza’, which suggests Gilat functioned as a regional cult center for communal gathering,
or pilgrimage (Alon and Levy 1989). The plan of Gilat is not easily understood, and
whether any architecture reflects a domestic habitation is difficult to ascertain with con-
fidence. Architecture includes rectilinear and rounded structures, large hearths filled with
burned beachrock grinders, smaller platforms (c. 1.0 9 1.0 m), and many pits, some large
with constructed mudbrick walls. A series of constructed silos or well-built pits found in
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 57
123
relation to this architecture are posited to demonstrate links between ritual practices and
some element of centralized economic control; a similar situation existed at Ghassul (see
below). Like at other Chalcolithic sites, the majority of ceramic vessels (c. 70%, Goren
2006, p. 371) recovered from Gilat were made of locally available clays, but petrographic
study indicates that relatively high proportions of churns and holemouths were imported
(Goren 1995, p. 295, 2006, p. 371). In addition, the torpedo jars indicate a high degree of
variability in raw materials, suggesting origins in the southern Shephelah, the Judean hills
and possibly northern Negev—none appears to have been manufactured from locally
available clays (Goren 1995, p. 295, 2006, p. 372). Re-appraisal of the Gilat assemblage
and comparison to other sites of the coastal plain and northern Negev (Ramot Nof, R-48,
A-301, DII and Wadi Zeita) suggests that the Judean-Shephelah petrographic connection is
more typical of these Besorian sites than of those of Beersheva (Goren 2006, p. 381).
Additional insight as to the function of these enigmatic jars is based on gas chromatog-
raphy studies, which identify vegetal lipids, probably olive oil residue (Burton and Levy
2006).
Repeated use and occupation of the site has impacted site formation processes; in
particular, repeated excavation of pits during the Chalcolithic complicates stratigraphic
relationships and destroys earlier architecture. Although general material culture assem-
blages include types known from other sites such as Grar, Tulyalut Ghassul and Wadi
Zeita, the unusual aspects of the site support Alon and Levy’s (1989) contention that the
site served as the focal point of regional ritual practices.
Ghassul also hosted a group of large buildings in the southern portion of the site that has
been interpreted as a temple precinct (Hennessy 1982), which by the final phases of
occupation was a central part of the settlement (Bourke 1997b). Reevaluation of earlier
excavations at Ghassul suggests that some of the wall paintings cluster in two building
complexes on Tulayl 3 and Tulayl 1 (Bourke 2001, p. 131; Elliott 1977, pp. 19–20;
Hennessy 1969, 1982, 1989; Koeppel 1940). According to Bourke (2001), the most
impressive of these, Building 78, was a multi-roomed broadroom complex with a con-
structed altar discovered by Mallon (Mallon et al. 1934), containing both the well-known
‘Bird’ and ‘Notables’ paintings. This area included offering pits, in a storage room just to
the east, containing over 30 broken cornets (Bourke 2001; Koeppel 1940), reminiscent of
the cornets associated with the complexes at En Gedi and Gilat. To the west of Building 78,
a semi-circular, horseshoe-shaped structure (Installation 75a) is located in the center of an
enclosed courtyard (Bourke 2001, p. 131). Other buildings at Ghassul may represent cultic
structures based on the associated paintings, in particular the ‘Notables’ painting and the
‘Star’ painting (Building 10). Hennessy’s 1967 excavations exposed a new area of the site
that he suspected differed from earlier excavated exposures. Two sanctuary buildings, the
remains of a temenos wall, and a possible gate were exposed in Area E (Seaton 2000).
More recent investigations at Ghassul have uncovered a semi-circular paved area, flanked
by a semi-circular boundary wall that sits between two sanctuary buildings; in the center of
this area was a raised stone feature, possibly an altar (Bourke 2002a). Bourke (2001) has
also pointed out that some of the cultic buildings at Ghassul appear in proximity to the
site’s large storage complexes.
Shiqmim also exposed an area with several architectural elements interpreted as relating
to ritual practices. Perhaps the most intriguing feature was a semi-circular altar structure
attributed to Stratum III, the earliest stratum with substantial architecture exposed at the
site. The structure consisted of a thick ash layer coinciding with a long thin arc of small
cobbles and plaster; the ash surface cut across and sealed a pit in which a cache of ceramic
vessels was discovered, presumably placed in the shallow pit and then covered (Levy et al.
58 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
1991a). A limestone mortar and two V-shaped bowls were found in situ on the ashy
surface, with a large amount of burned material (Levy et al. in preparation). On the
immediate northern side of these vessels a finely flaked tabular scraper/knife was recov-
ered. The ‘altar’ feature was a massive construction using large river cobbles and boulders,
almost 1.50 m high, though construction was somewhat irregular. After the ‘altar’ fell out
of use, a long well-built wall foundation (W225, Stratum II) associated with several pottery
caches was built above it. One cache included a fenestrated, pedestalled ceramic stand and
an unusual ovoid vessel (Levy et al. 1991a, Figs. 9, 10). Below this structure, an additional
wall (Stratum III) appears to be part of the initial construction of the structure. Excep-
tionally well preserved to a height of roughly 2.0 m, the depth of this wall and the
foundation of the ‘altar’ suggest a continual re-use of the area through several phases of re-
building.
In addition to large structures apparently designated for public, ritual use, the evidence
for ritual practice includes a wide variety of artifacts intended for symbolic expression.
Several different media were utilized for anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representation.
Sculpted ivory figurines representing male (Fig. 15b) and female (Fig. 15g) humans
(Perrot 1959a, b) have been found at sites in the northern Negev, though unprovenienced
examples have also surfaced (Amiran and Tadmor 1980). In many cases, specific features
are indicated: eyes may have contained shell inlay, while perforations in the surface may
have been used to apply additional materials, perhaps to represent lifelike hair. Where
context is known, ivory figurines are often found in caches or subterranean features,
underscoring their probable association with ritual practices. There is good evidence to
support the correlation with ritual practice of the more abstract violin-shaped figurines
(VSF), so-called because of their form (Fig. 15e). Consisting of a tabular piece (typically
stone, with some rare examples of ceramic and ivory) and ground to fashion a simple
rectangular body, v-shaped torso and narrow elongate ‘head’ with no features (nose, eyes,
mouth, etc.), the VSF are found from Byblos (Dunand 1973, Pl. clxii, 34966) to the Negev.
In contrast to the more naturalistic ivory figurines, VSF usually have very little detail, with
the exception of breasts on rare occasion. The relation of these two classes of figurines to
each other is unclear, as they usually appear at different sites: violin-shaped figurines are
found at Ghassul, Abu Hamid, Pella, and Gilat, especially the latter (see Alon and Levy
1989), and ivory figurines at the Beersheva sites and Shiqmim. A unique figurine from
Shiqmim combines elements from both of these traditions (Fig. 15f; Levy and Golden
1996). Many of the box (‘house’) ossuaries also include elements found on the figurines,
including the eyes, prominent nose and flaring torso shape on the facade. This makes it
difficult to ascertain whether the classes of figurines can be divided on the basis of
chronology, geography and/or function. A great number of violin-shaped figurines are
known from Gilat (n = 76), more than all other examples recovered from all sites in the
southern Levant (Commenge et al. 2006b, p. 754, Table 15.1), supporting a ritual con-
nection. Bourke suggests that the contexts of others may also indicate associations with
ritual practices, particularly at sites such as Ghassul and Pella (Bourke 2001, p. 147).
The meaning and function of these artifacts is elusive, but they are widely viewed as
related to ritual practices, possibly connected with concepts of fertility (Alon and Levy
1989; Amiran 1976, 1986, 1989; Joffe et al. 2001). The Golan region, again distinct in
many ways, has basalt pillar-shaped figurines (Fig. 15a) concentrated in this region
(Epstein 1978a, b, 1998), but extending to the Upper Galilee (Epstein 1988, Fig. 7: 46) and
northern Jordan (Hanbury-Tenison 1986, p. 163; Ibrahim 1988, p. 27). Where context was
clear, the majority of the basalt pillar figurines, many of them with horns, were found in
household contexts and were interpreted as representing fertility figurines (Epstein 1975,
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 59
123
1978a, b, 1988) An additional zoomorphic figurine of basalt found in northern Jordan
(Ibrahim and Mittmann 1998, Figs. 1, 2) is similar to a fragment found at Tel Turmus
(Epstein 1985, Fig. 2a); both depict horned bovines, with a shallow well ground into their
backs, similar to those found on the basalt pillar-shaped figurines of the Golan. These
figurines have sculpted faces similar in style to some of the faces found on ossuaries, the
ivory figurines, a stone statuette head from Shiqmim (Fig. 15d; Levy and Alon 1985c) and
on a copper scepter from Nahal Mishmar, creating a recognizable ‘Ghassulian’ visage. A
Fig. 15 Figurines: a basalt ‘house idol’ from Golan (from Epstein 1998, Pl. 30.1); b male ivory from Bires-Safadi (by J. Golden, adapted from Perrot 1959a, b, Pl.II); c ram’s head pendant of peridotite from Gilat(from Commenge et al. 2006a, Fig. 15.26); d basalt anthropomorphic statuette head from Shiqmim (fromLevy and Alon 1987a, b, c, Fig. 6.10.8); e sandstone violin-shaped figurine from Gilat (from Commengeet al. 2006a, Fig. 15.16.3); f bone anthropomorphic figurine with violin-shaped elements (by J. Golden,adapted from Levy and Golden 1996); g ivory female from Bir es-Safadi (by J. Golden, adapted from Perrot1968, Pl. 5)
60 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
number of copper artifacts from the latter are also figurines representing animals such as
birds and ibexes (Bar-Adon 1980), but metal apparently was not used for rendering human
figures, except for the faces. The exotic nature of the complex metals used to make these
castings and their discovery often in hidden contexts (cave tombs and buried caches)
suggests that they too had some ritual function.
As noted already (Material Culture, Ceramics) the Chalcolithic is known for several
unusual ceramic forms, some of which may be related to ritual practices. Since their initial
discovery, cornets have been thought to serve some ritual function, though precisely what
remains unclear. There are also the large, oblong ‘torpedo’ jars, similar in morphology to
amphorae that are unique to Gilat, although many were not produced with local clays.
Recent studies of these ceramics suggest they were used as receptacles for olive oil, which
was likely a valuable good at the time (Burton and Levy 2006). Based on their manufacture
from clays originating in several petrographic zones, and their absence from other sites,
these vessels were posited to be containers brought to Gilat as part of pilgrimage activities
(Alon and Levy 1989, pp. 202–204).
Other artifacts suggest ritual related equipment as well. Flat rectangular to trapezoidal
finely worked palettes, often manufactured of non-local stone, are sometimes associated
with mortuary contexts (e.g., Shiqmim, Kissufim, Palmahim, Shoham) as well as other
ritual contexts (e.g., Gilat). The recovery of over 40 (n = 41) palettes at Gilat corroborates
their possible ritual function (Rowan et al. 2006, p. 597, Fig. 12.26–12.29). Likewise, the
well-known, vessels of finely ground basalt are non-local to many sites in southern Pal-
estine, representing carefully worked, labor-intensive, heavy artifacts (Philip and Wil-
liams-Thorpe 1993; Rowan 1998). Although the two major forms of basalt vessel, the open
form bowl and the fenestrated stand (Amiran and Porat 1984), are virtually ubiquitous at
Chalcolithic sites, the latter are frequently found at mortuary sites (e.g., Shoham, Peqi’in,
Nahal Qanah; see van den Brink et al. 1999 for details and discussion of more elaborate
forms). Based on fragments of basalt fenestrated stands it is estimated that Gilat had more
of these items than any other Chalcolithic site, lending additional support to the ritual
interpretation of the site (Rowan et al. 2006).
Across all these media—stone, bone, ivory, ceramic, and metal—there is a visible
expansion in iconographic expression during the late fifth to early fourth millennia BC. The
relationship of these symbolic features to mortuary practices is intriguing, and a topic that
requires further exploration.
Recurrent motifs and styles of representation occurring in areas with differentiated
material culture hint at a relatively cohesive cultural system of belief with more localized
expressions (Epstein 1978a; Joffe 1993, p. 35). For instance, the Golan ‘house idols’ with
their recognizably Ghassulian features, are apparently associated with individual house
complexes, limited to the Golan and northern Jordan (Epstein 1975, 1978b, 1988, 1998).
The rich mortuary and ritual database from the Chalcolithic period stands in stark
contrast to the Early Bronze I, when these features virtually disappear. Interpretation of
such remains is far from straightforward and has produced divergent explanations of the
relationship between power, ideology, belief, and praxis. In many ways this argument
mirrors the ‘chiefdom’ versus ‘egalitarian’ debate (discussed below, Socio-economic
organization) that has continued since the 1980s.
Scholars who stress the informal and exiguous nature of power held by leaders in
Chalcolithic society highlight the absence of rich individual mortuary burials or monu-
ments, the non-hierarchical nature of some settlement areas, and the absence of monuments
to strong leadership roles. In this conceptualization, Chalcolithic society was not hierar-
chically organized and lacked territorial chiefs. Outside of the major settlement centers,
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 61
123
‘shamans’ and ‘saints’ functioned as the primary religious leaders (Gilead 2002; Joffe
2003, p. 53), although use of the term shamans should be qualified, considering the large
body of anthropological literature concerning this problematic concept (e.g., Bahn 2001;
Kehoe 2000; Townsend 1997). In contrast, Levy argues for elite, full-time religious
practitioners (‘priests’ Levy 2006, pp. 835–836) controlling ritual practice at sites such as
Gilat, which functioned as a central pilgrimage site involving gifting to elites living at the
site in order to secure access to grazing lands (Levy 1998, p. 239). Increasingly accepted as
a ‘cultic’ site (Joffe 2003; Levy 1998), some consider the site more likely to have been
occupied by a shaman (Joffe et al. 2001; Joffe 2003; Gilead 2002) than by permanent
elites. Gilead (2002) has drawn parallels between the role played by Gilat and saints’
shrines of the Middle East today, which represent ritual behavior that falls outside
mainstream religion.
Contrasting interpretations underscore the ambiguity of the available data and the
limited nature of archaeological discussions of prehistoric ritual practices. Even at sites
such as Gilat and En Gedi, widely regarded as ritual, these divergent interpretations
suggest that a range of religious practitioners operating within the same general region
should be considered a possibility (Rowan and Ilan 2007). Whether or not more permanent
elite religious leaders are identifiable may be open to debate, but the increased codification
of religion is frequently linked to construction of buildings for ritual activities.
Trade and Exchange
Long Distance
Evidence for long distance connections is limited, but in many cases less ambiguous than
that for intraregional and localized trade. Our best evidence for materials derived from
outside the southern Levant suggests intermittent to very rare exchange of valuables,
primarily limited to obsidian, gold, ivory, and shells. Copper too may be from long dis-
tance sources, if the complex metals prove to originate in Anatolia. Materials such as
obsidian and gold are the best evidence for long distance connections, yet these are very
rare and are insufficient to allow us to posit systematic reciprocal links with regions such as
northern Syria, Mesopotamia, Anatolia or Nubia. For instance, obsidian recovered at Gilat
used to create local Chalcolithic bladelet tools such as the microendscraper, was traced to
three different sources in Anatolia using NAA (Yellin et al. 1996). A similar obsidian
microendscraper was reported recently from salvage excavations at the primarily EBI site
of Ashqelon, Afridar (Zbenovich 2004, p. 266, Fig. 12.1), where a significant Chalcolithic
component was documented; Ghassul is the only other Chalcolithic site where obsidian
was recovered (a single piece: Lee 1973, p. 261, LB9a). The eight gold rings discovered at
the Nahal Qanah mortuary cave are unique, and clearly originate from a great distance
(Gopher and Tsuk 1996), but their significance to our overall understanding of long dis-
tance contacts is limited (see ‘‘Metallurgy’’ for additional discussion).
