The geochemical evidence from basaltic rock tools in the southern Levant: Reconstruction of trade and exchange systems during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I periods in Israel
Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
Final Report Abstract
In the southern Levant during the Chalcolithic (ca. 4500-3900 BC) and the Early Bronze Age I (ca. 3650-2950 BC), dark basaltic rocks were used to produce vessels and other implements. The extensive production of very elaborate vessel forms can only partly be explained by the purely practical material properties of basalt, such as abrasion resistance. Rather, such vessels seem to have played a role as prestige objects in the emerging urban centres. Economy and trade flourished, and specialisation in the industries and social hierarchisation became apparent. To better understand the role of these objects and the material basalt, teams from the University of Haifa and the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (RGZM, now LEIZA) have been working on this type of assemblages and their corresponding raw material. While the team from Haifa carried out archaeological classification of the artefacts and approached the functionality of the vessels through use-wear analyses and experimental replication, the Mainz group dealt with the question of the origin of the raw material, which was rarely found in the immediate vicinity of the settlements. The origin of the raw material and the distance to the respective areas of use provide insights into distribution networks and thus cultural contacts. The focus was on the area of present-day Israel. A geochemical study was carried out to determine the origin of the basalt raw materials used for the objects by systematically sampling basalt flows in three field campaigns. Using X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS), major and trace elements were measured on approx. 250 raw material samples in laboratories at the University of Mainz to define the variability between and within the basalt occurrences. The same protocol was used to collect data on approx. 500 artefact 3 samples and compare them with the raw material samples. Multivariate statistical analyses showed that the so-called cover basalt was predominantly used to produce the artefacts for both periods investigated. A large number of extraction areas were identified. It was shown that the material for the Chalcolithic artefacts came from many, rather scattered extraction sites, i.e. it was a less targeted extraction strategy compared to Early Bronze Age I, in which certain deposits were used more intensively. These were already active in the Chalcolithic, which indicates a continuity between the two periods. This continuity can also be seen in the functionality of a certain group of vessels, in which, surprisingly, mineral-based materials must have been processed according to the the usewear analysis. A study of over 1300 basalt tools for mechanical food processing from the Early Bronze Age I also provided evidence for a standardisation of the materials used, particularly in the emerging urban centres. This is interpreted as a reaction to the increased demand for food, which was accompanied by the targeted use of basaltic rocks as a particularly suitable material.
Publications
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Exploring exchange and direct procurement strategies for Natufian food processing tools of el-Wad Terrace, Israel. Scientific Reports, 11(1).
Rosenberg, Danny; Gluhak, Tatjana M.; Kaufman, Daniel; Yeshurun, Reuven & Weinstein-Evron, Mina
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Geochemical provenance studies of basalt vessel preforms from the Iron Age workshop at Tel Hazor, Israel, and potential geological sources. Archaeometry, 64(1), 25-38.
Gluhak, Tatjana M.; Ebeling, Jennie & Rosenberg, Danny
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Archäometrie in Deutschland, Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen 87, 8-22. (2022)
Greiff S. & Berthold Ch.
