Egyptian-Canaanite Interaction at Nahal Tillah, Israel (ca. 4500-3000 B. C. E.): An Interim Report on the 1994-1995 Excavations

Ceramic composition at Chalcolithic Shiqmim, northern Negev desert, Israel: investigating technology and provenance using thin section petrography, instrumental geochemistry and calcareous nannofossils

“…Fifty-one Shiqmim sherds, representing all of these vessel form types, were selected (Table 1). In order to provide some regional context, also included within the total set of 59 samples are a small number of sherds from the Chalcolithic occupations of three additional excavated settlement sites: Mezad Aluf (n = 1; , Abu Hof Village (n = 5; Burton and Levy 2012), and the Nahal Tillah Silo Site (n = 2; Levy et al 1997). All of the sites are located within Israel's semi-arid Irano-Turanian zone northern Negev desert region.…”

“…Ceramic assemblages from these sites have been studied in considerable typological detail (Burton 2004: 182-232;Commenge-Pellerin 1987;1990;Levy and Menahem 1987). Some macroscopic and microscopic technological studies, including mineralogical and petrographic analyses, of ceramics from these and related sites have also been carried out (Boness et al 2016;Commenge-Pellerin 1987: 28-36, 1990Goren 1988;Goren and Fabian 2002;Goren and Gilead 1987;Levy et al 1997;Porat 1989). However, results for Beersheva Valley sites, which have been mainly published as generalized regional syntheses, lack detailed systematic descriptions of ceramic fabrics present at individual sites (e.g., Gilead and Goren 1989;Goren 1995).…”

An Acquired Taste: Emulation and Indigenization of Cattle Forelimbs in the Southern Levant

“…A few sites, however, have produced material assemblages substantially composed of Egyptian artefacts. For instance, large quantities of Egyptian bread moulds, other Egyptian pottery (made of local and Egyptian clays), an Egyptian amulet and several clay seal impressions were recovered from Nahal Tillah in the northern Negev desert (Levy et al 1997). The considerable Egyptian material assemblages at Nahal Tillah were initially thought to reflect evidence for a socially bounded Egyptian enclave in the southern Levant (Levy et al 1997, 45).…”

“…Rather, analysis showed that Egyptian-style pottery was patchily dispersed across the site and spatially overlapped with Levantine-style pottery. While Levy et al (1997) had previously modelled Egyptians as a dominating colonial presence at Nahal Tillah, Kansa et al's (2006) reappraisal drew the opposing conclusion that Egyptians were integrated into the local Levantine economy.…”

Retrieving the Past, Essays on Archaeological Research and Methodology in Honor of Gus W. Van Beek. Joe D. Seger, ed.

“…No clearer contrast could be found than Seger's excavations on the Halif Terrace, which he uses as a case study of the point 1 concept, and the subsequent work of Levy at the same site, which in a shorter period of time opened a larger area, and recovered more architecture, material culture, and phases (Levy et al 1997). With the proliferation of computerized databases it is, in theory, a simple matter to shift loci from one attribution to another (but not the tags and registration numbers on sherds or the position of bags on shelves, etc.).…”