Other evidence is primarily derived from shells and ivory. Marine and freshwater shells
originating in the Mediterranean, Nile and Red Sea are commonly recovered from sites in
southern Palestine. Association with mortuary contexts such as Kissufim, Giv’at Ha-
Oranim and the cemeteries at Shiqmim is suggestive and may indicate some continuity
with the inclusion of shells in the fourth millennium BC nawamis burial structures of the
Sinai (Bar-Yosef et al. 1977), although nawamis burials typically include Dentalium,
Conus, Lambis, and Pinctada (Bar-Yosef Mayer 1997). A disproportionately high number
62 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
of shells, primarily Mediterranean species (over 90%), were found at Gilat, where the
absence of dentalium is notable (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2006). The majority of the freshwater
bivalves are Chambardia rubens (formerly Aspatharia rubens, Reese 2008, p. 460),
originating in the Nile and commonly found at Chalcolithic sites such as Abu Matar (Perrot
1955, p. 84), Ben Shemen (Mienis 1980), Grar (Bar-Yosef 1995), Horvat Beter (Dothan
1959, p. 31), Kissufim (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2002) and Tulaylat al-Ghassul (Lee 1973,
p. 307). However, Nilotic species such as this would have been more readily available
because the Pelusiac branch of the Nile reached northern Sinai during the fifth to fourth
millennium BC, perhaps within 100 km (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2006; Butzer 2002; Stanley
2002; Tchernov 1988, pp. 231–232).
Ivory is concentrated in the southern regions of Palestine, with none documented to the
east of the Jordan Valley or in the Golan. Evidence for ivory is concentrated at sites along
the Wadi Beersheva (e.g., Shiqmim, Levy and Alon 1992, Fig. 9), although similar forms
of fragments of hippopotamus ivory were recovered from the rich Chalcolithic mortuary
goods at Nahal Qanah (Gopher and Tsuk 1996, Fig. 4.26, 4.27.1, Pl. IX) and Giv’at Ha-
Oranim (Scheftelowitz and Oren 2004, Fig. 6.1), with multiple perforations similar to the
object found at Nahal Mishmar (Fig. 16d; Bar-Adon 1980, pp. 16–21, Reg. 157–161). The
Nahal Qanah example is thus the most northern example published, although a figurine
head fragment from the Peqi’in mortuary assemblage may also prove to be made of ivory
(Gal et al. 1997, Fig. 9). Decorated ivory blades, similar in shape to some tabular fan
scrapers are also found in the Beersheva region sites (Levy and Alon 1992, p. 67, Fig. 6;
Perrot 1959a, b, Figs. 5, 6). Even sites rich in material culture, such as Gilat, typically yield
few items of ivory; one domiform hippopotamus ivory piece was perforated around the
edges (Rowan 2006, Fig. 12.22: 4), similar in general morphology to an item from Safadi
(Perrot 1959a, b, Figs. 3, 4), the latter decorated with a meandering line of single perfo-
rations across the surface.
The best-known ivory items are the figurines from the Beersheva sites, in particular Bir
es-Safadi, Abu Matar and Shiqmim. These include the finely carved male and female
statuettes (Fig. 15b, g), a few apparently manufactured of elephant ivory from Safadi
(Perrot 1959a, b, pp. 6–11, Pl. II–III), and other decorated geometric objects of hippo-
potamus tusk. The stylistic similarity of these ivory figurines to some Predynastic Egyptian
ivory figurines is not completely accepted (Watrin 1995), although general features suggest
similar inspiration if not direct influence. On the other hand, there are a few objects that
leave little doubt of the similarity between predynastic Egyptians and inhabitants of Pal-
estine in either inspiration or even actual craftsperson. The ivory hairpin discovered at Bir
es-Safadi is similar to that found associated with a secondary burial at Shiqmim (Levy
et al. 1991a, Fig. 14). The Shiqmim example (Fig. 16c), in particular, is similar to
predynastic examples, such as those from Hamamieh (Brunton and Caton-Thompson 1928,
Pl. LXXII.127) and Naqada (Petrie and Quibell 1896, Pl. LXIII.7, 49, 50; LXIV.75, 76).
Particularly intriguing is the ivory vial (Fig. 16b) discovered in an underground room
(subterranean room #9) at Shiqmim (Levy and Alon 1992, p. 68, Fig. 7; Levy et al. 1991a,
Fig. 15). With herringbone incisions and an elongate tear-drop shape, both the ivory and
the form originate in Egypt, while contemporary vessels of this shape are unknown in
Palestine. An ivory handle or staff (Fig. 16a) from Shiqmim, also discovered in a sub-
terranean context, is also without precedent in the material culture of the southern Levant
(Levy et al. 1991a, Fig. 20).
Other ivory items include small bowls, such as the fragment from Shiqmim (Levy and
Alon 1992, p. 69, Fig. 8) and one recovered at Bir es-Safadi (Amiran 1989, Fig. 6) similar
to those found at Naqada (Petrie 1920, p. 7, Pl. XLVI: 1–3; Petrie and Quibell 1896,
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 63
123
pp. 32, 45 and Pl. LIX: 78). Ivory pendants, similar to others of limestone and shell, are
also known (Levy and Alon 1992, p. 67, Fig. 5).
Sherds from Predynastic Egyptian vessels are rare and limited to a few places, such as
Gilat (Alon and Levy 1989, p. 207), Wadi Zeita (Commenge and Alon 2002, p. 141) and
sites located in northeastern Sinai (Oren and Gilead 1981, Fig. 7: 9, 11–12, 9: 11, 14).
Ceramic evidence of Palestinian forms and imports are noted at predynastic sites as well,
but are also rare. According to Hendrickx and Bavay (2002, p. 66), a non-Egyptian
globular jar with four lug handles was apparently of non-local material at the Badarian
tomb 569 at Qaw el-Kebir (Brunton and Caton-Thompson 1928, p. 3, pl. xvi, 7, xxvi) and
probably originated in Palestine during the Chalcolithic (Friedman 1999). Ghassulian
pottery was reported from the Delta site of the later stratum (Ib) at Tell el-Fara’in/Buto
Fig. 16 Ivory objects: a staff or handle; b decorated vial; c hair pin with bird motif. A–C from Shiqmim,(adapted from Levy and Alon 1992, Figs. 1, 7, 3, respectively); d perforated hippopotamus tusk from NahalMishmar (from Bar-Adon 1980, No. 1)
64 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
(Faltings 2002, pp. 165–167). This included V-shaped bowls, fenestrated pedestalled
vessels and churn fragments made of local clays.
Other evidence for interregional, long-distance trade is rare. Identification of a possible
lapis lazuli bead from Cave 3 at Nahal Mishmar (Bar-Adon 1980, p. 150) is of unclear
stratigraphic association (de Cree 1991, p. 23). The base fragment of a flat bottomed
‘alabaster’ vessel from En Gedi (Ussishkin 1980, Fig. 12) with straight walls resembles
Egyptian forms and almost certainly derives from Egypt.
In sum, contact with Egypt, even if through intermediaries, seems unequivocal (contraWatrin 1995), but limited in scale. Other material evidence, suggestive of connections with
Egypt, is not necessarily created there nor made of materials that must come from there. A
good example would be the recently recognized beads manufactured of steatite (Bar-Yosef
Mayer et al. 2004). The identification of 190 steatite beads at the burial site of Peqi’in
suggests that the occasional identification of faience at Chalcolithic sites should probably be
reviewed. Primarily composed of talc (hydrated magnesium silicate), steatite is not a
resource available in Palestine, but is available in Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and
southeastern Turkey (Bar-Yosef Mayer et al. 2004, p. 497). Steatite beads are known from
Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus at the chronologically relevant periods, but the cultural
connections and proximity of Egypt would suggest that this is the most likely source.
Intraregional Exchange
Exotic and rare materials, many of them originating from the Nile, Mediterranean, Sinai
and Red Sea, were sought and occasionally acquired by Chalcolithic people. Materials
from within the southern Levant are much more frequent, but are also distributed very
unevenly throughout Chalcolithic sites. Evidence for intraregional exchange is thus more
diverse and more extensive, while overall quantities are greater and were probably of
significance (Bourke 2001, p. 150). These materials include bitumen, copper, and ground
stone such as hematite, basalt (and much more limited numbers of amazonite, amphibolite,
One possible factor in this ‘collapse’ could be that climatic fluctuations were sufficient
to upset the floodwater farming methods and trigger abandonment of more arid regions
(Joffe 1993; Levy 1998) such as the northern Negev. In such areas, even minor short-term
fluctuations of precipitation that might be undetectable through paleoclimatic methods
could have a disastrous effect on societies within just a few years, particularly those under
stress from other factors. In areas already too dry for the rearing of pigs, even a small drop
in the yearly rainfall could potentially decimate herds, especially cattle. Given the
imprecise dating and poor resolution of paleoclimatic data even at the regional scale,
linking short periods of prehistoric time in smaller regions to climate fluctuation can be
difficult (Rosen and Rosen 2001). In a similar vein, Bourke (2001, p. 152) suggests that the
70 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
authority of the ‘traditional’ religiously based elite may have been undermined by an
emerging elite based on agricultural surpluses and a superior ability to cope with an
increasingly harsh environment. A similar idea posed by (Joffe 1993, pp. 36–37), suggests
that sociopolitical and economic structures had become stretched so thin that any disruption
in the system of resource procurement, craft specialization, and agricultural production
could undermine elite positions. For this reason, the copper maceheads and standards,
cornets, ivories, ossuaries, and other rich iconographic or specialized ritual equipment
disappear, while the more mundane domestic ceramics and flint tools remain similar in form
and attest to the continuity of the population throughout the fourth millennium BC. Another
possible factor Joffe suggests (1993, p. 37) is that links of ‘commercialization’, particularly
with Egypt, may have had some impact on Chalcolithic patterns of trade and the con-
comitant authority. He notes the connection between the southern Levantine Chalcolithic
and the Delta site of Ma’adi, where semi-subterranean features similar to those from
Beersheva were found along with copper ores, bitumen and ceramics imported from Pal-
estine (Wilkinson 2002, pp. 515–516), all dating to *3600 BC (Rizkana and Seeher 1989).
Despite this and other evidence for ties between early EBI societies and Egypt (see Levy and
van den Brink 2002), contact during the Chalcolithic, even the later phases, was limited
(Commenge and Alon 2002; Levy 1992). If, however, ties related to important resources
such as copper were disrupted—and indeed the arsenic and antinomy-rich copper essen-
tially disappears by this time—it could have proved disastrous for the status and authority of
those who owed their power to the production or control of exotic and rare items.
Continued refinement of chronological synchronisms between the Delta and Palestine
indicate that not until after *3500 BC does exchange become more organized and perhaps
commercial (Braun 2004; de Miroschedji 2002). In fact, the presence of locally made
ceramics in the southern Levantine style at the Delta site of Buto could be interpreted as
representing population movements from the northern Negev (Faltings 2002; Wilkinson
2002); it has been argued that this was related to expansionist goals, or more likely, to refugees
from social upheaval and economic woes in the Levant (Commenge and Alon 2002).
A final possible factor, warfare, has also been posited as a causal factor in the collapse
of Chalcolithic society (Levy 1998). The increasing occurrence of maceheads, often
interpreted as symbols of authority but equally potent as weapons, could reflect an increase
in conflict (Golden 2009). Evidence for violence was recently reported from human
remains recovered at Shiqmim, where an adolescent boy was wounded; three circular
depressions on the left side and back of the cranium, possibly causing death, were inflicted
with a blunt object, possibly a macehead (Dawson et al. 2003). Interregional conflict within
the southern Levant may have been important in the rise of Chalcolithic elites, or in the
maintenance of leadership roles, but conflict with predynastic Egyptians is also possible
(Levy 1998, p. 243). Although evidence for widespread site destruction, perimeter walls or
other defensive features is entirely lacking, the subterranean features may have served as
storage areas against raiding neighbors. Soon after the Chalcolithic during late EBI, an
Egyptian presence in the Negev region is documented, although the nature of this presence
and interaction (economic, military) continues to be debated.
Future Research Directions
Archaeological research over the past 20 years has significantly altered our understanding
of the Chalcolithic. Several areas may prove fruitful avenues for future research. One area
in particular that requires further research is the question of changes to socio-economic
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 71
123
organization during the fifth to early fourth millennium BC. Limited evidence suggests that
ranked societies, perhaps privileged lineages or corporate groups, controlled some aspects
of status and exotic items. Yet in some regions the nature of any existing status system is but
poorly understood: for example, does the wealth displayed in a few mortuary contexts
translate to social status and power among the living? Thus, one direction for future study
should be examination of the forms of and evidence for leadership, if any. There is also a
regional dimension and questions about scale (i.e., individual, community, household,
regional) that are poorly linked to archaeological data. Although a few of the multiple
secondary interments found in caves include rich mortuary goods, the regions where they
were discovered (e.g., Shephelah, Galilee, possibly Judean Desert) are either situated in
areas where we know little about contemporary domestic occupation, or in areas with little
evidence of hierarchical socio-economic forms of organization in non-mortuary contexts.
By focusing on the relations between mortuary data, regional survey, and evidence from
settlements, we should be able to better understand the practices of those in the social
system rather than viewing mortuary rites as entirely abstracted and separate from the social
network. This social network also includes religion, ritual practice and the role of those who
facilitated seasonal rites, rites of passage, feasts and exchanges (Bell 1997, pp. 93–137).
Understanding these phenomena, especially in relation to political organization, is
another potentially fruitful line of research. We have a range of artifacts as well as archi-
tectural works that are widely considered to be related to ritual, but what this means is rarely
the object of discussion. There have been several specialized studies of singular artifacts or
artifact types (Alon and Levy 1989; Burton 2004; Fox 1995; Levy and Golden 1996; Joffe
et al. 2001), but only recently have more comprehensive studies been completed (Joffe
2003; Levy 2006), with others in preparation (Rowan and Ilan in preparation). Craft spe-
cialization is another topic that requires further study, from the provenience of raw materials
to the production of finished goods. One industry for which there are a number of out-
standing problems is the metal industry. The most intriguing questions concern the source of
complex metals such as the copper with arsenic and antimony used to make the intricate
castings, and where the casting and ‘finishing’ of these goods was performed.
The priority in current Chalcolithic research, though, is to answer questions about
chronology, for without a more precise time frame with which to work, it is impossible to
study change in any area of Chalcolithic society. As more radiocarbon dates emerge and
researchers continue to synthesize these data, the absolute chronology should become more
comprehensive and more reliable. Ceramic studies already underway (Burton 2004, in
preparation) will no doubt contribute to our understanding of relative chronology. And as
the data come together, the much needed sub-periodization will be within reach. This, in
turn, will allow us to address the larger social issues with greater confidence and clarity.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to extend their thanks to Emily Kelley and Paul Steinle(University of Notre Dame) for their editorial assistance in the preparation of this paper, and Ciana Meyersand Gamin Bartle of the Drew University Faculty Laboratory for their help in preparing Figs. 6, 8 and 10.The authors have benefited greatly from discussions with Meredith Chesson, David Ilan, Morag Kersel, IanKuijt, Thomas Levy and Jaimie Lovell. Anonymous review also greatly improved this article, but any errorsor omissions remain our responsibility.
References
Aardsma, G. (2001). New radiocarbon dates for the reed mat from the cave of the treasure, Israel.Radiocarbon, 43, 1247–1254.
72 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Abu Dayyeh, A. S., Greene, J. A., Haj Hassan, I., & Suleiman, E. (1991). Archaeological survey of greaterAmman, phase I: final report. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 35, 361–395.
Adams, R. B., & Genz, H. (1995). Excavations at Wadi Fidan 4: A copper village complex in the copper oredistrict of Feinan, Southern Jordan. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 127, 8–20.
Agelarakis, P. A., Palely, S., Perth, Y., & Wink, J. (1998). The Chalcolithic burial cave in Ma’avarot, and itspaleoanthropological implications. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 8, 431–443.
Agur, B., Arobes, B., & Patrich, Y. (1988–1989). Judean desert, cave survey–1986/1987. Excavations andSurveys in Israel, 7–8, 92–95.
