“Crossing the Lines”—Elaborately Decorated Chalcolithic Basalt Bowls in the Southern Levant

The function of the south-Levantine Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age basalt vessels bearing circumferential depressions: Insights from use-wear analyses

“…The increase in basalt vessel production during the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I is widely discussed. Studies advance several themes such as provenance [e.g., 81 , 84 , 93 , 122 , 123 ], production [e.g., 23 ], distribution and context [e.g., 3 , 65 , 70 , 91 , 92 ], and symbolism and conventions [e.g., 18 , 69 ]. However, the function or functions of these vessels remain largely unclear.…”

“…The explanation for this remains unclear, but it most likely relates to the function (or functions) of these vessels and their social value. During the Late Chalcolithic, V-shaped bowls with either a flat base or a fenestrated stand were prevalent [e.g., 23 , 70 , 71 ], occasionally exhibiting incised triangular decoration on the interior rim or extensive external geometric decoration [ 18 , 69 ]. They usually constitute the largest group of ground stone artefacts (between 48.7–62.5% for the published Late Chalcolithic assemblages included in the analysis).…”

“…The social systems developed based on this economy reflect increasing social differentiation, craft specialization, and standardization [e.g., 3,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. By the Early Bronze Age, the mostly small-scale Chalcolithic settlements advanced in two trajectories.…”

“…The Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age basalt vessel industries have attracted much attention in recent years [e.g., 23,[61][62][63][64][65]. While basalt vessels were commonly used in the southern Levant in earlier prehistory [see 66-68 and references therein], during the Late Chalcolithic period, a clear increase in the number of basalt vessels and their quality occurred [18,69,70]. Unlike many other strongly symbolic elements of the Late Chalcolithic material culture, the basalt vessel industry maintained an exceptional level of production consistency and stylistic refinement over the transition to the Early Bronze Age.…”

A Large Copper Artefacts Assemblage of Fazael, Jordan Valley

“…The Late Chalcolithic period of the southern Levant (c. 4500-3900 cal BC) marks significant changes from its predecessors, specifically within various aspects of social organization, subsistence economy, cult and religion (van den Brink 1998;Gilead 1988;Ilan, Rowan 2012;Joffe, Dessel 1995;Levy 1986;Perrot 1955a;Rowan, Ilan 2007;Shalem 2015), and technologies (e.g., Albright 1932;Ben-Yosef et al 2016;Bourke 2001;Gilead 1992;Rosenberg et al 2016;Rowan, Golden 2009). Within this system there is increased evidence for the development of craft specialization, apparent primarily in the appearance of metallurgy (e.g., Golden 2009), standardized ceramics (Roux 2003;Kerner 2010), specific components in the flint (e.g., Gilead et al 2004;Rosen 1983;Rosenberg, Shimelmitz 2017;Vardi 2011) and ground stone tool assemblages (e.g., Chasan, Rosenberg 2018;2019;Chasan et al 2019;Rosenberg et al 2016;Rowan 1998), and probably also in the production of ivory objects and figurines (Perrot 1959a;Rosenberg, Chasan in press).…”