Levy, Shalev - Prehistoric Metalworking in the Southern Levant_ Archaeometallurgical and Social Perspectives

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Prehistoric Metalworking in the Southern Levant: Archaeometallurgical and Social Perspectives Author(s): Thomas E. Levy and Sariel Shalev Source: World Archaeology, Vol. 20, No. 3, Archaeometallurgy (Feb., 1989), pp. 352-372Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/124559Accessed: 14-12-2015 08:02 UTC

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Prehistoric metalworking in the

southern Levant: archaeometallurgical

and social perspectives

Thomas E. Levy and Sariel Shalev

Introduction

The introduction of copper metalworking in the southern Levant during the late fifth and early fourth millennia poses a number of critical questions concerning social evolution in the region. What was the role of the earliest metalworking tradition within southern Levantine communities during this period? Did copper metalworking replace already existing technologies based on stone, flint and other materials? Was metallurgy responsible for initiating more elaborate social and economic hierarchies, or did it serve as a consolidating mechanism for reinforcing growing social elites? Archaeologists working in the southern Levant have not addressed these questions in a systematic manner when dealing with the beginnings of metallurgy. While scholars such as Albright (1931, 1932), Anati (1963), Hanbury-Tennison (1986), Kenyon (1985), Muhly (1973, 1976), Perrot (1968), and others have noted the emergence of metallurgy during the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant, it was V. Gordon Childe (1952:224) who first suggested that Syria-Palestine appears to have been an independent centre of early metallurgy. Other scholars such as Yakar (in press) and Ilan and Sebbane (in press) take a diffusionist perspective and suggest that Chalcolithic metallurgy penetrated into Palestine from the northern zone of the Fertile Crescent. In the following Early Bronze Age, metallurgy has been seen as a catalyst for the emergence of urbanism in southern Palestine (cf. Ilan and Sebanne ibid.; Kempinski 1978, 1983, in press). Rosen (1984:504) has suggested that Chalcolithic metallurgy did not evolve as a technological replacement for flint. However, none of these researchers has investigated the processes which may have led to the initial adoption of metallurgy in Palestine in the Chalcolithic period. Without an understanding of formative metallurgy, any attempt to use this variable as a 'prime mover' for explaining the emergence of urbanism is done without a contextual base. This paper will deal with the beginnings of metallurgy by examining the growing body of metallurgical data from the southern Levant in relation to models of craft specialization and peer polity interaction introduced by Colin Renfrew and John Cherry (1986). These models are useful in that they provide a conceptual framework for examining a technological innovation whose impact on formative Near Eastern societies has not been adequately explained. In this

World Archaeology Volume 20 No. 3 Archaeometallurgy (? Routledge 1989 0043-8243/89/2003/352/$3.00/1



Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant 353

study, these models are used as heuristic devices which we hope will help clarify one of the most puzzling features found in the Levantine archaeological record.

Archaeological background

The cultural sequence of the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods is problematic, and is currently under study (Gilead and Alon, in press; Gopher 1985; Gopher and Greenberg 1987; Kenyon and Holland 1982, 1983; Roshwalb 1987). However, synthetic studies (Bar Yosef 1980; Moore 1982, 1985) make it possible to differentiate between these two temporal units. Based on available evidence, a marked increase in the human population of Palestine separates the Chalcolithic period, ca. 4500-3200 BC, from the preceding Late Neolithic, ca. 6000-4500 BC (Weinstein 1984). This period has been referred to as Pottery Neolithic B by Kenyon (1985) and Neolithic 4 by Moore (1982). The quality of surveys and reports varies throughout the region, making it possible only to generalize about the trends in settlement between these periods. This, coupled with the fact that many sites, particularly in the Mediterranean zone, are buried in alluvial sediments makes accurate settlement pattern recognition difficult (Goldberg and Bar Yosef 1982). The most reliable settlement pattern information comes from the semi- arid and arid zones where systematic survey work has been done (Gilead 1987; Levy and Alon 1987; MacDonald et al. 1983; Rast and Schaub 1974; Tsori 1958). A comparison of the distribution maps of these two periods shows a substantial increase in human population during the later period (Alon 1961; Levy and Alon 1987; Mellaart 1962; Moore 1982:31; Tsori 1958).