Aharoni, Y. (1962). Expedition B: The cave of the horror. Israel Exploration Journal, 12(3/4), 186–199.Albright, W. F. (1931). Recent progress in the late prehistory of Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools
of Oriental Research, 42, 13–15.Albright, W. F. (1932). The Chalcolithic age in Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental
Research, 48, 10–13.Alon, D., & Levy, T. E. (1980). Preliminary note on the distribution of Chalcolithic sites on the Wadi
Beersheva and Lower Wadi Besor drainage system. Israel Exploration Journal, 30, 140–147.Alon, D., & Levy, T. E. (1989). The archeology of cult and Chalcolithic sanctuary at Gilat. Journal of
Mediterranean Archeology, 2, 163–221.Alon, D., & Yekutieli, Y. (1995). The Tel Halif terrace ‘silo site’ and its implications for the Early Bronze
Age I. Atiqot, 27, 149–189.Amiran, R. (1955). The ‘cream ware’ of Gezer and the Beersheba late Chalcolithic. Israel Exploration
Journal, 5, 244–245.Amiran, R. (1969). Ancient pottery of the Holy Land. Jerusalem: Massada Press.Amiran, R. (1976). Note on the Gilat vessels. Atiqot, 11, 119–120.Amiran, R. (1986). A new type of Chalcolithic ritual vessel and some implications for the Nahal Mishmar
hoard. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 262, 83–87.Amiran, R. (1989). The Gilat goddess and the temples of Gilat, En–Gedi and Ai. In P. de Miroschedji (Ed.),
L’urbanisation de la Palestine a l’age du Bronze ancien. Bilan et perspectives des recherches actu-elles. British Archaeological Reports International Series 527 (pp. 53–60). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Amiran, R., & Porat, N. (1984). The basalt vessels of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Tel Aviv, 11,11–19.
Amiran, R., & Tadmor, M. (1980). A female cult statuette from Chalcolithic Beer-Sheba. Israel ExplorationJournal, 30, 137–139.
Amr, K., Najjar, M., Kerner, S., Rielly, K., & McCreery, D. W. (1993). Wadi al-Qattar salvage excavation1989. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 37, 263–278.
Anati, E. (1963). Palestine before the Hebrews. London: Jonathan Cape.Avner, U. (1989). Eilat-tumuli. Hadashot Arkheologiyot, 94, 64–65.Avner, U., Carmi, I., & Segal, D. (1994). Neolithic to Bronze Age settlement of the Negev and Sinai in light
of radiocarbon dating: A view from the southern Negev. In O. Bar-Yosef & R. S. Kra (Eds.), LateQuaternary chronology and paleoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean (pp. 265–300). Tucson:University of Arizona.
Bahn, P. (2001). Save the last trance for me: An assessment of the misuse of shamanism in rock art studies.In H.-P. Francfort & R. N. Hamayon (Eds.), The concept of shamanism: Uses and abuses (pp. 51–94).Budapest: Akademiai Kiado.
Baird, D., & Philip, G. (1994). Preliminary report on the third (1993) season of excavations at Tell esh-Shuna North. Levant, 26, 111–133.
Banning, E. B. (1998). The Neolithic period: Triumphs of architecture, agriculture and art. Near EasternArchaeology, 61(4), 188–237.
Banning, E. B. (2002). Consensus and debate on the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic of the southern Levant.Paleorient, 28(2), 143–156.
Banning, E. B., Rahimi, D., & Siggers, J. (1994). The Late Neolithic of the Southern Levant: Hiatus,settlement shift or observer bias? The perspective from Wadi Ziqlab. Paleorient, 20, 151–164.
Banning, E. B., Rahimi, D., & Siggers, J. (1996). The 1992 season of excavations in Wadi Ziqlab, Jordan.Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 40, 29–50.
Banning, E. B., Blackham, M., & Lasby, D. (1998). Excavations at WZ 121, a Chalcolithic site at Tubna, inWadi Ziqlab. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 42, 141–159.
Banning, E. B., Gibbs, K., Gregg, M., Kadowaki, S., & Maher, L. (2004). Project gallery: Excavations at alate Neolithic site in Wadi Ziqlab, northern Jordan. Antiquity, 78, 302. http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/banning/index.html. Accessed 4 Nov 2008.
Bar-Adon, P. (1980). The cave of the treasure. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
Barkai, R. (2004). The Chalcolithic lithic assemblage. In N. Scheftelowitz & R. Oren (Eds.), Giv’at Ha-Oranim. A Late Chalcolithic site, salvage excavation reports, no. 1. (87–109). Tel Aviv: Tel AvivUniversity.
Barkai, R., & Gopher, A. (1999). The last Neolithic flint industry: A study of the technology, typology andsocial implications of the lithic assemblage from Nahal Zehora I, a Wadi Rabah (Pottery Neolithic) sitein the Menashe Hills, Israel. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 29, 41–122.
Barker, G., et al. (1997). The Wadi Faynan Project, southern Jordan: A preliminary report on the geo-morphology and landscape archaeology. Levant, 29, 19–40.
Barker, G., et al. (1998). Environment and landuse in the Wadi Faynan, southern Jordan: The second seasonof geoarchaeology and landscape archaeology. Levant, 30, 5–25.
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., & Kaufman, A. (1998). Middle to Late Holocene (6500 year period)paleoclimate in the eastern Mediterranean region from stable isotopic composition of speleothemsfrom Soreq Cave, Israel. In A. S. Issar & N. Brown (Eds.), Water, environment, society in the time ofclimate change (pp. 203–214). Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Kaufman, A., & Wasserburg, G. J. (1999). The eastern Mediterraneanpaleoclimate as a reflection of regional events: Soreq Cave, Israel. Earth and Planetary ScienceLetters, 166, 85–95.
Barth, F. (1959). Political leadership among Swat Pathans. London: The Athlone Press.Baruch, U. (1987). The Early Bronze Age, Chalcolithic and Neolithic periods. In A. Ben Tor & Y. Portugali
(Eds.), Tell Qiri, a village in the Jezreel Valley (Vol. Qedem 24, pp. 274–299). Jerusalem: The Instituteof Archaeology, the Hebrew University.
Baruch, U., & Bottema, S. (1999). A new pollen diagram from Lake Hula. Vegetational, climate, andanthropological implications. In H. Kawanabe, G. W. Coulter, & A. C. Roosevelt (Eds.), Ancient lakesand biological diversity (pp. 75–86). Belgium: Kenobi Productions.
Bar-Yosef, D. (1995). The molluscs from Grar. In I. Gilead (Ed.), Grar, a Chalcolithic site in the northernNegev (pp. 453–462). Beersheba: Ben-Gurion University.
Bar-Yosef, O. (1998). Earliest food producers—pre-pottery neolithic (8000–5500). In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Thearchaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 190–204). London: Leicester University Press.
Bar-Yosef, O., & Alon, D. (1988). Nahal Hemar Cave. Atiqot, 18, 1–30.Bar-Yosef, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (1989a). The PPNB interaction sphere. In I. Hershkovitz (Ed.), People
and cultures in change, BAR International Series 508 (pp. 59–72). Oxford: Archaeopress.Bar-Yosef, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (1989b). The origins of sedentism and farming communities in the
Levant. Journal of World Prehistory, 3, 447–498.Bar-Yosef, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (1992). From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant. In A. B.
Gebauer & T. D. Price (Eds.), Transitions to agriculture in prehistory (pp. 21–48). Madison: PrehistoryPress.
Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. E. (1997). Neolithic shell bead production in Sinai. Journal of Archaeological Science,24, 97–111.
Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. (2002a). Egyptian–Canaanite interaction during the fourth and third millennia BCE:The shell connection. In E. C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant:Interrelations from the 4th through the early 3rd millennium BCE (pp. 129–138). New York: LeicesterUniversity Press.
Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. (2002b). The shell pendants. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.), Kissufim Road: AChalcolithic mortuary site. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports No. 16 (pp. 49–52). Jerusalem: IsraelAntiquities Authority.
Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. E. (2006). Marine and riverine shells from Gilat. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology,anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat, Israel (pp. 320–326). London: Equinox.
Bar-Yosef Mayer, D. E., Porat, N., Gal, Z., Shalem, D., & Smithline, H. (2004). Steatite beads at Peqi’in:Long distance trade and pyro-technology during the Chalcolithic of the Levant. Journal of Archaeo-logical Science, 31, 493–502.
Bar-Yosef, O., & Meadow, R. H. (1995). The origins of agriculture in the Near East. In T. D. Price & A. B.Gebauer (Eds.), Last hunters—first farmers: New perspectives on the prehistoric transition to agri-culture (pp. 39–94). Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.
Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer, A., Goren, A., & Smith, P. (1977). The nawamis near ‘Ein Huderah (Eastern Sinai).Israel Exploration Journal, 27, 65–88.
Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., et al. (1986). Nawamis and habitation sites near Gebel Gunna, southernSinai. Israel Exploration Journal, 36, 121–167.
Beck, P. (1989). Notes on the style and iconography of the Chalcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar. In A.Leonard & B. B. Williams (Eds.), Essays in ancient civilization presented to Helene J. Kantor, Studiesin Ancient Oriental Civilization No. 47 (pp. 39–54). Chicago: The Oriental Institute.
74 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Beit-Arieh, I. (1980). A Chalcolithic site near Serabit El-Khadim. Tel Aviv, 7, 45–64.Belfer-Cohen, A. (1995). Rethinking social stratification in the Natufian culture: The evidence from burials.
In S. Campbell & A. Green (Eds.), The archaeology of death in the ancient Near East (pp. 9–16).Oxbow Monograph 51 Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and dimensions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Ben-Dor, I. (1936). Pottery of the middle and Late Neolithic periods. Annals of Archaeology and Anthro-
pology, 23, 77–84.Ben-Tor, A. (1966). Excavations at Horvat Usa. [In Hebrew]. Atiqot, 3, 1–24.Ben-Tor, A. (1995). A stamp seal and a seal impression of the Chalcolithic period from Grar. In I. Gilead
(Ed.), A Chalcolithic site in the northern Negev (pp. 361–375). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University.Betts, A. (1992). Tell el-Hibr: A rock shelter occupation of the fourth millennium BCE in the Jordanian
Badiya. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 287, 5–23.Bienert, H. D. (1991). Skull cult in the prehistoric Near East. Journal of Prehistoric Religion, 5, 9–23.Blackham, M. (1999). Teleilat Ghassul: An appraisal of Robert North’s excavations (1959–1960). Levant,
31, 19–64.Blackham, M. (2002). Modeling time and transition in prehistory: The Jordan valley Chalcolithic (5500–
3500 BC). BAR International Series 1027 Oxford: Archaeopress.Bonogofsky, M. (2003). Neolithic plastered skulls and railroading epistemologies. Bulletin of the American
Schools of Oriental Research, Supplement, 331, 1–10.Bonogofsky, M. (2004). Including women and children: Neolithic modeled skulls from Jordan, Israel, Syria
and Turkey. Near Eastern Archaeology, 67, 118–119.Bottema, S., & van Zeist, W. (1981). Palynological evidence for the climatic history of the Near East, 50,
000–6, 000 BP. In J. Cauvin & P. Sanlaville (Eds.), Prehistoire du Levant, Colloques Internationaux598 (pp. 111–132). Paris: CNRS.
Bourke, S. J. (1997a). The ‘pre-Ghassulian’ sequence at Teleilat Ghassul. In H. G. K. Gebel, Z. Kafafi & G.Rollefson (Eds.), The prehistory of Jordan II: Perspectives from 1997, studies in early near easternproduction, subsistence, and environment 4 (pp. 395–417). Berlin: Ex oriente.
Bourke, S. J. (1997b). The urbanisation process in the south Jordan Valley: Renewed excavations at TeleilatGhassul 1994–1995. In Zaghloul (Ed.), Studies in the history and archaeology of Jordan VI (pp. 249–259). Amman: Department of Antiquities.
Bourke, S. J. (2001). The Chalcolithic period. In B. Macdonald, R. Adams, & P. Bienkowski (Eds.), Thearchaeology of Jordan (pp. 107–163). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Bourke, S. J. (2002a). The origins of social complexity in the south Jordan Valley: New evidence fromTeleilat Ghassul, Jordan. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 134, 2–27.
Bourke, S. J. (2002b). Teleilat Ghassul: Foreign relations in the Late Chalcolithic period. In E. C. M. vanden Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egyptian and Canaanite interaction during the fourth–third millenniumBCE (pp. 154–164). London: Leicester University Press.
Bourke, S. J., & Lovell, J. L. (2004). Ghassul, chronology and cultural sequencing. Paleorient, 30, 179–182.
Bourke, S., et al. (1999). Preliminary report on a second and third season of renewed excavations at TeleilatGhassul by the University of Sydney, 1995/1997. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan,44, 8–23.
Bourke, S., Lovell, J., Sparks, R., Seaton, P., Mairs, L., & Meadows, J. (2000). A second and third season ofrenewed excavation by the University of Sydney at Tulaylat al-Ghassul (1995/1997). Annual of theDepartment of Antiquities, 44, 37–89.
Bourke, S., Lawson, E., Lovell, J., Hua, Q., Zoppi, U., & Barbeti, M. (2001). The chronology of theGhassulian Chalcolithic Period in the southern Levant: New 14C determinations from Teleilat Ghassul,Jordan. Radiocarbon, 43, 1217–1222.
Braun, E. (1996). Cultural diversity and change in the Early Bronze I of Israel and Jordan: Towards anunderstanding of the chronological progression and patterns of regionalism in Early Bronze I society.Ph.D. dissertation. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Braun, E. (2000). Area G at Afridar, Palmachim Quarry 3 and the earliest pottery of Early Bronze Age I:Part of the ‘missing link’. In G. Philip & D. Baird (Eds.), Ceramics and change in the Early BronzeAge of the southern Levant (pp. 113–128). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Braun, E. (2004). Early Beth Shan (Strata XIX–XIII): G. M. FitzGerald’s deep cut on the tell. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Museum.
Braun, E., & Gophna, R. (2004). Excavations at Ashqelon, Afridar–Area G. Atiqot, 45, 185–241.Braun, E., & van den Brink, E. C. M. (2008). Appraising south Levantine-Egyptian interaction: Recent
discoveries from Israel and Egypt. In B. Midant-Reynes & Y. Tristant (Eds.), Egypt at its origins 2.Proceedings of the international conference ‘Origin of the state. Predynastic and Early Dynastic
Brown, J. (Ed.). (1971). Approaches to the social dimensions of mortuary practices. Washington, DC:Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology 25.
Brunton, G., & Caton-Thompson, G. (1928). The Badarian civilization and prehistoric remains near Badari.London: Quartich.
Burian, F., & Friedman, E. (1973). Prehistoric hunters of Holot Shunra. Mitekufat Ha’even, 11, 27–35.(Hebrew).
Burton, M. (2004). Collapse, continuity, and transformation: Tracking protohistoric social change throughceramic analysis case studies of late 5th–early 4th millennium societies in the southern Levant. Ph.D.dissertation. San Diego: University of California.
Burton, M., & Levy, T. E. (2001). The Chalcolithic radiocarbon record and its use in southern Levantinearchaeology. Radiocarbon, 43(2), 1–24.
Burton, M., & Levy, T. E. (2006). Appendix I. Organic residue analysis of selected vessels from Gilat—Gilat torpedo jars. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology, and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat,Israel (pp. 849–862). London: Equinox.
Butzer, K. (1978). The late prehistoric environmental history of the Near East. In W. C. Brice (Ed.), Theenvironmental history of the Near East since the Last Ice Age (pp. 5–12). London: Academic Press.
Butzer, K. (2002). Geoarchaeological implications of recent research in the Nile Delta. In E. C. M. van denBrink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant—interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rdmillennium BCE (pp. 83–97). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
Cameron, D. O. (1981). The Ghassulian wall paintings. London: Kenyon-Dean Ltd.Caneva, I., Frangipane, M., & Palmieri, A. (1987). Predynastic Egypt: New data from Maadi. The African
Archaeological Review, 5, 105–114.Caneva, I., Frangipane, M., & Palmieri, A. (1989). Recent excavations at Maadi (Egypt). In L. Krzyzaniak
& M. Kobusiewicz (Eds.), The Late Prehistory of the Nile Basin and the Sahara (pp. 287–293).Poznan: Polish Academy of Sciences.
