The Transition from the Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant in socioeconomic context

Abstract

The transition from the Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant (ca 3800-3600 BC) had multiple aspects. While often the term transition is used to describe material culture remains of both periods, the aim of this paper is to characterize the changes in the socio-economic reality during the two centuries or so during which the transition took place. Degrees of change were uneven and happened in different ways in different regions. Socio-economic systems went from predominantly agropastoral communities during the Chalcolithic, with relatively developed secondary production branches, to an urban revolution towards the end of Early Bronze (EB) I. In spite of continuity in several traditions such as the manufacture of pottery, fl int tools, basalt vessels, changes occurred in both technology and organization of production and distribution. Agricultural and pastoral activities also changed but more slowly. Means of transportation were radically transformed with the domestication of the donkey. Circulation of commodities, albeit in a somewhat limited way, increased from the Chalcolithic to the EB I. Architectural concepts changed from the very beginning of the EB I, while burial practices as well as iconographic expressions related to religious beliefs and society, were drastically altered. This paper explores this transition taking into consideration those socio-economic changes and their probable political and cultural implications.