Sub-regional idiosyncracies in pottery design led Moore (1982:29) to suggest a tripartite division of Neolithic 4 Palestine into southern, northern and western groups which presumably reflect social affiliations. However, the small number of recorded sites precludes conceptualizing these archaeological entities as discrete sub-regional groups (Gopher 1985). While pit dwellings continued to be used at Jericho (Kenyon 1985), well preserved multi-room rectilinear houses have been found at Munhatta (Perrot 1968), Sheikh Ali (Prausnitz 1970), Yiftah'el (E. Braun 1983) and other sites. Inter-regional trade seems to have been rather limited during this period. Scant evidence for down-the-line trade in Anatolian obsidian has been documented by Renfrew et al. (1966: Table 1). According to Moore (1982:29), long distance trade declined from the level which existed in the previous Pottery Neolithic A period. Most sites are located near springs where the inhabitants practised hoe-based cultivation. According to Sherratt (1981) this may be termed fixed-plot agriculture in which the moisture-retentive soils near the springs were exploited (Bar Yosef 1986; Levy 1983; Sherratt 1981). Moore's (1982) Neolithic 4 sites can best be described as autonomous villages without any clear evidence of a settlement hierarchy.

During the following Chalcolithic period it is possible to define a number of discrete sub-regional areas of settlement in Palestine which cluster around the country's major seasonal drainages (Arabic=Wadi; Hebrew=Nahal). Over ten of these areas of settlement (four in the north, seven in the south) have been identified on the basis of differences in material culture (outlined in Levy 1986:87; Gilead 1986) and may reflect



354 Thomas E. Levy and Sariel Shalev

different cultural affiliations. In the northern Negev region, for example, in a small zone less than 3,750 square kilometres in area, at least four distinct sub-regional areas of Chalcolithic material culture can be distinguished. These pre-urban settlements are located along wadis which are less than lOOkm in length and represent some of the smallest cultural areas ever detected in Palestine (cf. Anati 1961:296). Intensive systematic site surveys along the Nahal Beersheva - lower Nahal Besor show clear evidence of a two-tier settlement hierarchy with sub-regional settlement centres surrounded by satellite sites (Levy and Alon 1983, 1987). Basing his study on decision- making theory, Johnson (1973:10) suggests that this type of settlement pattern reflects a move away from autonomous villages to a chiefdom level of political organization (cf. Carneiro 1981). The studies of the Beersheva valley culture support this model (Levy 1986).

There are two new elements which appear in the subsistence organization of many Chalcolithic villages in Palestine. The first concerns the beginnings of what Sherratt (1981, 1983) refers to as the 'secondary products revolution', i.e., the emergence of specialized pastoralism based on transhumance and the consequent intensive exploitation of the secondary products of herd animals (Grigson 1987; Horowitz and Tchernov, in press; Levy 1983). The second factor is associated with the expansion of village settlement into the relatively arid regions of Palestine, particularly the Beersheva valley in the northern Negev, where innovations in agro-technology, such as run-off and floodwater farming, seem to have occurred (Levy and Alon 1987; A. Rosen 1987). A recent summary of palaeoenvironmental data indicates that climatic conditions may have been somewhat wetter during the Chalcolithic, however, with all fluctuations having occurred within a semi-arid framework (Goldberg and Rosen 1987; Goodfriend 1988). The domestication of the olive, date palm and other fruits points to the beginnings of horticulture during this period (Gophna 1982; Zohary and Speigel- Roy 1975).

Procurement and trading strategies can be deduced from a variety of data. Raw materials for the manufacture of exotic goods were obtained from a wide range of geographic zones in Palestine. This trade included shells from the Mediterranean and Red Sea, beach rock from the Negev coastal plain, tabular flint from the central Negev, asphalt from the Dead Sea, and copper ore from the Arava valley (Bar Adon 1980; Goren 1987b; Perrot 1955, 1959; Levy 1987; Mallon et al. 1932; Rosen 1983, 1986; Tylecote et al. 1974). The exact provenance of ivory is still unknown. Compared with the preceding Neolithic 4 period, the large quantity of finished goods made from these materials indicates that interregional procurement was more intensive during the Chalcolithic. Evidence for long-range procurement of raw materials is highlighted by finished objects made of basalt and phosphorite from the east; alabaster, granite and haematite from the southern Negev, Sinai and Egypt; and very small amounts of Anatolian obsidian (found at Gilat in the northern Negev). As outlined by Rosen (1987), Gilead (1987) and Kempinski (in press) there is growing evidence for distinct workshop sites in the Chalcolithic sub-regional areas, where finished goods were produced such as sickle blades, tabular scrapers, hoes and microliths (Macdonald 1932; Rosen 1987; Roshwalb 1981), metal tools (Shalev and Northover 1987), ivory statuettes (Perrot 1964), beads (Macdonald ibid.) and other objects. Analytical studies tracing




possible exchange networks for these objects are in their infancy but show great promise (Goren 1987a, 1987b; Porat and Amiran 1984; Shalev and Northover 1987). Recent large scale excavations at the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village (Levy 1987), one of the subregional settlement centres in the Beersheva valley, provide new information which will help clarify the role of metallurgy in fifth to fourth millennium Levantine societies.

