Recent archaeological excavations at the early urban settlement of Early Bronze Age III Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel presented the opportunity to reconstruct the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts. In specific, this investigation sought to establish the nature of production, distribution, consumption, and discard associated with these commodities. This study involved a provenance analysis using XRF, a typological analysis, a morphometric analysis, and a spatial analysis. The results indicate that the basalt sources in the northeastern sub-regions of the southern Levant were locally exploited for the small-scale production of basalt artefacts by non-specialised artisans. These commodities were redistributed to Tell es-Safi/Gath residents by a centralised authority. The role Tell es-Safi/Gath played in these long-distance exchange networks indicates the socio-economic prominence this settlement held in the Shephelah. This results further demonstrate the potential of ground stone artefacts for understanding the behaviour and daily life of non-elite people.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/28575 |
| Date | 21 November 2014 |
| Creators | Beller, Jeremy A. |
| Contributors | Greenfield, Haskel (Anthropology), Fayek, Mostafa (Anthropology) Davidson-Hunt, Iain (Natural Resources Institute) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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