Carmi, I. (1996). Radiocarbon dates. In A. Gopher (Ed.), The Nahal Qanah cave: Earliest gold in thesouthern Levant (pp. 205–208). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Carmi, I., & Segal, D. (1992). Rehovot radiocarbon measurements IV. Radiocarbon, 34(1), 115–132.Carmi, I., & Segal, D. (1994). C14 dates of olive stones from an underwater site at Kfar Samir. Journal of
the Israel Prehistoric Society, 26, 146–147.Chapman, R., Kinnes, I., & Randsborg, K. (Eds.). (1981). The archaeology of death. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.Clamer, C. (1981). A Late Bronze Age burial cave near Shechem. Qadmoniot, 53–54, 30–34.Clark, V. A. (1979). Investigations in a prehistoric necropolis near Bab edh-Dhra’. Annual of the Depart-
ment of Antiquities of Jordan, 23, 57–78.Commenge, C. (2005). The Late Chalcolithic pottery. In E. C. M. van den Brink & R. Gophna (Eds.),
Shoham (North), Lod Valley, Israel. Excavations of three Late Chalcolithic Burial Caves (pp. 51–97).Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority Reports.
Commenge C. (in press). Le mobilier des sites de Beersheva. Neguev septentrional, Israel. (Cahiers ducentre de recherche francais de Jerusalem No. 9), Paris: CNRS.
Commenge, C., & Alon, D. (2002). Competitive involution and expanded horizons: Exploring the nature ofinteraction between northern Negev and Lower Egypt (ca. 4500–3600 B.C.E.). In E. C. M. van denBrink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant—interrelations from the 4th through the early 3rdmillennium BCE (pp. 139–153). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
Commenge, C., Alon, D., Levy, T. E., & Kansa, E. (2006a). Gilat ceramics: Cognitive dimensions of potteryproduction. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat (Israel)(pp. 394–506). London: Equinox.
Commenge, C., Levy, T. E., Alon, D., & Kansa, E. (2006b). Gilat’s figurines: Exploring the social andsymbolic dimensions of representation. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: Thesanctuary at Gilat (Israel) (pp. 739–830). London: Equinox.
Commenge-Pellerin, C. (1987). La poterie d’Abou Matar et de l’Ouadi Zoumeili (Beersheva) au IVemillenaire avant l’ere chretienne. Paris: Association Paleorient.
Commenge-Pellerin, C. (1990). La poterie de Safadi (Beersheva) au IVe millenaire avant l’ere chretienne.Paris: Association Paleorient.
Cooperative Holocene Mapping Project (COHMAP). (1988). Climatic changes of the last 18,000 years:Observations and model simulations. Science, 241, 1043–1052.
Costin, C. L. (1991). Craft specialization: Issues in defining, documenting, and explaining the organizationof production. Archaeological Method and Theory, 3, 1–56.
76 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Dalman, G. (1928–1942). Arbeit und Sitte in Palastina. Guttersloh: Bertelsmann.Davis, S. J. M. (1987). The archaeology of animals. London: Routledge.Dawson, L., Levy, T. E., & Smith, P. (2003). Evidence of interpersonal violence at the Chalcolithic village
of Shiqmim (Israel). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 13, 115–119.Dayan, Y. (1969). Tel Turmus in the Huleh Valley. Israel Exploration Journal, 19, 65–78.de Contenson, H. (1956). La ceramique chalcolithique de Beersheba: Etude typologique. Israel Exploration
Journal, 6(163–179), 226–238.de Contenson, H. (1960). Three soundings in the Jordan Valley. Annual of the Department of Antiquities in
Jordan, 4–5, 12–98.de Contenson, H. (1961). Remarques sur le Chalcolithique recent de Tell Esh Shuna. Revue Biblique, 68,
546–556.de Cree, F. (1991). Mutatis mutandis. Egyptian relations with Palestine in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze
Age I–IV. Gottinger Miszellen, 124, 21–42.de Miroschedji, P. (2002). The socio-political dynamics of Egyptian—Canaanite interaction in the Early
Bronze Age. In E. C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant—interrelations fromthe 4th through the Early 3rd millennium BCE (pp. 39–57). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
de Vaux, R. (1970). Palestine during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. In I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd,& N. G. L. Hammond (Eds.), Cambridge ancient history (Vol. 1, part 1, pp. 498–538). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
de Vaux, R. (1971). Palestine in the Early Bronze Age. In I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, & N. G. L.Hammond (Eds.), Cambridge ancient history (Vol. 1, part 2, pp. 208–237). Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
de Vaux, R. (1976). Tell el-Farah. In M. Avi-Yonah (Ed.), Encyclopedia of archaeological excavation in theHoly Land (pp. 395–404). Jerusalem: Massada.
de Vaux, R., & Steve, A. M. (1947). La premiere campagne de fouilles a Tell el-Far’ah, pres Naplouse.Revue Biblique, 54(394–433), 573–589.
de Vaux, R., & Steve, A. M. (1948). La seconde campagne de fouilles a Tell el-Far’ah, pres Naplouse. RevueBiblique, 55, 544–580.
Dessel, J. P. (2001). The relationship between ceramic production and sociopolitical reconfiguration infourth millennium Canaan. In S. R. Wolff (Ed.), Studies in the archaeology of Israel and neighboringlands in memory of Douglass L. Esse. Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization No. 59 (pp. 99–118).Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Dollfus, G., & Kafafi, Z. (1988). Abu Hamid–village du 4e millenaire de la vallee du Jourdain. Amman:Centre culturel francais et departement des antiquites de Jordanie.
Dollfus, G., & Kafafi, Z. (1989). Abu Hamid (Tell). In D. Homes, Q. Frederic, & J. B. Hennessy (Eds.),Archaeology of Jordan (pp. 102–113). Leuven: Peeters.
Dollfus, G., & Kafafi, Z. (1993). Recent researches at Abu Hamid. Annual of the Department of Antiquitiesof Jordan, 37, 241–262.
Dothan, M. (1957). Excavations at Meser, 1956. Israel Exploration Journal, 7, 217–228.Dothan, M. (1959). Excavations at Horvat Beter (Beersheba). Atiqot, 2, 1–42.Dunand, M. (1973). Fouilles de Byblos V. Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve.Earle, T. E. (1991). The evolution of chiefdoms. In T. Earle (Ed.), Chiefdoms: Power, economy, and
ideology (pp. 1–15). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Earle, T. E. (1997). How chiefs come to power: The political economy in prehistory. Stanford: Stanford
University Press.Eisenberg, I., Gopher, A., & Greenberg, R. (2001). Tel Te’o: A Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze
Age site in the Hula Valley, IAA Reports 13. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Elbaum, R., Melamed-Bessudo, C., Boaretto, E., Galili, E., Lev-Yadun, S., Levy, A. A., et al. (2006).
Ancient olive DNA in pits: Preservation, amplification and sequence analysis. Journal of Archaeo-logical Science, 33, 77–88.
Eldar, I., & Baumgarten, Y. (1985). Neve Noy: A Chalcolithic site of the Beersheba Culture. BiblicalArchaeologist, 48, 134–139.
Elliot, C. (1978). The Ghassulian culture in Palestine: Origins, influences and abandonment. Levant, 10, 37–54.Elliott, C. (1977). The religious beliefs of the Ghassulians. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 109, 3–25.Engberg, A. M., & Shipton, G. M. (1934). Notes on the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age pottery of
Meggido. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University.Epstein, C. (1975). Basalt pillar figures from the Golan. Biblical Archaeologist, 40, 57–62.Epstein, C. (1978a). Aspects of symbolism in Chalcolithic Palestine. In P. R. S. Moorey & P. J. Parr (Eds.),
Archaeology in the Levant (pp. 23–25). Warminster: Avis & Phillips.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 77
123
Epstein, C. (1978b). A new aspect of Chalcolithic culture. Bulletin of the American Schools of OrientalResearch, 229, 27–45.
Epstein, C. (1985). Laden animal figurines from the Chalcolithic period in Palestine. Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of Oriental Research, 258, 53–62.
Epstein, C. (1988). Basalt pillar figures from the Golan and the Huleh Region. Israel Exploration Journal,38, 205–223.
Epstein, C. (1993). Oil production in the Golan Heights during the Chalcolithic period. Tel Aviv, 20, 133–146.Epstein, C. (1998). The Chalcolithic culture of Golan, IAA Reports 4. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities
Authority.Esse, D. L. (1989). Secondary state formation and collapse in Early Bronze Age Palestine. In P. de
Miroschedji (Ed.), L’urbanisation de la Palestine a l’age du Bronze ancien, BAR International Series527(1) (pp. 81–96). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Fabian, P., & Goren, Y. (2002). The stone artifacts. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.), Kissufim Road: Achalcolithic mortuary site (pp. 44–48). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Faltings, D. A. (2002). The chronological frame and social structure of Buto in the fourth millennium. In E.C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant: Interrelations from the 4th through theEarly 3rd millennium BCE (pp. 165–172). New York: Leicester University Press.
Finkelstein, I., & Gophna, R. (1993). Settlement, demographic, and economic patterns in the highlands ofPalestine in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze periods and the beginning of urbanism. Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of Oriental Research, 295, 1–22.
Finkelstein, I., Lederman, Z., & Bunimovitz, S. (1997). Highlands of many cultures. The southern Samariasurvey: The sites. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Fitzgerald, G. M. (1935). Beth-Shan: Earliest pottery. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.Flannery, K. V. (1972). The cultural evolution of civilization. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 3,
399–426.Fox, N. S. (1995). The striped Goddess from Gilat: Implications for the Chalcolithic cult. Israel Exploration
Journal, 45(4), 212–225.Frankel, R., & Getzov, N. (1997). Map of Akhziv (1) Map of Hanita (2). Jerusalem: Archaeological Survey
of Israel.Frankel, R., & Gophna, R. (1980). Chalcolithic pottery from a cave in western Galilee. Tel Aviv, 7, 65–69.Frankel, R., & Kempinski, A. (1973). Bet Ha-Emeq. Israel Exploration Journal, 23, 242–243.Frankel, R., Getzov, N., Aviam, M., & Degani, A. (2001). Settlement dynamics and regional diversity in
ancient Upper Galilee. Archaeological survey of Upper Galilee, IAA Reports 14. Jerusalem: IsraelAntiquities Authority.
Friedman, J. (1982). Catastrophe and continuity in social evolution. In C. Renfew, M. J. Rowlands, & B.Segraves (Eds.), Theory and explanation in Archaeology (pp. 175–196). New York: Academic Press.
Friedman, R. F. (1999). Badari grave group 569. In W. V. Davies (Ed.), Studies in Egyptian antiquities: Atribute to T. G. H. James (pp. 1–11). London: British Museum Press.
Frumkin, A. (1997). Middle Holocene environmental change. In O. Bar Yosef & R. Kra (Eds.), Latequaternary chronology and paleoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean (pp. 314–331). Madison:Prehistory Press.
Frumkin, A., Magaritz, M., Carmi, I., & Zak, I. (1991). The Holocene climatic record of the Slat caves ofMount Sedom, Israel. Holocene, 1, 191–200.
Fujii, S. (1998). Qa’ Abu Tulayha West: An interim report of the 1997 season. Annual of the Department ofAntiquities of Jordan, 42, 123–140.
Fujii, S. (1999). Qa’ Abu Tulayha West: An interim report of the 1998 season. Annual of the Department ofAntiquities of Jordan, 43, 69–89.
Fujii, S. (2000). Qa’ Abu Tulayha West: An interim report of the 1999 season. Annual of the Department ofAntiquities of Jordan, 44, 149–171.
Fujii, S. (2002). A brief note of the 2001–2002 winter season survey of the Jafr Basin, southern Jordan.Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 46, 41–49.
Fujii, S. (2003). Qa’ Abu Tulayha West: An interim report of the 2002 season. Annual of the Department ofAntiquities of Jordan, 47, 195–223.
Gal, Z. (1998). Map of Har Tavor (41) and Map of ‘En Dor (45). Jerusalem: Archaeological Survey ofIsrael.
Gal, Z., Smithline, H., & Shalem, D. (1996). A Chalcolithic burial cave in Peqi’in. Qadmoniot, 111, 19–24.Gal, Z., Smithline, H., & Shalem, D. (1997). A Chalcolithic burial cave in Peqi’in, Upper Galilee. Israel
Exploration Journal, 47, 145–154.Gal, Z., Smithline, H., & Shalem, D. (1999). New iconographic aspects of Chalcolithic art: Preliminary
observations on finds from the Peqi’in Cave. Atiqot, 37, 1–16.
78 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Galili, E., & Sharvit, J. (1994–1995). Evidence of olive oil production from the submerged site at KfarSamir, Israel. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 26, 122–133.
Galili, E., Zohary, D., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (1989). Appearance of olives in submerged Neolithic sitesalong the Carmel Coast. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 22, 95–97.
Galili, E., Stanley, D. J., Sharvit, J., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (1997). Evidence for earliest olive-oil pro-duction in submerged settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 24,1141–1150.
Garfinkel, Y. (1993). Tel ‘Eli. Excavations and surveys in Israel, 12, 19.Garfinkel, Y. (1999a). Ghassulian Chalcolithic presence at Jericho. Levant, 31, 65–69.Garfinkel, Y. (1999b). Neolithic and Chalcolithic pottery of the southern Levant. Jerusalem: Institute of
Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Garfinkel, Y., & Rowan, Y. (2005). Tell es-Saf. Hadashot Arkheologiyot. Excavations and Surveys in Israel
Garstang, J. (1935). Jericho: City and necropolis (fifth report). Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology, 22,143–168.
Gates, M.-H. (1992). Nomadic pastoralists and the Chalcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar. Levant, 24,131–139.
Genz, H. (1997). Problems in defining a Chalcolithic for southern Jordan. In H. G. K. Gebel, Z. Kafafi & G.O. Rollefson (Eds.), The prehistory of Jordan II: Perspectives from 1997, studies in early Near Easternproduction, subsistence, and environment 4 (pp. 441–448). Berlin: Ex oriente.
Getzov, N. (1993). Horvat ‘Uza. Excavations and Surveys in Israel, 13, 19.Gibson, S., & Rowan, Y. M. (2006). The Chalcolithic in the Central Highlands of Palestine: A reassessment
based on a new examination of Khirbet es-Sauma’a. Levant, 38, 85–108.Gibson, S., Kingsley, S., & Clarke, J. (1999). Town and country in the southern Carmel: Report on the
landscape archaeology project at Dor. Levant, 31, 109–111.Gilead, I. (1984). The micro-endscraper: A new tool type of the Chalcolithic Period. Tel Aviv, 11, 3–10.Gilead, I. (1987). A new look at Chalcolithic Beer-Sheba. Biblical Archaeologist, 50, 110–117.Gilead, I. (1988). The Chalcolithic period in the Levant. Journal of World Prehistory, 2, 397–443.Gilead, I. (1989a). Chalcolithic sites in Beit Netofa Valley, Lower Galilee, Israel. Paleorient, 15(1), 263–267.Gilead, I. (1989b). Grar: A Chalcolithic site in the Northern Negev, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology, 16,
377–394.Gilead, I. (1990). The Neolithic–Chalcolithic transition and the Qatifian of the Northern Negev and Sinai.
Levant, 22, 47–63.Gilead, I. (1992). Farmers and herders in southern Israel during the Chalcolithic Period. In O. Bar-Yosef &
A. Khazanov (Eds.), Pastoralism in the Levant (pp. 29–42). Wisconsin: Prehistory Press.Gilead, I. (1994). The history of the Chalcolithic settlement in the Nahal Beer Sheva area: The radiocarbon
aspect. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 296, 1–13.Gilead, I. (1995). Grar: A Chalcolithic Site in the northern Negev. Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev Press.Gilead, I. (2002). Religio-magic behavior in the Chalcolithic period of Palestine. In S. Ahituv & E. D. Oren
(Eds.), Aharon Kempinski memorial volume: Studies in archaeology and related disciplines (pp. 103–128). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press.