The Chalcolithic metal industry

The largest and most elaborate assemblage of early Near Eastern metal artefacts and industrial remains comes from pre-urban Palestine, located at the crossroads of the two heartlands of Near Eastern civilisation - Mesopotamia and Egypt (Figure 1). These early metal finds have come to light in hoards (Bar Adon 1980; Moorey 1988), burial caves (Gophna and Lifshitz 1980) and settlement sites (Perrot 1955; Eldar and Baumgarten 1985; Levy and Alon 1985; see Hanbury-Tennison 1986 for an inventory of these finds). The finds are spectacular in their artistic originality and high degree of technological craftsmanship. These include crowns, standards (Figure 2.1), maceheads, vessels, and tools such as axes (Figure 2.3), adzes, chisels and awls (Figure 2.2). In some respects the sophisticated nature of prehistoric Palestinian metalworking presents Near Eastern archaeologists with a paradox which can be summed up with a question: How is it that the most eloquent expression of early Near Eastern metalworking seems to have flourished in societies which have generally been characterized by archaeologists as having 'contributed surprisingly little to the ultimate civilization of Palestine' (Kenyon 1985:64). Given the great importance ascribed to metal technology (i.e. the production of cast copper tools associated with support technologies such as mining, transport, smelting, refining and casting) in the rise of civilization by archaeologists such as Childe (1954), Heskel (1983), Ilan and Sebbane (in press), Kempinski (1975; in press) and others, the Chalcolithic cultures of Palestine provide an ideal testing ground for examining some of the assumptions which suround the relationship between social and technological change in formative societies (Rowlands 1971).

The copper industry found in southern Palestine represents the best evidence for the working of copper during the fourth millennium BC in the Levant (Muhly 1983:353). Although attempts have been made to investigate various aspects of Chalcolithic metallurgy (Potaszkin and Bar-Avi 1980; Key 1980; Perrot 1955; Tylecote 1974), the multidisciplinary excavations at the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village have provided a contextual data base concerning the known aspects of formative metal production (Shalev and Northover 1987). This site-specific investigation enables us to view the entire corpus of Palestinian metallurgical data in the light of economic, political and social concerns (Heskel 1983:365).

Metal remains

The metallurgical remains include copper items which can be divided into two main categories: 1) 'prestige/cultic' objects; these items are of complex shape (Figure 2.1;




SArad

Beersheva

GLAN

Feinan

*Timna

S. Palestine 0 40k

MEGIDDO

A, S t BETH SHAN

CROWN El

DRILL-AWL t

MACE HEAD EJ

BLADE TOOLS c)

STANDARD U FAR'AH

INDUSTRY

MISHMAR HOARD*

0 10 20 30km TEL AVIV

N. YARKON

PALMAHIA ( _ W M

:S~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H []JERUSALEM GHASSUL

CSHIQMIM~~~~ ~N NEVESOYMAR

GILAT ~ ~ ~ ~~ATF

Figure 1 Map of Palestine: Chalcolithic sites with metal remains indicated by a *; other major Chalcolithic sites by 0; and modern settlements by 0. Site with industrial remains indicated by

-.~~~~SS




* '!". .,. ; .

. }. ... .. ... .... ... ::~-..... J,

. .. .. . ..... . .. ..:.......; :a:. ...... .::::.::.... ... ... . .

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.......... :'.si. ; ............... i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . .....

I~~~~~~

*... ... . . ... .. . . . ... ..

.: . . ..::. : . . . ' . . . . :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~......

Figure 2 Copper objects from the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village, northern Negev, Israel. 1) Standard head, viewed after sectioning. This item was found as part of a foundation deposit in the wall of a large building. The dark material in the centre of No. 1 is bitumen, probably from the Dead Sea region, used for securing the standard on a staff. 2) Copper awl point attached to sheep/goat metapodial handle found with two spare copper points; found in situ on the floor of house. 3) Axe; found in courtyard of domestic unit. (All photos courtesy of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.)




