Abstract
Recent archaeological excavations at the early urban settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel present the opportunity to reconstruct the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts of an early urban domestic neighbourhood. Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills and the southern coastal plain of central Israel. Survey and excavations over the last two decades demonstrated that it was a major urban centre for the region during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) III. At the eastern end of the site, a neighbourhood of commoner residences (some perhaps associated with mercantile activities) have been exposed. This paper describes and analyses the basalt ground stone tools found in association with this domestic neighbourhood. It seeks to establish the nature of production, distribution, consumption, and discard associated with ground stone tools within a domestic context. The study involved several forms of analysis including typology, macroscopic observations, and excavation data. It is suggested that basalt sources from the northeastern regions of the southern Levant were exploited for the small-scale production of basalt artefacts by non-specialised craftsmen. These commodities were then transported in more or less finished form to Tell es-Safi/Gath where they were further redistributed or sold to the settlement residents. The residents of the Tell es-Safi/Gath neighbourhood utilised the basalt artefacts for traditionally domestic tasks, and ultimately intentionally discarded or recycled them in a few depositional contexts. In summary, this paper presents a unique investigation into the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts discovered in the EB III occupation levels of Tell es-Safi/Gath. It further demonstrates the potential of ground stone tools for understanding the behaviour and daily life of non-elite people.
Highlights
Excavations of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel (Figure 1) have unearthed portions of an extensive early urban settlement dated to the Early Bronze Age III
Most basaltic rocks are dark in colour, ranging from dark-green to black depending on the composition of mafic minerals (Allaby 2013: 56)
All basalt objects from Tell es-Safi/Gath were of a similar colour - black
Summary
Excavations of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel (Figure 1) have unearthed portions of an extensive early urban settlement dated to the Early Bronze Age (hereafter EBA) III (ca. 2900-Journal of Lithic Studies (2016) vol 3, nr. 3, p. 31-55 doi:10.2218/jls.v3i3.1675. Excavations of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel (Figure 1) have unearthed portions of an extensive early urban settlement dated to the Early Bronze Age (hereafter EBA) III The largest portion of EB remains are located on the lower end of the tell, at the eastern end of the site. In this area, we have excavated a residential neighbourhood composed of approximately four housing structures and intersected by an alleyway (Uziel & Maeir 2005; Shai et al 2012; 2014). The material culture from Tell es-Safi/Gath provides an opportunity to investigate issues regarding human behaviour at a large urban centre during the zenith of urbanism and social complexity of the EB southern Levant (de Miroschedji 2006; 2009; Greenberg 2014)
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