Gilead, I., & Alon, D. (1988). Excavations of protohistoric sites in the Nahal Besor and the Late Neolithic ofthe northern Negev and Sinai. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 21, 109*–130*.
Gilead, I., & Fabian, P. (1995). The knapped limestone series from Grar. In I. Gilead (Ed.), Grar: AChalcolithic site in the northern Negev (pp. 281–307). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the NegevPress.
Gilead, I., & Goren, Y. (1986). Stations of the Chalcolithic period in Nahal Sekher, northern Negev.Paleorient, 12, 83–90.
Gilead, I., & Goren, Y. (1989). Petrographic analyses of 4th millennium BC pottery and stone vessels fromthe northern Negev, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 275, 5–14.
Gilead, I., & Goren, Y. (1995). The pottery assemblages from Grar. In I. Gilead (Ed.), Grar: A Chalcolithicsite in the northern Negev (pp. 137–221). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press.
Gilead, I., Rosen, S., & Fabian, P. (1991). Excavations at Tell Abu-Matar (the Hatzerim neighborhood),Beer Sheva. Mitekufat Haeven: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 24, 173–179.
Gilead, I., Hershman, D., & Marder, O. (1995). The flint assemblages from Grar. In I. Gilead (Ed.), Grar: AChalcolithic site in the northern Negev (pp. 223–280). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the NegevPress.
Gilead, I., Marder, O., Khalaily, H., Fabian, P., Abadi, Y., & Yisrael, Y. (2004). The Beit Eshel Chalcolithicflint workshop in Beer Sheva: A preliminary report. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Pre-historic Society, 34, 245–263.
Golani, A. (2004). Salvage excavations at the Early Bronze Age site of Ashqelon, Afridar—Area E. Atiqot,45, 9–62.
Goldberg, P. (1987). The geology and stratigraphy of Shiqmim. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BARInternational Series 356 (pp. 35–43). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Goldberg, P., & Rosen, A. M. (1987). Early Holocene paleoenvironments of Israel. In T. E. Levy (Ed.),Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 22–33). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Golden, J. (1998). Dawn of the Metal Age: Social complexity and the rise of copper metallurgy during theChalcolithic in the southern Levant, ca. 4500–3500 BC. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Pennsylvania.
Golden, J. (2009). Dawn of the Metal Age: the origins of social complexity in the southern Levant. London:Equinox.
Golden, J., Levy, T. E., & Hauptmann, A. (2001). Recent discoveries concerning ancient metallurgy at theChalcolithic (ca. 4000 BC) village of Shiqmim, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 9, 951–963.
Gonen, R. (1992). The Chalcolithic period. In A. Ben-Tor (Ed.), The archaeology of ancient Israel (pp. 40–80). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Goodfriend, G. (1991). Holocene trends in land snail shells from the Negev desert and their implications forchanges in rainfall source areas. Quaternary Research, 35, 417–426.
Gopher, A. (Ed.) (1996). The Nahal Qanah Cave: Earliest gold in the southern Levant, Monograph Series ofthe Institute of Archaeology. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Gopher, A. (1998). Early pottery bearing groups in Israel—The Pottery Neolithic period. In T. E. Levy(Ed.), The archaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 205–225). London: Leicester University Press.
Gopher, A., & Eisenberg, E. (2001). Groundstone artifacts and small finds. In E. Eisenberg, A. Gopher, & R.Greenberg (Eds.), Tel Te’o: A Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze Age Site in the Hula Valley(pp. 139–150). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Gopher, A., & Gophna, R. (1993). The Pottery Neolithic period in the southern Levant—A review. Journalof World Prehistory, 7, 297–353.
Gopher, A., & Greenberg, R. (1987). Pottery Neolithic levels at Tel Dan. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of theIsrael Prehistoric Society, 20, 91–113.
Gopher, A., & Greenberg, R. (1996). The Pottery Neolithic levels. In A. Biran (Ed.), Dan I: A Chronicle ofthe excavations, the Pottery Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age, and the Middle Bronze Age Tombs (pp.67–81). Jerusalem: Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology.
Gopher, A., & Orelle, E. (1995). New data on burials from the Pottery Neolithic period (sixth-millenniumBC) in Israel. In G. S. Campbell & A. Green (Eds.), The archaeology of death in the ancient Near East(pp. 24–28). Oxford: Oxbow.
Gopher, A., & Tsuk, T. (1991). Ancient gold—rare finds from the Nahal Qanah Cave. Jerusalem: IsraelMuseum.
Gopher, A., & Tsuk, T. (1996). The Chalcolithic assemblages. In A. Gopher (Ed.), The Nahal Qanah Cave:Earliest gold in the southern Levant, Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology (pp. 91–138).Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Gopher, A., Tsuk, T., Shalev, S., & Gophna, R. (1990). Earliest gold artifacts in the Levant. CurrentAnthropology, 31, 436–443.
Gophna, R. (1978). Archaeological survey of the central coastal plain. Tel Aviv, 5, 136–147.Gophna, R. (1992). Shefayim: A Chalcolithic campsite in the southern Sharon coastal plain. Tel Aviv, 19,
195–200.Gophna, R. (1998). Early Bronze Age Canaan: Some spatial and demographic observations. In T. E. Levy
(Ed.), The archaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 269–280). New York: Facts on File.Gophna, R. (2004). Excavations at Ashqelon, Afridar—introduction. Atiqot, 45, 1–8.Gophna, R., & Beit-Arieh, I. (1997). Map of Lod (80). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Gophna, R., & Kislev, M. E. (1979). Tell Saf (1977–1978). Revue Biblique, 86, 112–114.Gophna, R., & Portugali, Y. (1988). Settlement and demographic processes in Israel’s coastal plain from the
Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 269,11–28.
Gophna, R., & Sadeh, S. (1988–1989). Excavations at Tel Tsaf: An early Chalcolithic site in the JordanValley. Tel Aviv, 15–16, 3–36.
Gophna, R., & Tsuk, T. (2005). Chalcolithic settlements in the western Samaria foothills. Tel Aviv, 32(1), 3–19.
Goren, A. (1990). The ‘Qatifian Culture’ in southern Israel and Transjordan: Additional aspects for itsdefinition. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 23, 100–111.
80 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Goren, Y. (1995). Shrines and ceramics in Chalcolithic Israel: The view through the petrographic micro-scope. Archaeometry, 37, 287–305.
Goren, Y. (2002). The pottery assemblage. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.) Kissufim Road: A Chalcolithicmortuary site, IAA Reports 16 (pp. 21–41). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Goren, Y. (2006). The technology of the Gilat pottery assemblage: A reassessment. In T. E. Levy (Ed.),Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat, Israel (pp. 369–393). London: Equinox.
Goren, Y., & Fabian, P. (2002). Kissufim Road: A Chalcolithic mortuary site, IAA Reports 16. Jerusalem:Israel Antiquities Authority.
Goren, Y., & Gilead, I. (1986). Quaternary environment and man at Nahal Sekher, Northern Negev.Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 19, 66–79.
Goren, Y., & Gilead, I. (1987). Petrographic analysis of pottery from Shiqmim: A preliminary report. In T.E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I: Studies concerning Chalcolithic societies in the northern Negev desert,Israel, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 411–418). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Goren, Y., Goring-Morris, A. N., & Segal, I. (2001). The technology of skull modeling in the Pre-PotteryNeolithic B (PPNB): Regional variability, the relation of technology and iconography and theirarchaeological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science, 28(7), 671–690.
Goring-Morris, A. N. (2000). The quick and the dead: The social context of aceramic Neolithic mortuarypractices as seen from Kfar HaHoresh. In I. Kuijt (Ed.), Life in Neolithic farming communities: Socialorganization, identity, and differentiation (pp. 103–136). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Gorzalczany, A. (2005). Chalcolithic burial patterns: new evidence from a burial site in the central coastplain of Israel. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Schools of Oriental Research,November 18, Philadelphia, PA.
Gosden, C. (1989). Debt, production and prehistory. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 8, 355–387.Govrin, Y. (1987). Horvat Hor: a dwelling cave from the Chalcolithic Period in the northern Negev.
Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 20, 119–127.Grigson, C. (1987a). Different herding strategies for sheep and goats in the Chalcolithic of Beersheva.
Archaeozoologia, 1, 115–126.Grigson, C. (1987b). Shiqmim: Pastoralism and other aspects of animal management in the Chalcolithic of
the northern Negev. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 219–241).Oxford: Archaeopress.
Grigson, C. (1995). Cattle keepers of the northern Negev: Animal remains from the Chalcolithic site of Grar.In I. Gilead (Ed.), Grar: A Chalcolithic site in the northern Negev (pp. 377–452). Beersheva: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press.
Grigson, C. (1998). Plough and pasture in the early economy of the southern Levant. In T. E. Levy (Ed.),The archaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 245–268). London: Leicester University Press.
Grigson, C. (2006). Farming? Feasting? Herding? Large mammals from the Chalcolithic of Gilat. In T. E.Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat, Israel (pp. 215–319). Lon-don: Equinox.
Hanbury-Tenison, J. (1986). The Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze I transition in Palestine and Trans-jordan, BAR International Series 311. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Hanbury-Tenison, J. (1987). Jerash Region Survey 1983. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan,31, 129–157.
Harrison, T. (1997). Shifting patterns of settlement in the highlands of central Jordan during the EarlyBronze Age. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 306, 1–37.
Harrison, T. P., & Savage, S. H. (2003). Settlement heterogeneity and multivariate craft production in theEarly Bronze Age Southern Levant. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 16(1), 33–57.
Hauptmann, A. (1989). The earliest periods of copper metallurgy in Feinan, Jordan. In A. Hauptmann, E.Pernicka, & G. A. Wagner (Eds.), Old World archaeometallurgy (pp. 119–135). Bochum: Selbstverlagdes Deutschen Bergbau-Museums.
Hauptmann, A., & Weisberger, G. (1992). Period of ore exploitation and metal production in the area ofFeinan, Wadi ‘Arabah, Jordan. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, 4, 61–66.
Hauptmann, A., & Weisgerber, G. (1987). Archaeometallurgical and mining-archaeological studies in thearea of Feinan, Wadi ‘Arabah (Jordan). Annual of the Department of Antiquities, Jordan, 31, 419–431.
Hauptmann, A., Begemann, F., Heitkemper, E., Pernicka, E., & Schmitt-Strecker, S. (1992). Early copperproduced at Feinan, Wadi Araba, Jordan: The composition of ores and copper. Archaeomaterials, 6, 1–33.
Hayden, B. (1987). Past to present uses of stone tools in the Maya Highlands. In B. Hayden (Ed.), Lithicstudies among the contemporary highland Maya (pp. 160–234). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Helms, S. (1987). A note on some 4th millennium stamp seal impressions from Jordan. Akkadica, 52, 29–31.Helms, S. (1991). Stamped, incised and painted designs. In A. Betts (Ed.), Excavations at Jawa 1972–1986
(pp. 113–124). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 81
123
Hendrickx, S., & Bavay, L. (2002). The relative chronological position of Egyptian predynastic and EarlyDynastic tombs with objects imported from the Near East and the nature of interregional contacts. In E.C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant–Interrelations from the 4th through theEarly 3rd Millennium BCE (pp. 58–80). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
Hennessy, J. B. (1969). Preliminary report on a first season of excavations at Teleilat Ghassul. Levant, 1, 1–24.
Hennessy, J. B. (1982). Teleilat Ghassul: Its place in the archaeology of Jordan. In A. Hadidi (Ed.), Studiesin the history and archaeology of Jordan (pp. 55–88). Amman: Department of Antiquities.
Hennessy, J. B. (1989). Ghassul (Tuleilat El/Teleilat El). In D. Homes-Fredericq & J. B. Hennessy (Eds.),Archaeology of Jordan (pp. 230–241). Leuven: Peeters.
Henry, D. O. (1989). From foraging to agriculture: the Levant at the end of the Ice Age. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press.
Henry, D. O. (1995). The Timnian and pastoral nomadism in the Chalcolithic. In D. O. Henry (Ed.),Prehistoric cultural ecology and evolution: Insights from southern Jordan (pp. 353–374). New York:Plenum.
Hershkovitz, I., & Gopher, A. (1996). Human skeletal remains. In A. Gopher (Ed.), The Nahal Qanah cave:Earliest gold in the southern Levant, Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology (pp. 175–180).Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Hesse, B. (1990). Pig lovers and pig haters: Patterns of Palestinian pork production. Journal of Ethnobi-ology, 10, 195–225.
Horowitz, A. (1971). Climatic and vegetational developments in northeastern Israel during Upper Pleisto-cene–Holocene times. Pollen et Spores, 8, 255–278.
Horwitz, L. K. (1990). Animal bones from the site of Horvat Hor. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the IsraelPrehistoric Society, 23, 153–159.
Horwitz, L. K., Galili, E., Sharvit, J., & Lernau, O. (2002). Fauna from five submerged Pottery Neolithicsites off the Carmel coast. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 32, 147–174.
Ibrahim, M. (1988). Museum of Jordanian Heritage. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, YarmoukUniversity. Jordan: Irbid.
Ibrahim, M. M. (1984). Sahab. Archiv fur Orientforschung, 29, 256–260.Ibrahim, M. M. (1987). Sahab and its foreign relations. In A. Hadidi (Ed.), Studies in the history and
archaeology of Jordan, III (pp. 73–81). Amman: Department of Antiquities.Ibrahim, M. M., & Mittmann, S. (1998). Eine chalkolithische Stierskulptur aus Nordjordanien. Zeitschrift
des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins, 114, 101–105.Ilan, D. (1994). Temples, treasures and subterranean villages: Death’s dominion in the Chalcolithic of
Canaan. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Schools of Oriental Research.Ilan, D., & Rowan, Y. M. (in press). Deconstructing and recomposing the narrative of spiritual life in the
Chalcolithic of the southern Levant (4500–3700 BC). In Y. M. Rowan (Ed.) Beyond belief: Thearchaeology of religion and ritual. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropology Association.American Anthropology Association and University of California Press.
Ilani, S., & Rosenfeld, A. (1994). Ore source of arsenic copper tools from Israel during Chalcolithic andEarly Bronze Ages. Terra Nova, 6(2), 177–179.
Ji, C.-H. C. (1997). The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze cemeteries near ‘Iraq al-Amir and the preliminaryreport on salvage excavations. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 41, 49–68.
Joffe, A. H. (1993). Settlement and society in the Early Bronze Age I and II, southern Levant: Comple-mentarity and contradiction in a small-scale complex society, Monographs in MediterraneanArchaeology, 4. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Joffe, A. H. (2003). Slouching toward Beersheva: Chalcolithic mortuary practices in local and regionalcontext. In B. A. Nakhai (Ed.), The Near East in the southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever,Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research (Vol. 58, pp. 45–67). Boston: American Schoolsof Oriental Research.
Joffe, A. H., & Dessel, J. P. (1995). Redefining chronology and terminology for the Chalcolithic of thesouthern Levant. Current Anthropology, 36, 507–518.
Joffe, A. H., Dessel, J. P., & Hallote, R. S. (2001). The ‘Gilat woman’: Female iconography, Chalcolithiccult, and the end of southern Levantine prehistory. Near Eastern Archaeology, 64, 8–23.
Josien, T. (1955). La faune chalcolithique des gisements Palestiniens de Bir es-Safudi et Abou Matar. IsraelExploration Journal, 5, 246–258.
Jull, A. J. T., Donahue, D. J., Carmi, I., & Segal, D. (1998). Radiocarbon dating of finds. In T. Schick (Ed.),The Cave of the Warrior: A fourth millennium burial in the Judean Desert, IAA Reports 5 (pp. 110–112). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Kamlah, J. (1998). The Zeraqon regional survey. Ph.D. dissertation. Tubingen: University of Tubingen.