Bar Adon 1980) and include maceheads, standards, crowns and other non-utilitarian artefacts; and 2) 'utilitarian' tools; these are simple in shape and comprise blade tools such as axes, adzes, and chisels as well as awl points (Figure 2.2,3). In addition to finished products, industrial remains such as ores, slags, and crucibles have been identified (Shalev and Northover 1987; Tylecote et al. 1974).

Technology

A striking correlation can be shown between the two main categories of metal items and their technological affinities. Prestige/cultic objects were made by the 'lost wax' method out of arsenical copper whose casting properties, hardness and final appearance are superior to pure copper (Moorey 1985:15-17, 41-2). As shown in the investigation of a sample of artefacts found in the Nahal Mishmar hoard, and from settlement sites and a burial cave, only with the understanding and utilization of such an alloying system could the Chalcolithic smith achieve such complex structures in casting (Table 1:1-5). On the other hand, the utilitarian group shows a pure copper casting into an open mould (Table 1:6-9). This technique was accompanied by annealing and hammering in order to produce the final shape and hardness of these objects (Moorey 1985: 15).

To date, industrial remains have been identified primarily in the Nahal Beersheva lower Nahal Besor region (Figure 1). Recent analyses have demonstrated a connection between these remains (ores, slags, and crucibles) and the metallurgical affinities of the

Table I Analyses of selected metal items and metalworking remains (Israel).

No object site %Cu %Sn %Zn %Fe %Pb %Ag %Au %As

PRESTIGE/CULTIC ITEMS 1. macehead Shiqmim 0.01 tr 0.05 0.33 0.10 n.d. 1.52 2. standard Matar - tr 0.26 - 12.0

3. macehead Zeelim - - 0.09 0.11 - 4.60 4. standard Mishmar - 0.15 0.12 8.00

5. standard Palmahim 78.7 0.29 0.74 0.55 0.93 0.20 0.03 8.13

TOOLS 6. adze Shiqmim 99.8 n.d. tr 0.07 n.d. 0.02 0.04 0.08 7. chisel Shiqmim 99.8 n.d. 0.04 n.d. tr 0.04 n.d. 0.03

8. adze Makuch 98.8 n.d. 0.03 0.24 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.05 9. awl Makuch 97.3 n.d. n.d. 0.01 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.20

COPPER PRILLS IN SLAGS 10. crucible Shiqmim 95.9 0.02 n.d. 4.08 - 0.02 n.d. n.d. 11. crucible Shiqmim 99.0 n.d. n.d. 0.87 0.05 n.d. n.d. 12. slag Shiqmim 96.8 n.d. 0.10 3.06 0.02 n.d. 0.04 13. slag Shiqmim 96.2 n.d. n.d. 3.36 n.d. 0.43 n.d.

* S.E.M. and the Palmahim sample totals are adjusted to 100%, except when corroded. A.A.S. analyses are calculated. The total for optical spectographic analyses was not determined.




utilitarian tools from the settlement sites (Shalev and Northover 1987). This local industry is based on rich oxidic ores such as cuprite, that were brought to the production sites from distances over 100km, from the area of Feinan in eastern Palestine (Figure 1; Perrot 1955:79; Hauptmann et al. 1985; Shalev and Northover 1987). The crucible and slag remains found on settlement sites seem to indicate a local production done by a crucible process as outlined by Tylecote (1987:107-9).

In Table 1, a selection of typical metal items is presented, showing the differentiation in their chemical composition. The prestige/cultic items (Table 1:1-5) contain arsenic as an alloy with a significant percentage of antimony and other impurities (nickel, lead, and silver). On the other hand, the tools (Table 1:6-9) show a clean composition of copper with no alloying and with low levels of impurities. The copper prills in the slags show a similar chemical composition to the group of tools outlined above. The amount of iron represented in the analysis of the prills (Table 1:10-13) may indicate an impurity and/or a reflection of the iron oxide in the slag. The resemblance of the copper prills to the finished tools gives additional evidence for the technological chain connecting the ores and slags to the local production of tools (Shalev and Northover 1987:363-4).

