The Chronology of the Ghassulian Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant: New¹⁴C Determinations from Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan

Abstract

This article reports on ten new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates from the Chalcolithic period (fifth millennium BC) archaeological type-site of Teleilat Ghassul in Jordan. Early radiocarbon assays from the site proved difficult to integrate with current relative chronological formulations. The ten new AMS dates and follow-up enquiries connected with the early assays suggest that the original dates were up to 500 years too early. A necessary reformulation of regional relative chronologies now views the Ghassul sequence falling between Late Neolithic Jericho and the Beersheban Chalcolithic.

The Beginning of the Early Bronze Age in the North Jordan Valley: New14C Determinations from Pella in Jordan

“…This finding is consistent with more recent work in the south Jordan Valley, which advocated an end date for Ghassulian Chalcolithic occupation no later than 3800 cal BC (Bourke et al 2001(Bourke et al , 2004bBourke 2008). At the same time, new research on the radiometric chronology of the earliest EBA cultures of the coastal plain (Golani and Segal 2002;Golani 2004), and in southern Jordan (Görsdorf 2002;Kerner 2008), was turning up results that strongly support an early 4th millennium cal BC beginning for the EBA.…”

“…Following on from Weinstein's study, Gilead surveyed the radiometric database pertaining to the latest horizons of the preceding Chalcolithic period in the northern Negev, and concluded by advocating an end date for the Beersheban Chalcolithic early in the first quarter of the 4th millennium BC (Gilead 1993(Gilead :87-9, 1994. This finding is consistent with more recent work in the south Jordan Valley, which advocated an end date for Ghassulian Chalcolithic occupation no later than 3800 cal BC (Bourke et al 2001(Bourke et al , 2004bBourke 2008). At the same time, new research on the radiometric chronology of the earliest EBA cultures of the coastal plain (Golani and Segal 2002;Golani 2004), and in southern Jordan (Görsdorf 2002;Kerner 2008), was turning up results that strongly support an early 4th millennium cal BC beginning for the EBA.…”

Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology

“…Based on 14 C dates in Ashqelon Area E, Golani (2004) has proposed an earlier date for the beginning of EB I A, closer to 3800 BC, similar to the date of 3700 suggested by Yekutieli (2007), based on 14 C dates from a cluster of sites at Ashqelon. These early dates for the beginning of the EB IA are consistent with the high 14 C dates obtained for the preceding Late Chalcolithic (Bourke et al 2001(Bourke et al , 2004Burton and Levy 2001;Joffe and Dessel 1995;Klimscha 2009). The differences in chronology for the EB I are mostly due to how the 14 C dates are associated with the archaeological contexts they purport to date (Boaretto 2007), which Egyptian chronology is used, and the way their correlations with south Levantine chronology are interpreted.…”

Changes in human mandibular shape during the Terminal Pleistocene-Holocene Levant

“…This advancement not only enlarged the variety of edible vegetables and elevated the amount of nutrients and energy that could be obtained from them, it also reduced demands from the masticatory system (in force and time) 21 . A few thousand years later, during the Chalcolithic period (6,500–5,500 cal BP), the consumption of dairy products (the “secondary product revolution”), following the invention of churns, became common 22–24 , expanding the variety of soft foods.…”