82 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Kamlah, J. (2000). Der Zeraqon-Survey 1989–1994. Mit beitragen zur Methodik und geschichtlichen Au-swertung archaologischer Oberflachenuntersuchungen in Palastina. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Kaplan, J. (1958). Excavations at Wadi Rabah. Israel Exploration Journal, 8, 149–160.Kaplan, J. (1960). The relationship of the Chalcolithic pottery of Palestine to Halafian ware. Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, 159, 32–36.Kaplan, J. (1963). Excavations at Benei Beraq, 1951. Israel Exploration Journal, 13, 300–312.Kaplan, J. (1966). Notes and news: Kefar Gil’adi. Israel Exploration Journal, 16, 272–273.Kaplan, J. (1969). ‘Ein El Jarba: Chalcolithic remains in the Plain of Esdraelon. Bulletin of the American
Schools of Oriental Research, 194, 1–38.Kaplan, J. (1976). Giv’atayim. In M. Avi-Yonah (Ed.), Encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the
Holy Land 2 (pp. 451–452). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Kaplan, J. (1993). Teluliot Batashi. In New encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the Holy Land 4
(p. 158). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Kehoe, A. B. (2000). Shamans and religion: An anthropological exploration in critical thinking. Long
Grove: Waveland Press.Kenyon, K. M. (1957). Digging up Jericho. London: Benn.Kenyon, K. (1979). Archaeology in the Holy Land (4th ed.). New York: Norton.Kenyon, K. M. (1985). Archaeology in the Holy Land (4th ed.). London: Methuen.Kerner, S. (1997). Specialization in the Chalcolithic in the southern Levant. In H. G. K. Gebel, Z. Kafafi &
G. O. Rollefson (Eds.), The prehistory of Jordan, II: Perspectives from 1997, studies in early neareastern production, subsistence, and environment 4 (pp. 419–427). Berlin: Ex oriente.
Kerner, S. (2001). Das Chalkolithikum in der sudlichen Levante. Die Entwicklung handwerklicher Spezi-alisierung und ihre Beziehung zu gesellschaftlicher komplexitat. Orient-Archaologie 8. Rahden/Westf:Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH.
Kerner, S., Bernbeck, R., Lamprichs, R., & Lehmann, G. (1992). Excavations in Abu Snesleh: MiddleBronze Age and Chalcolithic architecture in central Jordan. In S. Kerner (Ed.), The Near East inAntiquity III (pp. 43–54). Amman: German Protestant Institute of Archaeology.
Key, C. (1980). Trace element composition of the copper and copper alloys of the Nahal Mishmar Hoard. InP. Bar-Adon (Ed.), The cave of the treasure (pp. 238–243). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
Khalil, L. (1987). Preliminary report on the 1985 excavation at el-Maqass-Aqaba. Annual of the Departmentof Antiquities of Jordan, 31, 481–485.
Khalil, L. (1992). Some technological features from a Chalcolithic site at Maqass-Aqaba. In M. Zaghoul, K.‘Amr, F. Zayadine, & R. Nabeel (Eds.), Studies in the history and archaeology of Jordan IV (pp. 143–148). Amman: Department of Antiquities of Jordan.
Kislev, M. (1987). Chalcolithic plant husbandry and ancient vegetation at Shiqmim. In T. E. Levy (Ed.),Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 251–279). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Kislev, M. (1994–1995). Wild olive stones at submerged Kfar Samir, Haifa, Israel. Journal of the IsraelPrehistoric Society, 26, 134–145.
Kislev, M. (1996). The domestication of the olive tree. In D. Eitam & M. Heltzer (Eds.), Olive Oil inAntiquity: Israel and Neighboring Countries from the Neolithic to the Early Arab Period (pp. 3–6).Padova: Sargon.
Koeppel, R. (1940). Teleilat Ghassul, II. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute.Kozloff, B. (1974). A brief note on the lithic industries of Sinai. Museum Ha’aretz Yearbook, 15(16), 35–49.Kozloff, B. (1981). Pastoral nomadism in the Sinai: an ethno-archaeological study. Bulletin de L’Equipe
ecologie et anthropologie des societes pastorales, 8, 19–24.Kristiansen, K. (1991). Chiefdoms, states, and systems of social evolution. In T. Earle (Ed.), Chiefdoms:
Power, economy, and ideology (pp. 16–43). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Kuijt, I. (2000). Keeping the peace: Ritual, skull caching and community integration in the Levantine
Neolithic. In I. Kuijt (Ed.), Life in Neolithic farming communities: Social organization, identity, anddifferentiation (pp. 137–163). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Kuijt, I. (2001). Meaningful masks: Place, death and the transmission of social memory in early agriculturalcommunities of the Near Eastern Pre-Pottery Neolithic. In M. S. Chesson (Ed.), Social memory,identity, and death: Intradisciplinary perspectives on mortuary rituals (Vol. 10, pp. 80–99). Wash-ington: American Anthropological Association, Archaeology Division.
Kuijt, I., & Chesson, M. S. (2002). Excavations at ‘Ain Waida’, Jordan: New insights into Pottery Neolithiclifeways in the southern Levant. Paleorient, 28(2), 109–122.
Kuijt, I., & Goring-Morris, A. N. (2002). Foraging, farming, and social complexity in the Pre-PotteryNeolithic of the southern Levant: A review and synthesis. Journal of World Prehistory, 16, 361–440.
Lamprichs, R. (1998). Abu Snesleh: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1990 und 1992, Orient-ArchaologieBand 1. Rahden: Leidorf.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 83
123
Leach, E. (1954). Political systems of highland Burma, monographs on social anthropology. London:London School of Economics.
Lee, R. (1973). Chalcolithic Ghassul: New aspects and master typology. Jerusalem: Hebrew University.Lehmann, G., Lamprichs, R., Kerner, S., & Bernbeck, R. (1991). The 1990 excavations at Abu Snesleh:
Preliminary report. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 35, 41–63.LeMort, F., & Rabinovich, R. (1994). L’apport de l’etude taphonomique des restes humains a la connais-
sance des pratiques funeraires: Exemple du site chalcolithique de Ben-Shemen (Israel). Paleorient, 20,69–98.
LeMort, F., & Rabinovich, R. (2002). Taphonomy and mortuary practices. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.),Kissufim Road: A Chalcolithic mortuary site, IAA Reports 16 (pp. 66–81). Jerusalem: Israel Antiq-uities Authority.
Leonard, A. (1987). The Jarash-Tell el-Husn highway survey. Annual of the Department of Antiquities ofJordan, 31, 343–390.
Leonard, A. (1989). A Chalcolithic fine ware from Kataret es-Samra in the Jordan Valley. Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of Oriental Research, 276, 3–14.
Leonard, A. (1992). The Jordan Valley survey, 1953: Some unpublished soundings conducted by JamesMellaart. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research (Vol. 50). Boston: American Schoolsof Oriental Research.
Lev-Tov, N., Gopher, A., & Smith, P. (2003). Dental evidence for dietary practices in the Chalcolithicperiod: The findings from a burial cave in Peqi’in (northern Israel). Paleorient, 29(1), 121–134.
Levy, T. E. (1983). The emergence of specialized pastoralism in the southern Levant. World Archaeology,15, 15–36.
Levy, T. E. (1986). Social archaeology and the Chalcolithic period: Explaining social organizational changeduring the 4th millennium in Israel. Michmanim, 3, 5–20.
Levy, T. E. (1992). Transhumance, subsistence, and social evolution. In O. Bar-Yosef & A. Khazanov(Eds.), Pastoralism in the Levant (pp. 65–82). Wisconsin: Prehistory Press.
Levy, T. E. (1993). Production, space, and social change in protohistoric Palestine. In A. Holl & T. E. Levy(Eds.), Spatial boundaries and social dynamics: Case studies from food producing societies (pp. 63–81). Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory.
Levy, T. E. (1998). Cult, metallurgy and rank societies—Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500–3500 BCE). In T. E.Levy (Ed.), The archaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 226–244). London: Leicester UniversityPress.
Levy, T. E. (Ed.). (2006). Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat, Israel. London:Equinox.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1979). A preliminary note on the Chalcolithic cemeteries at Shiqmim, northernNegev, Israel. Mitekufat Ha’even, 16, 109–117.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1982). The Chalcolithic mortuary site near Mezad Aluf, northern Negev Desert: Apreliminary study. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 248, 37–59.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1985a). An anthropomorphic statuette head from the Shiqmim Chalcolithic site.Atiqot, 17, 187–189.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1985b). The Chalcolithic mortuary site near Mezad Aluf, northern Negev Desert:Third preliminary report, 1982 season. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Sup-plement No., 23, 121–135.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1985c). Shiqmim: A Chalcolithic village and mortuary centre in the northernNegev. Paleorient, 11(1), 71–83.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1987a). Excavations in the Shiqmim Valley. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BARInternational Series 356 (pp.153–218). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1987b). Settlement patterns along the Nahal Beersheva–lower Nahal Besor:Models of subsistence in the northern Negev. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series356 (pp. 45–138). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1987c). Excavations in Shiqmim Cemetery 3: Final report on the 1982 excavations.In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 333–355), Oxford: Archaeopress.
Levy, T. E., & Alon, D. (1992). A corpus of ivories from Shiqmim [In Hebrew]. Eretz Israel, 23, 65–71.Levy, T. E., & Golden, J. (1996). Syncretistic and mnemonic dimensions of Chalcolithic art: A new human
figurine from Shiqmim. Biblical Archaeologist, 59, 150–159.Levy, T. E., & Menachem, N. (1987). The ceramic industry at Shiqmim: Typological and spatial consid-
erations. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 313–331). Oxford:Archaeopress.
Levy, T. E., & Shalev, S. (1989). Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant: Archaeometallurgy andsocial perspectives. World Archaeology, 20, 353–372.
84 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Levy, T. E., & van den Brink, E. C. M. (2002). Interaction models, Egypt and the Levantine periphery. In E.C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant. Interrelations from the 4th throughearly 3rd millennium B.C.E (pp. 3–38). London: Leicester University Press.
Levy, T. E., Grigson, C., Holl, A., Goldberg, P., Rowan, Y., & Smith, P. (1991a). Subterranean settlementand adaptation in the Negev Desert, c. 4500–3700 BC. National Geographic Research and Explora-tion, 7(4), 394–413.
Levy, T. E., Grigson, C., Holl, A., Goldberg, P., Rowan, Y., & Smith, P. (1991b). Protohistoric investi-gations at the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village and cemetery: Interim report on the 1987 season. Bulletinof the American Schools of Oriental Research, Supplement, 27, 29–45.
Levy, T. E., Alon, D., Goldberg, P., Grigson, C., Smith, P., Buikstra, J., et al. (1994). Protohistoricinvestigations at the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village and cemetery: Interim report on the 1988 season.Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 51, 87–106.
Levy, T. E., Commenge, C., & Kansa, E. (1995). A study of the pottery from Gilat, northern Negev. Paperpresented at the Society of American Archaeology Annual Meetings, Minneapolis.
Levy, T. E., Alon, D., Smith, P., Yekutieli, Y., Rowan, Y. M., & Goldberg, P. (1997). Egyptian–CanaaniteInteraction at Nahal Tillah, Israel (ca. 4500–3000 BCE): An interim report on the 1994–1995 exca-vations. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 307, 1–51.
Levy, T. E., Adams, R. B., Witten, A. J., Anderson, J., Arbel, J., Kuah, S., et al. (2001). Early metallurgy,interaction, and social change: The Jabal Hamrat Fidan (Jordan) research design and 1998 archaeo-logical survey: Preliminary report. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 45, 159–187.
Levy, T. E., Alon, D., Rowan, Y. M., & Kersel, M. (2006a). The sanctuary sequence: Excavations at Gilat:1975–77, 1989, 1990–92. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary atGilat, Israel (pp. 95–212). London: Equinox.
Levy, T. E., Burton, M., & Rowan, Y. M. (2006b). The Chalcolithic countryside: Hamlet excavations nearShiqmim, Negev Desert, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology, 31, 41–60.
Levy, T. E., Conner, W., Rowan, Y. M., & Alon, D. (2006c). The intensification of production at Gilat:Textile production. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat,Israel (pp. 705–738). London: Equinox.
Levy, T. E., Rowan, Y. M., & Burton, M. (Eds.). (in preparation). Desert chiefdom: Dimensions of sub-terranean settlement and society in Israel’s Negev Desert (c. 4500–3600 BC). Based on new data fromShiqmim.
Liphschitz, N. (1988–1989). Analysis of the botanical remains from Tel Tsaf. Tel Aviv, 15–16(1), 52–54.Liphschitz, N. (1996a). The history of vegetational landscape of the Negev during antiquity as evident from
archaeological wood remains. Israel Journal of Plant Science, 44, 161–180.Liphschitz, N. (1996b). Wild olive (Olea europaea) from a Chalcolithic cave at Shoham, Israel and their
implications. Tel Aviv, 23, 135–142.Liphschitz, N. (1996c). Olives in ancient Israel in view of dendroarchaeological investigations. In D. Eitam
& M. Heltzer (Eds.), Olive oil in antiquity: Israel and neighboring countries from the Neolithic to theEarly Arab period (pp. 6–10). Padova: Sargon.
Liphschitz, N. (2004). Archaeobotanical remains. In N. Scheftelowitz & R. Oren (Eds.), Giv’at Ha-Oranim:A Chalcolithic site (pp. 125–126). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Liphschitz, N. (2005). The archaeobotanical remains. In E. C. M. van den Brink & R. Gophna (Eds.),Shoham (North). Late Chalcolithic Burial Caves in the Lod Valley, Israel (pp. 151–153). Jerusalem:Israel Antiquities Authority.
Liphschitz, N., & Bonani, G. (2000). Dimensions of olive (Olea europaea) stones as a reliable parameter todistinguish between wild and cultivated varieties, further evidence. Tel Aviv, 27, 23–25.
Lovell, J. L. (2000). Pella in Jordan in the Chalcolithic period. In G. Philip & D. Baird (Eds.), Breaking withthe past: Ceramics and change in the Early Bronze Age of the southern Levant (pp. 59–71). Sheffield:Sheffield Academic Press.
Lovell, J. (2001). The Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods in the southern Levant. New data from the siteof Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan. BAR International Series 974/Monographs of the Sydney UniversityTeleilat Ghassul Project I. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Lovell, J. L. (2002). Shifting subsistence patterns: Some ideas about the end of the Chalcolithic in thesouthern Levant. Paleorient, 28, 89–102.
Lovell, J. L (2008). Horticulture, status and long-range trade in Chalcolithic southern Levant: early con-nections with Egypt. In B. Midant-Reynes & Y. Tristant (Eds.), Egypt at its origins 2. Proceedings ofthe International Conference ‘‘Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt’’, Toulouse(France), 5th–8th September 2005. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 172, pp. 741–762. Paris: Peeters.
Lovell, J. L., Dollfus, G., & Kafafi, Z. (1997). A preliminary note on the ceramics from the basal levels atAbu Hamid. In H. G. K. Gebel, Z. Kafafi & G. O. Rollefson (Eds.), The prehistory of Jordan II:
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 85
123
Perspectives from 1997, studies in early near eastern production, subsistence, and environment 4 (pp.361–370). Berlin: Ex oriente.
Lovell, J. L., Richter, T., McLaren, P. B., McRae, I. K., & Abu Shmeis, A. I. (2005). The first preliminaryreport of the Wadi ar-Rayyan archaeological project: The survey of al-Khawarij. Annual of theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan, 49, 189–200.
MacDonald, B. (1988). The Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. In B. T. MacDonald (Ed.), The Wadiel Hasa archaeological survey 1979–1983, West-Central Jordan (pp. 128–154). Waterloo: WilfridLaurier University.
MacDonald, B. (1992). The Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah archaeological survey, Sheffieldarchaeological monographs. Sheffield: J.R. Collis.