Distribution After more than fifty years of archaeological research in Palestine, hundreds of Chalcolithic sites have been recorded from the Golan Heights to the southern Negev (Epstein 1977; Gophna 1982; Levy 1986; Perrot 1968). However, the distribution of

Table 1, continued

%Bi %Sb %Ni %Co total* method reference

0.62 2.73 0.12 n.d. corr. S.E.M. Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P1. 0.04 0.72 0.05 - Op.Sp. Key 1980: 239.

0.01 0.28 0.34 Op.Sp. Key 1980: 239. 0.01 0.53 0.22 Op.Sp. Key 1980: 239,61-65.

1.62 8.42 0.39 n.d. 100 A.A.S. Gophna and Lifshitz 1980: 8.

n.d. n.d. tr tr 100 S.E.M. Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P10 0.03 n.d. tr tr 100 S.E.M. Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P14

n.d. 0.02 0.04 0.01 99.2 A.A.S. first publication n.d. 0.14 0.05 n.d. 97.8 A.A.S. first publication

n.d. n.d. n.d. 100 S.E.M. (Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P16) n.d. 0.04 0.01 100 S. E. M. (Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P17) n.d. n.d. n.d. 100 S.E.M. (Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P21) n.d. 0.04 n.d. 100 S.E.M. (Shalev and Northover 1987: 368,P22)




metal-related artefacts is confined to southern Palestine only, between the northern Negev in the south and the Yarkon river line in the north (Figure 1). Although most excavation work has been carried out in the south of the country, excavations at many of the major Palestinian tell and open-air sites in northern Palestine, such as Tel el- Fara, Megiddo, and Beth Shan, have not produced Chalcolithic metal-related finds (Anati 1963; de Vaux 1971; Kenyon 1985; Perrot 1968, 1979). Within Palestine as a whole, Chalcolithic industrial remains are confined mainly to the southernmost line of

Table 2 Distribution of Chalcolithic metal objects.

AREA WORKING TOOLS PRESTIGEICULTIC ITEMS MISC. INDUSTRY site* blade awl macehead standard crown

BEER-SHEVA VALLEY Arad + Masos + Beter + Safadi 2 1 1 + Neve Noy 2 2 1 2 + Matar 1 3 1 5 + Shiqmim 4 7 2 2 1 +

NAHAL BESOR Oudah + Besor +

NAHAL PATISH Gilat I +

SHARON COAST Palmahim 1 3

JORDAN VALLEY Ghassul 3 8

JUDEAN DESERT Qatafa . Makuch 5 1 1 Zeelim 1 2 Mishmar I

SITES TOTAL 17 19 8 7 1 13 tools: 36 prestige items: 16 misc. 13

NAHAL MISHMAR HOARD 16 - 256 118 10 16 tools: 16 prestige items: 400

* see Hanbury-Tenison 1986 and Gazit 1986 for references.




settlement in the Nahal Beersheva - lower Nahal Besor valley at sites such as Shiqmim, Tell Abu Matar, Bir es-Safadi, etc. (Figure 1).

The distribution of Chalcolithic metal objects in Palestine is skewed by the unique hoard found in the 'Cave of the Treasure' in the Nahal Mishmar near the Dead Sea (Figure 1; Bar Adon 1980). Table 2 illustrates the total quantity of known copper items from Chalcolithic sites in Palestine compared with those found in the hoard. Within the hoard, the bulk of the assemblage consists mainly of prestige/cultic items as opposed to tools (ratio of 25:1). In contrast, the objects found at other sites show the opposite trend (ratio 1:2.3 excluding miscellaneous finds). Examining the finds from settlement sites, 62 per cent of all the known material derives from the region where industrial remains were found. To date, an intra-site analysis of the variables associated with

T U A I B I C J D I E I F G I H J K L I M J N I 0 | P 0 R S

13 13

12 A ITEM o0 12 [ CRUCIBLE 0

P23 0 11 0 SLAG o11

o ORE P24 AreaE 10 D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0 10 10 T | U

|cA| ANALYSED P9/10 A

9 0 9~~~~~~~~~

8 1'8 77

6 P8Area D 6

*P19

5 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5~~0 P

4 P22~~~~~~~~~* I Area C 4

3 3

2 2

1 1ra

20 V t201

19 Distribution of i etal Work 19

18 nrthern N deser. 0 18

17 4k00*cjP17

16 10

15 o 2D M 15

T U IA B IC ID IE F G H J K L M N 0 P Q R S

Figure 3 Distribution of copper-related artefacts found in the Shiqmim Chalcolithic village site, northern Negev desert.




formative metalworking is available only from the Shiqmim village site (Figure 3). Although the amount of material is limited, as seen in Figure 3, the remains of ores and slag appear in association with almost every architectural unit excavated at the site. If the distribution of ores, slags, crucibles and metal items as presented on the map has an archaeological significance, and is not a result of natural formation processes (Schiffer 1987), then the patterning observed at Shiqmim can be interpreted as indicating a special utilitarian metal tool industry that could have been conducted on a household basis.

