From Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age: A view from Abu Hof Cave 22 (Israel)

Abstract

Archaeological cultural taxonomy is a practical necessity. It singles out more or less coherent patio-temporal entities and facilitates scholarly exchange and communication. However, these practical conventions tend to take an independent life of their own, and sometimes constrain creative research endeavors. It is well known that ―the name is not the thing‖. Archaeological cultural taxa are relatively flexible entities, not perfectly self-contained units. Despite this realization, change documented from one archaeological culture to the next is generally framed in term of ‗transition‘, a legacy of classic gradualism. This paper addresses the issues of change and the nature of the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age interface in the Southern Levant, from the vantage point of a small cave located in the Nahal Tillah valley in Northern Negev, Israel. Genomic and intra-site archaeological data suggest the situation to be a robust illustration of punctuated equilibrium, without evidence of continuity between the ending Chalcolithic and the emerging Early Bronze Age societies.