Macdonald, E., Starkey, J. L., et al. (1932). Beth Pelet II: Prehistoric Fara. London: British School ofArchaeology.
Mallon, A., Koeppel, R., & Neuville, R. (1934). Teleilat Ghassul I, 1929–1932. Rome: Pontifical BiblicalInstitute.
Marder, O. (2005). The flint materials from Caves 1, 2 and 4. In E. C. M. van den Brink & R. Gophna (Eds.),Shoham (North), Lod Valley, Israel. Excavations of three Late Chalcolithic burial caves. IAA Reports27 (pp. 141–148). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Mattingly, G. (1996). Al-Karak Resources Project 1995: A preliminary report on the pilot season. Annual ofthe Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 40, 349–368.
McConaughy, M. (1979). Formal and functional analysis of chipped stone tools from Bab edh Dhra. Ph.D.dissertation. Ann Arbor.
McCreery, D. (1978–1979). Preliminary report of the APC township archaeological survey. Annual of theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan, 22–23, 150–162.
Meadows, J. (2005). Early farmers and their environment. Archaeobotanical research at Neolithic andChalcolithic Sites in Jordan. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, La Trobe University, Australia.
Mellaart, J. (1963). Excavations at Catal Huyuk, second preliminary report, 1962. Anatolian Studies, 13, 43–103.
Merhav, R., Heltzer, M., Segal, A., & Kaufman, D. (Eds.). (1993). Sceptres of the divine from the Cave ofthe Treasure at Nahal Mishmar. Studies in the archaeology and history of ancient Israel in honour ofMoshe Dothan. [in Hebrew] Haifa. Haifa University Press.
Mienis, H. K. (1980). Mollusca. In J. Perrot & D. Ladiray (Eds.), Tombes a ossuaires de la region cotierePalestinienne au IVe millenaire avant l’ere chretienne, Memoires et travaux No. 1 (p. 94). Paris:Centre de recherches prehistoriques francais de Jerusalem.
Milevski, I. (2002). A new fertility figurine and new animal motifs from the Chalcolithic in the southernLevant: Finds from Cave K-1 at Quleh, Israel. Paleorient, 28(2), 133–142.
Miller, J. (Ed.). (1991). Archaeological survey of the Kerak Plateau. Atlanta: Scholars Press.Moore, A. M. (1973). The Late Neolithic in Palestine. Levant, 5, 36–68.Moore, A. M. T. (1985). The development of Neolithic societies in the Near East. Advances in World
Archaeology, 4, 1–69.Moorey, R. (1985). Materials and manufacture in ancient Mesopotamia: The evidence of archaeology and
art, BAR International Series 237. Oxford: Archaeopress.Moorey, P. R. S. (1988). The Chalcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar, Israel, in context. World Archae-
ology, 20, 171–189.Morris, I. (1992). Death-ritual and social structure in classical antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.Mortenson, P., & Thuesen, I. (1998). The prehistoric periods. In M. Piccirillo & E. Alliath (Eds.), Mount
Nebo: New archaeological excavations 1967–1997 (pp. 84–99). Jerusalem: Franciscan.Muheisen, M., Gebel, H. G., Haans, C., & Neef, R. (1988). ‘Ain Rahub, a new final Natufian and
Yarmoukian site near Irbid. In A. N. Garrard & H. G. Gebel (Eds.), The prehistory of Jordan:The state of research in 1986, BAR International Series 396 (ii) (pp. 472–502). Oxford:Archaeopress.
Muller-Neuhof, B. (2006). Tabular scraper quarry sites in the Wadi ar-Ruwayshid region (N/E Jordan).Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 50, 373–383.
Nagar, Y., & Eshed, V. (2001). Where are the children? Age-dependent burial practices in Peqi’in. IsraelExploration Journal, 51, 27–35.
Nahshoni, P., Goren, Y., Marder, O., & Goring-Morris, N. (2002). A Chalcolithic site at Ramot Nof, Be’erSheva’ [In Hebrew]. Atiqot, 43(253–254), *1–*24.
Najjar, M., & ‘Amr, K. (1992). Wadi al-Qattar, Abu ‘Alanda, Greater Amman. American Journal ofArchaeology, 96, 509–510.
86 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Najjar, M., Abu Dayya, A., Suleiman, E., Weisgerber, G., & Hauptmann, A. (1990). Tell Wadi Feinan: Thefirst Pottery Neolithic tell in the south of Jordan. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, 34,27–56.
Namdar, D., Segal, I., Goren, Y., & Shalev, S. (2004). Chalcolithic copper artifacts. In N. Scheftelowitz &R. Oren (Eds.), Giv’at Ha-Oranim: A Chalcolithic site (pp. 70–83). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Nasrallah, J. (1936). Le gisement Ghassoulien de Tell es-Soma. Journal of the Palestinian Oriental Society,16, 293–315.
Neef, R. (1990). Introduction, development and environmental implications of olive culture: The evidencefrom Jordan. In S. Bottema, G. Entjes-Nieborg, & W. Van Zeist (Eds.), Man’s role in the shaping ofthe Eastern Mediterranean landscape (pp. 295–306). Rotterdam: Balkema.
Neeley, M. (2004). Exploring prehistoric land-use patterns in the Tafila-Busayra survey area. In B. Mac-Donald, L. G. Herr, M. P. Neeley, T. Gagos, K. Moumani, & M. Rockman (Eds.), The Tafila-Busayraarchaeological survey 1999–2001, West-Central Jordan (pp. 35–46). Boston: American Schools ofOriental Research.
Neuville, R. (1930a). La necropole megalithique D’el-Adeimeh. Biblica, 9, 249–265.Neuville, R. (1930b). Notes de prehistoire palestinienne. Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, 10, 114–
121.Nissen, H. J. (1988). The early history of the ancient Near East 9000–2000 BC. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.Noy, T. (1970). Prehistoric sites in the Halutza Dunes (Survey). Mitekufat Ha’even, 6, 1–10. (Hebrew).Noy, T. (1998). The flint artifacts. In C. Epstein (Ed.), The Chalcolithic culture of the Golan, IAA Reports 4
(pp. 269–299). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Olami, Y. (1984). Prehistoric Carmel. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Oren, E., & Gilead, I. (1981). Chalcolithic sites in northeastern Sinai. Tel Aviv, 8, 25–44.Oshri, A., & Schick, T. (1998). The lithics. In T. Schick (Ed.), The Cave of the Warrior: A fourth millennium
burial in the Judean Desert, IAA Reports 5 (pp. 59–62). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Ottoson, M. (1980). Temples and cult places in Palestine. Uppsala: Uppsala University.Paley, S. M., & Porath, Y. (1979). The regional project in Emeq Hefer, 1979. Israel Exploration Journal, 29,
236–239.Parker-Pearson, M. (2001). The archaeology of death and burial. College Station: Texas A&M University.Patrich, J. (1993). The Ketef Jericho Cave. In E. Stern (Ed.), New encyclopedia of archaeological exca-
vations in the Holy Land (p. 837). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Perrot, J. (1955). The excavations at Tell Abu Matar, near Beersheba. Israel Exploration Journal, 5, 17–
41(73–84), 167–189.Perrot, J. (1957). Les fouilles d’Abou Matar pres de Beersheba. Syria, 34, 1–38.Perrot, J. (1959a). Bir es-Safadi. Israel Exploration Journal, 9, 141–142.Perrot, J. (1959b). Statuettes en ivoire et autres objets en ivoire et en os provenant des gisements prehis-
toriques de la region de Beersheba. Syria, 36, 8–19.Perrot, J. (1968). La prehistoire Palestinienne. Supplement au dictionnaire de la Bible 8 (pp. 286–446).
Paris: Letouzey & Ane.Perrot, J. (1979). Syria-Palestine I: From the origins to the Bronze Age. (trans. J. Hogarth). Geneva: Nagel.Perrot, P. (1984). Structures d’habitat, mode de vie et environnement. Les villages souterrains des pasteurs
de Beersheva, dans le sud d’Israel, au IVe millenaire avant l’ere chretienne. Paleorient, 10(1), 75–96.Perrot, J. (1992). Umm Qatafa and Umm Qala’a: Two Ghassulian caves in the Judean Desert. Eretz-Israel,
23, 100–111.Perrot, J. (1993). Azor. In E. Stern (Ed.), New encyclopedia of archaeological excavations of the Holy Land
(Vol. 1, pp. 125–126). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society/Carta.Perrot, J., & Ladiray, D. (1980). Tombes a ossuaires de la region cotiere Palestinienne, au IVe millenaire
avant l’ere chretienne. Paris: Association Paleorient.Perrot, J., Tzori, N., & Reich, R. (1967). Neve Ur: Un nouvel aspect du Ghassoulien. Israel Exploration
Journal, 17, 201–232.Petrie, W. M. F. (1920). Prehistoric Egypt. London: British School of Archaeology in Egypt.Petrie, W. M. F., & Quibell, J. E. (1896). Naqada and Ballas. London: Bernard Quaritch.Philip, G., & Williams-Thorpe, O. (1993). A provenance study of Jordanian basalt vessels of the Chalco-
lithic and EBI periods. Paleorient, 19(2), 51–63.Pollock, S. (2002). Ancient Mesopotamia: The Eden that never was. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.Poplin, F. (2002). The bird figurine. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.), Kissufim Road: A Chalcolithic
mortuary site (pp. 53–54). IAA Reports 14, Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 87
123
Porath, Y. (1992). Domestic architecture of the Chalcolithic period. In A. Kempinski & R. Reich (Eds.), Thearchitecture of ancient Israel (pp. 40–50). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
Potazkin, R., & Bar-Avi, K. (1980). A material investigation of metal objects from the Nahal MishmarHoard. In P. Bar-Adon (Ed.), The cave of the treasure (pp. 235–237). Jerusalem: Israel ExplorationSociety.
Quintero, L., & Wilkie, P. (1998). Archaeological reconnaissance in the al-Jafr Basin, 1997. Annual of theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan, 42, 113–121.
Quintero, L., & Wilkie, P. (2002). From flint mine to fan-scraper: The late prehistoric Jafr industrialcomplex. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 327, 17–48.
Reese, D. S. (2008). Shells from Jerusalem: Sites B, D, E, J, S and V. In K. Prag (Ed.), Excavations by K. M.Kenyon in Jerusalem 1961–1967 V. Discoveries in Hellenistic to Ottoman Jerusalem. CentenaryVolume: Kathleen M. Kenyon 1906–1978. Levant Supplementary Series 7 (pp. 455–466). Oxford:Council for British Research in the Levant/Oxbow.
Renfrew, C. (1979). System collapse as social transformation. In C. Renfrew & K. L. Cooke (Eds.),Transformations. Mathematical approaches to culture change (pp. 244–265). New York/London:Academic Press.
Rizkana, I., & Seeher, J. (1989). Maadi III: The non-lithic small finds and the structural remains of thepredynastic settlement. Mainz: von Zabern.
Rollefson, G. (1983). Ritual and ceremony at Neolithic Ain Ghazal (Jordan). Paleorient, 9, 29–38.Rollefson, G. (1986). Neolithic Ain Ghazal (Jordan): Ritual and Ceremony II. Paleorient, 12, 45–52.Rollefson, G. (1988). Local and external relations in the Levantine PPN Period: ‘Ain Ghazal (Jordan) as a
regional centre. In A. Hadidi (Ed.), Studies in the history and archaeology of Jordan III (pp. 29–32).Amman: Department of Antiquities.
Rollefson, G. (1989a). The late Aceramic Neolithic of the Levant: A synthesis. Paleorient, 15, 168–173.Rollefson, G. (1989b). The Aceramic Neolithic of the southern Levant: The view from ‘Ain Ghazal.
Paleorient, 15, 135–140.Rollefson, G. (2000). Ritual and social organization at Neolithic ‘Ain Ghazal. In I. Kuijt (Ed.), Life in
Neolithic farming villages (pp. 165–190). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.Rollefson, G. O., Simmons, A. H., & Kafafi, Z. (1992). Neolithic cultures at ‘Ain Ghazal, Jordan. Journal of
Field Archaeology, 19(4), 443–470.Rosen, A. (1987). Phytolith studies at Shiqmim. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series
356 (pp. 243–249). Oxford: Archaeopress.Rosen, A. (1995). The social response to environmental change in Early Bronze Age Canaan. Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology, 14, 26–46.Rosen, S. A. (1983). The tabular scraper trade: A model for material culture dispersion. Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, 249, 79–86.Rosen, S. A. (1987a). Byzantine nomadism in the Negev: Results from the emergency survey. Journal of
Field Archaeology, 14, 29–42.Rosen, S. A. (1987b). The potentials of lithic analysis in the Chalcolithic of the northern Negev. In T. E.
Levy (Ed.), Shiqmim I, BAR International Series 356 (pp. 295–312). Oxford: Archaeopress.Rosen, S. A. (1993) Metals, rocks, specialization, and the beginning of urbanism in the northern Negev. In
A. Biran & J. Aviram (Eds.), Biblical archaeology today, 1990. Proceedings of the IInd InternationalCongress of Biblical Archaeology (pp. 41–56). Supplement, Israel Exploration Society: Jerusalem.
Rosen, S. A. (1997). Lithics after the Stone Age. Walnut Creek: AltaMira.Rosen, S. A., & Eldar, I. (1993). Horvat Beter revisited: The 1982 salvage excavations. Atiqot, 22, 13–27.Rosen, A. M., & Rosen, S. A. (2001). Determinist or not determinist? Climate, environment, and archae-
ological explanation in the Levant. In S. Wolff (Ed.), Studies in the archaeology of Israel andneighboring lands in memory of Douglas L. Esse (pp. 535–549). Chicago: Oriental Institute of theUniversity of Chicago.
Rosenberg, D., & van den Brink, E. C. M. (2005). Qidron: A Wadi Rabah culture site. In Salvage excavationreports no. 2 (93–103). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Roshwalb, A. (1981). Protohistory in the Wadi Ghazzeh: A typological and technological study based on theMacdonald excavations. Ph.D. dissertation. London: Institute of Archaeology.
Rothenberg, B., & Glass, J. (1992). The beginnings and the development of early metallurgy and thesettlement and chronology of the western Arabah, from the Chalcolithic period to Early Bronze AgeIV. Levant, 24, 141–157.
Rothenberg, B., & Merkel, J. (1995). Late Neolithic copper smelting in the Arabah. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, Newsletter, 19, 1–7.
Rothenberg, B., Tylecote, R. F., & Boydell, P. J. (1978). Chalcolithic copper smelting, excavations andexperiments. London: Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies.
88 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Roux, V. (2003). Ceramic standardization and intensity of production: quantifying degrees of specialization.American Antiquity, 68, 768–782.
Roux, V., & Courty, M. (1997). Les bols elabores au tour d’Abu Hamid: Rupture technique au 4e millenaireavant J.C. dans le Levant–Sud. Paleorient, 23, 25–43.
Roux, V., & Courty, M. A. (1998). Identification of wheel-fashioning methods: technological analysis of4th–3rd millenium BC oriental ceramics. Journal of Archaeological Science, 25, 747–763.
Roux, V., & Courty, M. A. (2005). Identifying social entities at a macro-regional level: Chalcolithicceramics of South Levant as a case study. In A. Livingstone Smith, D. Bosquet, & R. Martineau (Eds.),Pottery manufacturing processes: reconstruction and interpretation, BAR International Series (pp.201–214). Oxford: Archeopress.
Rowan, Y. (1998). Ancient distribution and deposition of prestige objects: Basalt vessels during lateprehistory in the Southern Levant. Ph.D. dissertation. Austin: University of Texas.
Rowan, Y. M. (2005). The groundstone assemblages. In E. C. M. van den Brink & R. Gophna (Eds.),Shoham (North), Lod Valley, Israel. Excavations of three Late Chalcolithic burial caves, IAA Reports27 (pp. 113–139). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Rowan, Y. M. (2006). The chipped stone assemblage at Gilat. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthro-pology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat (pp. 507–574). London: Equinox Press.