If one can make deductions from negative archaeological evidence, then the total absence of metal debris associated with the production of prestige/cultic items made of copper alloyed with arsenic, suggests that these objects were manufactured away from the areas excavated to date. Thus, the casting of prestige/cultic metal items could have taken place either far from the known Chalcolithic settlements, or nearby in an isolated place.

The problem of formative craft specialization

Most studies concerning craft specialization have focused on its economic role in complex societies and its place in the evolution of chiefdom and state organizations (Gilman 1987; Halstead and O'Shea 1982; Sanders and Price 1968). Brumfiel and Earle (1987) point out that the study of craft specialization can be divided into three basic models: a commercial development model, an economic model and a political model. A brief overview of these models will enable us to examine the metallurgical data from Palestine from a social perspective with the hope of isolating why prehistoric metalworking evolved in Palestine during the formative late fifth to fourth millennia.

Commercial development model

According to the commercial development model, increases in specialization and exchange are viewed as a key factor in spontaneous economic growth. As Brumfiel and Earle (1987:1) point out, there are very few cases where social complexity has its origin in commercial development. This is because commercial development requires that societies consider land and labour as commodities, and this does not usually occur in pre-state social formations where land ownership and labour is kinship-oriented (Polyani 1944:56-76; Sahlins 1976:92-3). One way of testing the commercial development model in the archaeological record is to look for evidence of production for commercial goals (i.e. markets). In the case of prehistoric metallurgy this can best be measured by comparing quantities of industrial remains (primarily slags) associated with production sites. Put in simple terms, large quantities of slag will indicate mass production and hence manufacturing for a market economy, and small quantities will be indicative of non-market production. Unfortunately, most archaeometallurgical reports from the Levant do not provide slag weights (cf. Moorey 1985:7). Thus, we are forced to look to other regions and periods for comparative data.

The commercial development model is inappropriate for several reasons. To date,




large quantities of industrial debris have not been found on Chalcolithic settlement sites. For example, at Shiqmim, where less than 5 per cent of the site has been excavated, less than 1 kilogram (659gr) of slag and a similar value of ore (634gr) have been recovered. Surface surveys of the site indicate a similar distribution pattern for the entire site. Based on this observation we can estimate less than 20kg of slag for the entire site during the last occupation phases. Unfortunately, no comparable published data are available.

In a commercial development model we would expect to find the location of the smelting facilities in close association with the ore sources (Moorey 1985:6). The existing data available for Chalcolithic smelting of copper ore near the source areas in Palestine are dubious (Ilan and Sebbane in press; Muhly 1984; Hauptmann et al. 1985; Rothenberg 1972, 1978). In a commercial model, if ore was brought all the way to settlement sites, as in the case presented here, one would expect large concentrations of metallurgical debris associated with the settlement. An example of this situation is found at the medieval settlement site of Azelike in Niger, which yielded approximately fifteen tons of copper ore residues on the surface and 45,000 crucibles (Bernus and Echard 1985:77). As these variables are not characteristic of the Beersheva valley, the commercial model can be rejected.

Economic models

In economic models of specialization, exchange and social complexity, political elites are viewed as actively intervening in the economy of their society. Brumfiel and Earle (1987:2) characterize a range of economic models as adaptationist in that the ability of political leaders to organize a more efficient subsistence economy is considered the raison d'etre for the emergence of centralized leadership. Pressures from environmental and demographic variables are interpreted as the stimuli for the rise of efficient economic management by a social elite to cope with these conditions.

Brumfiel and Earle (ibid.) define four economic models which can be outlined as follows: 1) specialization and exchange develop as part of an economy based on redistribution in regions of high resource diversity, usually in chiefdom societies (Service 1962; Sahlins 1958, Fried 1967); 2) centralized leadership develops in regions of high resource diversity in order to facilitate market exchange, usually in state organizations (Sanders and Price 1968:188-93); 3) centralized management of production develops in response to environmental stress (Johnson 1973; Wittfogel 1957); and 4) centralized leadership develops to sponsor long-distance trade (Rathje 1971).

In general, these economic models do not provide a satisfactory explanation for the emergence of metallurgical specialization in southern Palestine. To date, the Chalcolithic archaeological record shows no substantial evidence for centralized storage systems and redistribution. It is not until the Early Bronze II-III period that data for a redistributive economy come to light, with large scale centralized storage facilities found at Beth Yerah and other urban centers (Esse in press; Kempinski 1978).




Political models

Political models of specialization and exchange have focused primarily on complex state societies. According to Brumfiel and Earle (1987:3), these models emphasize the benefits acquired by local ruling elites from organizing specialization and exchange at the expense of the general population. As early Palestinian metallurgy clearly developed within non-state societies (Levy 1986), it is inappropriate to use these models with this database. However, the concept of peer polity interaction recently introduced by Renfrew and Cherry (1986) provides an interesting and provocative concept for examining metallurgical craft specialization in fourth millennium Palestine in non-state contexts.

Simply stated, peer polity interaction refers to a process whereby a number of local communities, none more prominent than the next, interact together (Renfrew 1987:90). Cherry (1986:150) points out that peer polity analysis is most solidly used when anchored in historically documented societies, or with polities in contact with literate societies. However, studies of peer polity interaction in non-state societies (i.e. on the tribal and chiefdom level) can be, and have, been fruitful (Renfrew 1986:2; Braun 1986; Bradley and Chapman 1986; Shennan 1986). The applicability of peer polity interaction to non-state organizations can best be seen in the way the term 'polity' is defined by Renfrew. 'Polity' does not 'suggest any specific scale of organisation or degree of complexity, but simply designates an autonomous socio- political unit' (Renfrew ibid.). In the case of metal production in Chalcolithic Palestine, the fact that industrial remains are found at a number of polities in the Nahal Beersheva - lower Nahal Besor subregional area (Figure 1), and are not limited to a single production centre, highlights the usefulness of exploring this phenomenon with the peer polity interaction model.

Discussion

The vague references to the diffusion of metallurgy from the northern Fertile Crescent to explain the role of metal and metalworking in Chalcolithic Palestine add little to a processual understanding of this formative technological innovation. As Hanbury- Tennison (1986) and Epstein (1982) point out, the stylistic similarities between design motifs found on prestige/cultic metal objects and those found in other realms of fourth millennium material culture argue for an autonomous origin of these artefacts in the southern Levant. While archaeometallurgical research at Shiqmim and other sites has demonstrated the presence of metal craft specialization on a wide scale in the Beersheva Valley for one group of products, the autonomy model alluded to above does not clarify the socio-political processes associated with the adoption of metallurgy. Alternatively, peer polity interaction provides a useful framework for discussing the initial adoption of metallurgy because of the focus on the interaction between polities. Although researchers have suggested the presence of a single primary copper workshop in the Beersheva valley at Abu Matar (de Vaux 1971; Kenyon 1985), the picture presented here argues for widespread metal production in this sub-regional area at




Figure 4 Distribution of sites with Chalcolithic

8 industrial debris by geographic zone in Palestine.

7-

LU 6 - (1)

U. 0 4s

Lu 3 -

n 2 - z

Jordan Judean Beersheva Nahal Nahal Valley Desert Valley Patish Besor

GEOGRAPHIC ZONE

many polities (Figure 4). One of the most impressive features of early metallurgy in Palestine is the relationship between the different Chalcolithic sub-regional areas and their access to metallurgical knowledge and metal objects. The local metal industry in southern Palestine shows a uniformity in metal technology between the settlements that are located in one narrow area. These communities procured a suitable copper ore from distant sources and brought it back to their respective villages in order to use it for the manufacture of tools. The procurement process consisted of selecting suitable rich oxidic ores (cuperite and malachite) and transporting them to the settlement sites in the northern Negev (Beit Arieh and. Gophna 1977). The probable domestication of equids in the Chalcolithic (Horwitz and Tchernov, in press) and the discovery of Chalcolithic figurines which show animals being used for transport (Epstein 1985; Kaplan 1969), may indicate the method used for carrying ores over long distances. A more detailed study of this procurement process still needs to be carried out. However, the effort involved in the local production of metal items is highlighted by the fact that metal tools do not replace the existing stone industry found at Chalcolithic settlements in Palestine (Rosen 1984, 1986). The small proportion of surviving metal to stone tools, as well as the economic investment involved in metal production, emphasizes the special role of metal tools in the Chalcolithic communities of southern Palestine.