Rowan, Y. M. (in press). Ground stone assemblages. In E. Yannai (Ed.). Excavations at Natzur, IAAReports. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Rowan, Y. M., & Ilan, D. (2007). The meaning of ritual diversity in the Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant.In D. Barrowclough & C. Malone (Eds.), Cult in context: Reconsidering ritual in archaeology (pp.249–256). Oxford: Oxbow.
Rowan, Y. M., & Ilan, D. (in press). The subterranean landscape of the Southern Levant during theChalcolithic Period. In H. Moyes (Ed.), Journeys into the dark zone: A cross-cultural perspective oncaves as sacred spaces. University Press of Colorado.
Rowan, Y. M., & Levy, T. E. (1991). Use-wear analysis of a Chalcolithic scraper assemblage from Shiq-mim. Mitekufat Ha’even: Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 24, 112–134.
Rowan, Y. M., & Levy, T. E. (1994). Proto-Canaanean blades of the Chalcolithic Period. Levant, 26, 167–174.
Rowan, Y. M., & Lovell, J. (in press). Introduction: culture, chronology and the Chalcolithic. In J. Lovell &Y. M. Rowan (Eds.), Culture, chronology and the Chalcolithic: Theory and transition. Council forBritish Research in the Levant Supplementary Series. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Rowan, Y. M., Levy, T. E., Alon, D., & Goren, Y. (2006). The ground stone industry: Stone bowls, grindingslabs, palettes, spindle whorls, maceheads and related finds. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology,anthropology and cult: The sanctuary at Gilat (pp. 575–684). London: Equinox Press.
Sadeh, S., & Eisenberg, E. (2001). Pottery of strata X–VIII, the Pottery Neolithic period. In E. Eisenberg, A.Gopher & R. Greenberg (Eds.), Tel Te’o: A Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze Age site in theHula Valley, IAA Reports 13 (pp. 83–104), Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Sadeh, S., & Gophna, R. (1991). Excavations at Tel Tsaf: An early Chalcolithic site in the Jordan Valley. TelAviv, 18, 15–16.
Sapin, J. (1992). De l’occupation a l’utilisation de l’espace a l’aube de l’age du bronze dans la region deJerash et sa peripherie orientale. In M. Zaghloul, et al. (Eds.), Studies in the history and archaeology ofJordan IV (pp. 169–174). Amman: Department of Antiquities.
Saxe, A. (1970). Social dimensions of mortuary practices. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Michigan.Scheftelowitz, N. (2004). Stone artefacts. In N. Scheftelowitz & R. Oren (Eds.), Giv’at Ha-Oranim: A
Chalcolithic site. Salvage excavation reports, No. 1 (pp. 59–67). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.Scheftelowitz, N., & Oren, R. (2004). Miscellaneous small finds. In N. Scheftelowitz & R. Oren (Eds.),
Giv’at Ha-Oranim: A Chalcolithic site (pp. 84–86). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.Schick, T. (1998). The cave of the warrior. A fourth millennium burial in the Judean desert. Jerusalem:
Israel Antiquities Authority.Schmandt-Besserat, D. (1992). Before writing I. From counting to cuneiform. Austin, Tx: University of
Texas Press.Schmandt-Besserat, D. (1998). ‘Ain Ghazal monumental figurines. Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research, 310, 1–18.Seaton, P. (2000). Aspects of new research at the Chalcolithic sanctuary precinct at Teleilat Ghassul. In P.
Matthiae, A. Enea, L. Peyronel & F. Pinnock (Eds.), Proceedings of the first international congress onthe archaeology of the ancient Near East (pp. 1503–1515). Rome: Dipartimento di scienze storiche,archeologiche e antropologiche dell’antichita.
Segal, I., Kamenski, A., & Merkel, J. (2002). The cave of the Sandal, Ketef Jericho: New evidence fromrecent Chalcolithic copper finds. Institute for Archaeometallurgical Studies, 22, 7–10.
J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92 89
123
Shalem, D. (2008). The Upper and Lower Galilee in the Late Chalcolithic period. In S. Bar (Ed.), In the Hillcountry, and in the Shephelah, and in the Arabah (Joshua 12, 8). Studies and researches presented toAdam Zertal in the 30th anniversary of the Manasseh Hill-country survey (pp. 99*–110*). Jerusalem:Ariel Publishing.
Shalev, S. (1996). Metallurgical and metallographic studies. In A. Gopher (Ed.), The Nahal Qanah cave:Earliest gold in the southern Levant, Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology (pp. 155–174).Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.
Shalev, S., & Northover, P. (1987). The Chalcolithic metal and metalworking from Shiqmim. In T. E. Levy(Ed.), Shiqmim I. BAR International Series 356 (pp. 357–371). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Shalev, S., & Northover, P. (1993). The metallurgy of the Nahal Mishmar hoard reconsidered. Archae-ometry, 35, 35–47.
Shalev, S., Goren, Y., Levy, T. E., & Northover, J. P. (1992). A Chalcolithic mace head from the Negev,Israel: Technological aspects and cultural implications. Archaeometry, 34, 63–71.
Sherratt, A. G. (1981). Plough and pastoralism: Aspects of the secondary products revolution. In I. Hodder,G. Isaac, & N. Hammond (Eds.), Patterns of the past: Studies in honour of David Clarke (pp. 261–305). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shimelmitz, R., & Mendel, S. (2008). A Chalcolithic workshop for the production of blades and bi-facialtools at Khirbet Yoah, the Manasseh Hills. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 38, 229–256.
Shipton, G. M. (1939). Notes on the Megiddo pottery of Strata VI–XX. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress.
Shugar, A. N. (2001). Archaeometallurgical investigation of the Chalcolithic site of Abu Matar, Israel: Areassessment of technology and its implications for the Ghassulian Culture. Ph.D. dissertation. Lon-don: University College.
Simmons, A., & Najjar, M. (1999). Preliminary field report of the 1998–1999 excavations at Ghwair I, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B community in the Wadi Feinan regions of southern Jordan. Neolithics, 2, 4–6.
Smith, P. (1991). The dental evidence for nutritional status in the Natufians. In O. Bar-Yosef & F. Valla(Eds.), The Natufian culture in the Levant, Archaeology Series 1 (pp. 425–434). Ann Arbor: Inter-national Monographs in Prehistory.
Smith, P. (1998). People of the Holy Land from prehistory to the recent past. In T. Levy (Ed.), Thearchaeology of society in the Holy Land (pp. 58–75). London: Leicester University Press.
Smith, P., & Horwitz, L. K. (1998). Culture, environment and disease: Paleo-anthropological findings for thesouthern Levant. In C. Greenblatt (Ed.), Digging for pathogens (pp. 201–240). Rehovot: Balaban.
Smith, P., Bar-Yosef, O., & Sillen, A. (1984). Archaeological and skeletal evidence for dietary changeduring the late Pleistocene/Early Holocene in the Levant. In M. Cohen & G. Armelagos (Eds.),Paleopathology at the origins of agriculture (pp. 101–136). Orlando: Academic Press.
Smith, P., Zagerson, T., Sabari, P., Golden, J., Levy, T. E., & Dawson, L. (2006). Death and the sanctuary:The human remains from Gilat. In T. E. Levy (Ed.), Archaeology, anthropology and cult: Thesanctuary at Gilat, Israel (pp. 327–366). London: Equinox.
Smithline, H. (2001). Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age caves at Asherat, Western Galilee. Atiqot, 42, 35–78.
Smithline, H., Covello–Paran, K., & Marder, O. (2000). Tel Turmus. Excavations and Surveys in Israel, 20,3*–4*.
Stager, L. (1985). The first fruits of civilisation. In J. Tubb (Ed.), Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Age (pp.172–188). London: University of College London Institute of Archaeology.
Stanley, J.-D. (2002). Configuration of the Egypt-to-Canaan coastal margin and north Sinai byway in theBronze Age. In E. C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant—interrelations fromthe 4th through the early 3rd millennium BCE (pp. 98–117). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
Stekelis, M. (1935). Les monuments megalithiques de Palestine, Archives de l’Institut de paleontonlogiehumaine, Memoire 15. Paris: Masson et Cie.
Stos-Gale, Z. (1991). Lead isotope studies—a bar ingot and a mace head from the Negev: Technologicalaspects and cultural implications. Archaeometry, 34, 63–71.
Tadmor, M. (1989). The Judean desert treasure from Nahal Mishmar: A Chalcolithic traders’ hoard? In A.Leonard Jr. & B. B. Williams (Eds.), Essays in ancient civilization presented to Helene Kantor (pp.249–261). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tadmor, M., Kedem, D., Begemann, F., Hauptmann, A., Pernicka, E., & Schmitt-Strecker, S. (1995). TheNahal Mishmar hoard from the Judean desert: Technology, composition, and provenance. Atiqot, 27,95–148.
Tainter, J. (1988). The collapse of complex societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
90 J World Prehist (2009) 22:1–92
123
Tchernov, E. (1988). The paleobiogeographical history of the southern Levant. In Y. Yom-Tov & E.Tchernov (Eds.), The zoogeography of Israel: The distribution and abundance at a zoogeographicalcrossroad (pp. 159–250). Dordrecht/Boston: W. Junk.
Townsend, J. B. (1997). Shamanism. In S. D. Glazier (Ed.), Anthropology of religion: A handbook (pp. 429–469). Westport: Greenwood Press.
Tsori, N. (1958). Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the valley of Beth Shan. Palestine ExplorationQuarterly, 90, 44–51.
Tsori, N. (1967). On two pithoi from the Beth-Shean region and the Jordan Valley. Palestine ExplorationQuarterly, 99, 101–103.
Ussishkin, D. (1971). The ‘Ghaussulian’ temple in Ein Gedi and the origin of the hoard from NahalMishmar. Biblical Archaeologist, 34, 23–29.
Ussishkin, D. (1980). The Ghassulian shrine at En-Gedi. Tel Aviv, 7, 1–44.Valla, F. (1998). First settled societies—Natufian (12,500–10,200 BP). In T. E. Levy (Ed.), The archaeology
of society in the Holy Land (pp. 169–187). London: Leicester University Press.van den Brink, E. C. M. (1998). An index to Chalcolithic mortuary caves in Israel. Israel Exploration
Journal, 48, 165–173.van den Brink, E. C. M. (2005). The ceramic ossuaries. In E. C. M van den Brink, & R. Gophna (Eds.),
Shoham (North), Lod Valley, Israel. Excavations of three Late Chalcolithic burial caves. IAA Reports27, (pp. 27–50). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
van den Brink, E. C. M. (2006). Tel Aviv, Namdar Road. Hadashot Arkheologiyot. Excavations and surveysin Israel. 118. http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?id=409&mag_id=111.
van den Brink, E. C. M. (2008). A new fossile directeur of the Chalcolithic landscape in the Shephelah andthe Samarian and Judean Hill countries: Stationary grinding facilities in bedrock. Israel ExplorationJournal, 58, 1–23.
van den Brink, E. C. M., & Gophna, R. (Eds.). (2005). Shoham (North), Lod Valley, Israel. Excavations ofthree Late Chalcolithic burial caves. IAA Reports 27, Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
van den Brink, E. C. M., Rowan, Y. M., & Braun, E. (1999). Pedestalled basalt bowls of the Chalcolithic:New variations. Israel Exploration Journal, 49(3–4), 161–183.
van den Brink, E. C. M., Liphschits, N., Lazar, D., & Bonani, G. (2001). Chalcolithic dwelling remains, cupmarks and olive (Olea europea) stones at Nevallat. Israel Exploration Journal, 51, 36–45.
van Zeist, W., & Bottema, S. (1982). Vegetational history of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near Eastduring the last 20,000 years. In J. L. Bintliff & W. van Zeist (Eds.), Paleoclimates, paleoenvironmentsand human communities in the Eastern Mediterranean region in Later Prehistory, BAR InternationalSeries 133i (pp. 277–321). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Watkins, T. (2008). Supra-regional networks in the Neolithic of Southwest Asia. Journal of World Pre-history, 21, 139–171.
Watrin, L. (1995). The relationship between the Nile Delta and Palestine during the fourth millennium:From early exchange (Naqada I–II) to the colonisation of Southern Palestine (Naqada III). In C. Y.Eyre (Ed.), Proceedings of the seventh congress of Egyptologists. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta (pp.1215–1226). Leuven: Peeters.
Weinstein, J. (1984). Radiocarbon dating in the southern Levant. Radiocarbon, 26, 297–366.Weippert, H. (1998). Kultstatten als Orte der Begegnung am Beispiel des chalkolithischen Heiligtums von
Gilat. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins, 114, 106–136.Whitcher Kansa, S. (2004). Animal exploitation at Early Bronze Age Ashqelon, Afridar: What the bones tell
us—Initial analysis of the animal bones from Areas E, F and G. Atiqot, 45, 279–297.Wilcox, G. (1992). Preliminary report on the plant remains from Pella. In A. W. McNicoll, P. C. Edwards, J.
Hanbury-Tenison, J. B. Hennessy, T. F. Potts, R. H. Smith, et al. (Eds.), Pella in Jordan, II (pp. 253–256). Sydney: Mediterranean Archaeology.
Wilkinson, T. A. H. (2002). Reality versus ideology: The evidence for ‘Asiatics’ in predynastic and EarlyDynastic Egypt. In E. C. M. van den Brink & T. E. Levy (Eds.), Egypt and the Levant: Interrelationsfrom the 4th through the early 3rd millennium BCE (pp. 514–520). London: Leicester University Press/Continuum.
Wright, G. E. (1937). The pottery of Palestine from the earliest time to the Early Bronze Age. New Haven:American Schools of Oriental Research.
Wright, H. T. (1978). Toward an explanation of the origin of the state. In R. Cohen & E. R. Service (Eds.),Origins of the State: The anthropology of political evolution (pp. 49–68). Philadelphia: Institute for theStudy of Human Issues.
Yannai, E. (2002). The northern Sharon in the Chalcolithic period and the beginning of the Early BronzeAge in the light of the excavation results at ‘Ein Assawir. In E. C. M. van den Brink & E. Yannai
(Eds.), In quest of ancient settlements and landscapes. Archaeological studies in honour of RamGophna (pp. 65–85). Tel Aviv: Ramot Aviv Publishing.
Yannai, E. (Ed.). (2006). ‘En Esur (‘Ein Asawir, Israel: Excavations of the Wadi Rabah through EarlyBronze Age levels). IAA Reports 31. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Yannai, E. (in press). Excavations at Natzur, IAA Reports. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Yekutieli, Y. (2001). The Early Bronze Age IA of southwestern Canaan. In S. R. Wolff (Ed.), Studies in the
archaeology of Israel and neighboring lands in memory of Douglass L. Esse. Studies in ancientoriental civilization no. 59 (pp. 659–688). Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Yellin, J., Levy, T. E., & Rowan, Y. (1996). New evidence on prehistoric trade routes: The obsidianevidence from Gilat, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology, 23(3), 361–368.
Yoffee, N. (1988). The collapse of ancient Mesopotamian states and civilizations. In N. Yoffee & G. L.Cowgill (Eds.), The collapse of ancient states and civilizations (pp. 44–68). Tucson: University ofArizona.
Zagerson, T., & Smith, P. (2002). The human remains. In Y. Goren & P. Fabian (Eds.), Kissufim Road: AChalcolithic mortuary site. IAA Reports 16 (pp. 57–65). Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Zaitschek, D. V. (1961). Remains of cultivated plants from the caves of Nahal Mishmar: Preliminary note.Israel Exploration Journal, 11, 70–72.
Zaitschek, D. V. (1980). Plant remains from the cave of the treasure. In P. Bar-Adon (Ed.), The cave of thetreasure (p. 223). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
Zbenovich, V. G. (2004). The flint assemblages from Ashqelon, Afridar—Areas G and J. Atiqot, 45, 263–278.
Zohary, D., & Hopf, M. (1993). Domestication of plants in the Old World. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Zohary, D., & Spiegel-Roy, P. (1975). Beginnings of fruit growing in the Old World. Science, 187, 319–327.