The presence of two distinct Chalcolithic metal industries in Palestine sheds light on the complexity of these pre-urban peripheral Near Eastern societies (Rowlands, Larsen and Kristiansen 1987). There are two aspects of the prestige/cultic metal industry which need to be addressed: 1) the total absence of any evidence concerning the location of the prestige/cultic metal production areas, and 2) the typological and stylistic connection of these objects with the local Palestinian Chalcolithic cultural assemblage. The lack of evidence for production sites of prestige/cultic metal goods and the distribution of those products as burial gifts, hoards and foundation deposits, highlights their social value (Bar Adon 1980; Gophna and Lifshitz 1980; Levy and Alon 1988).




Figure S Selection of ...*....c s t dards with high .. .. ...... .... ...........

: x : .

............. : ........... . . l Xarsenic content from Nahal Mishmar hoard, Judean desert. Note the stylistic similarity between these standards and the example from the Beersheva valley illustrated in Figure 2. Photo courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums.

~~~~~~~~~~~~. . ... . ........

| Xvi~~~~~~.. . ! .... .

It seems that prestige/cultic metalworking activities were conducted outside the known habitation sites but close enough to be part of the local stylistic repertoire of southern Palestine (Figures 2.1, 5). This dichotomy between the local on-site metal industry and the off-site prestige/cultic metal production highlights the control of technological information in Chalcolithic society. If those individuals who practised the local technologically inferior metallurgy had had access to the arsenical copper production process, one would expect them to have used it to produce harder and stronger tools (cf. Tylecote 1987:247-9).

In summary, the growing body of data concerning fourth millennium metal production in the southern Levant emphasizes the emergence of information control by a distinct social group in a pre-urban society. In contrast to the previous Late Neolithic period, this development should be seen against a backdrop of increasing agricultural intensification and population growth in southern Palestine. The emphasis on the production of prestige/cultic metal objects, as opposed to utilitarian tools in the Chalco- lithic, highlights the ritual and symbolic function of metal objects during the fourth millennium (Rosen 1984). The limited distribution of prestige/cultic metal objects (mainly in burial, foundation deposit and hoard contexts) suggests that the distribution of these objects was controlled by a select group in the society. The presence of prestige/cultic metal objects in southern Palestine (Figure 3) can be viewed as part of the development of a patchwork of regional Chalcolithic cultures in Palestine and may reflect the process of synibolic entrainment (Renfrew 1986:8). The limited distribution of local metal industrial remains in association with polities along the Nahal Beersheva-lower Nahal Besor highlights the close interaction and flow of information between those




communities. Assuming the contemporaneity of Chalcolithic sub-regional areas in Palestine, the absence of metal production in nearby areas (e.g. Nahal Garar) emphasizes the solidifying role of metalworking in the Beersheva valley area.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Ofer Bar Yosef, Prof. P. Roger S. Moorey and Dr Steven A. Rosen for commenting on an earlier draft of this paper and Messrs Dan Gazit and Yossi Patrich for sharing some of their data with us. We would also like to thank Prof. A. Biran, director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem; Prof. M. Kochavi, director of the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University and the Joe Alon Regional Center for their support of this project. This research was partly funded by a matching grant (No. RO-21541-87) from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC. The metallurgical data are based primarily on a paper prepared for the International Colloquium on "The Discovery of Metal", at Saint Germain en Laye (France). A special thanks goes to our wives, Alina and Vered, for putting up with our prolonged absences during the preparation of this paper.

16.vi.88 Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion

Jerusalem Institute of Archaeology,

Tel Aviv University

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Abstract

Levy, Thomas E. and Shaleiv, Sariel

Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant: archaeometallurgical and social perspectives

This paper examines some of the processes which may have led to the initial adoption of metallurgy during the Chalcolithic (ca. 4500-3200 BCE) period in ancient Palestine. An archaeometallurgical study of metal-related finds from the Negev desert demonstrates the presence of two distinct metal industries during the Chalcolithic; one for the production of tools and the other for the manufacture of prestige/cultic metal objects. A social perspective is taken to examine the role of early metal technology in culture change during this formative period.



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Levy, Shalev - Prehistoric Metalworking in the Southern Levant_ Archaeometallurgical and Social Perspectives