protohistoric investigations at the shiqmim chalcolithic village and cemetery: interim report on the...

Protohistoric Investigations at the Shiqmim Chalcolithic Village and Cemetery: InterimReport on the 1987 SeasonAuthor(s): Thomas E. Levy, Caroline Grigson, Jane E. Buikstra, David Alon, Patricia Smith,Shariel Shatev, Paul Goldberg, Augustin Holl, Steven A. Rosen, Sara Ben Itzhak and AvrahamBen YosefSource: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary Studies, No. 27,Preliminary Reports of ASOR-Sponsored Excavations 1982-89 (1991), pp. 29-46Published by: The American Schools of Oriental ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20066684 .

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Protohistoric Investigations at the

Shiqmim Chalcolithic Village and

Cemetery: Interim Report on the

1987 Season

Thomas E. Levy

Nelson Glueck School of

Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College 94101 Jerusalem, Israel

Caroline Grigson

Royal College of

Surgeons of England London WC2A 3PN, England

Jane E. Buikstra

Department of Anthropology

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

David Alon

Israel Antiquities Authority Jerusalem, Israel

Patricia Smith

Department of Anatomy Hadassah Medical Center,

Hebrew University Ein Kerem, Israel

Shariel Shatev

Institute of Archaeology Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, Israel

Paul Goldberg

Institute of Archaeology Hebrew University

Jerusalem, Israel

Augustin Holl

Department of Ethnology and Prehistory

University of Paris

X, Nanterre, France

Steven A. Rosen

Archaeology Division

Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Beersheva, Israel

Sara Ben Itzhak



Avraham Ben Yosef



The 1987 excavations in the Shiqmim Chalcolithic settlement and cemetery marked

the beginning of the Phase II investigations at that site. This project focuses on

elucidating the evolution of early agricultural settlement in the Beersheva valley of Israel's Negev desert. The report presents the results of a deep trench excavation and

illustrates the complex stratigraphie development of this single-period site. In addi

tion, contextual data is discussed concerning the discovery of a copper foundation

deposit consisting of a mace head and scepter. An interim quantitative study of flint tool and animal bone distributions is also discussed.

INTRODUCTION

The archaeological investigations at Shiqmim

(Israel),1 investigate some of the processes that may have led to the emergence of com

plex societies during the late fifth and fourth mil lennia b.c. in the southern Levant. At 9.5 ha,

Shiqmim is one of the largest Chalcolithic (ca. 4500-3200 b.c.) village sites in western Palestine and contains a remarkably well preserved architec

tural plan. In addition, Shiqmim is associated with the only known Chalcolithic mortuary site from the northern Negev desert (Levy 1987). Located

along the interface of the semiarid Irano-Turanian and the arid Saharo-Arabian desert zones, Shiq

mim provides a key setting for investigating culture

change within a marginal environment. Those fac tors make Shiqmim an ideal locale for an investiga tion of social evolution during one of the formative

periods in the history of the ancient Near East. The

29



30 THOMAS E. LEVY, ET AL. SUPPLEMENT 27

research program at Shiqmim should be viewed as

a contribution to the growing number of studies

concerning the fourth millennium in ancient Pales

tine (cf. Dollfus and Kafafi 1986; 1988; Epstein 1982; Gilead 1986; Helms 1987; Levy and Holl

1988). As a result of the long-term research project at Shiqmim, a sound data base is being established

for investigating the relationship between the Pal

estinian cultural trajectory and neighboring regions such as Egypt (cf. Hassan 1988), Lebanon, and

Syria (cf. Marfoe 1987). This report outlines the

preliminary results of studies based on the data

collected during the 1987 expedition at Shiqmim, the first season of excavation within the framework

of the Phase II investigation at the site.

The multidisciplinary archaeological project at

Shiqmim aims at clarifying and explicating the

emergence and transformations that occurred in

Chalcolithic societies of the northern Negev. With

this perspective, a wide range of data pertaining to

the dynamics of the past environment, the village

spatial layout, subsistence, technology, and the pro cesses of site formation are critically needed to

allow us to base our social inferences on a sounder

empirical footing. The 1987 field season provided a

wealth of data concerning the site stratigraphy. Excavators discovered large-scale storage facilities

in subterranean structures, copper prestige/cult

items, a larger sample of human burials, and addi

tional house units near the center of the village. All

of those data are analyzed and interpreted in the

framework of a social archaeology (cf. Renfrew

1984). In general terms, social complexity emerges from

greater interaction and differentiation of produc

tive, symbolic, and ideological systems devised

by past societies for their maintenance and repro

duction, at both the biological and social levels.

Thus the procurement, transformation, use, and

discard of material items interact constantly with

patterns of social organization, producing a con

tinual process of change through multiple feedback

mechanisms that may be positive (i.e., deviation/

amplifying) or negative (i.e., deviation/inhibiting). The study of such a web of complex phenomena deserves sophisticated archaeological theory and

method. Facts do not speak for themselves and the

ultimate source of explanation is the mind of the

researcher trying to produce new knowledge. "The

courage to risk being wrong is the essence of

innovation and to claim that explanations are

derived from data rather than the mind of scientist

is intellectual cowardice" (Plog 1974: 19). Any

research procedure has two aims: solving some

specific problem relevant for a researcher's dis

cipline and testing competing models explaining the series of phenomena of which the problem at

hand is an example.

For the Shiqmim research team, the main re

search problem concerns identifying the dimensions of social organization of the Chalcolithic peoples who inhabited the village as well as the general trends of socioeconomic change. In this regard, a

research program based on terminological dispute and typological ordering of material culture items

(Gilead 1988) is not only theoretically flawed, but

is axiomatically unproductive. To achieve a better

understanding of Chalcolithic societies in the north ern Negev, and more specifically at Shiqmim, we

have concentrated a holistic approach on the analy sis of the main building phase at the site (Building Phase [BP] II). The spatial layout of the BP II

village is studied in light of the contextual distribu

tion of artifacts, dietary and palaeopathological in

formation, the geology and past environment of

the site, the analysis of special finds related to craft

specialization, and the nature of site formation

processes.

PHASE II PROJECT GOALS

The Phase I investigation at Shiqmim focused on the study of the last occupation at this early

village (Levy 1987). The Phase II project, initiated

in 1987, is designed to explore the earliest occupa tion phases at the site. Thus, the following research

goals were set for the 1987 expedition at Shiqmim: Palaeoenvironment. This involves a geological

study of the sediments found at the site to help

place the developmental history of Shiqmim in its

regional palaeoenvironmental setting; and a study of the fossil land snails found in the excavations, to

obtain precise data concerning palaeorainfall con

ditions throughout the protohistoric sequence.

Stratigraphy and radiometric dating. Included here

are the processing of a large series of radiocarbon

dates to give greater precision to the dating of

fourth millennium cultural assemblages in south

ern Palestine; a contextual analysis of flint and

pottery artifacts to define the range of activities

carried out in the village; and a seriation study of

selected artifacts to help fine tune the relative dat

ing of Chalcolithic artifacts.

Anthropological archaeology. The goals were analy sis of social status based on architectural and arti

fact variability in the village as well as variation in



1990 INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SHIQMIM VILLAGE AND CEMETERY 31

? '???^JS?v.^j " ?.

Fig. 1. Aerial view (northwest) of the Shiqmim Chalcolithic (ca. 4500-3200 b.c.) village excavation, 1987. Trench K is on

the left side of the photo and the Deep Trench on the right. Note the well-preserved architecture from the upper building

phases (BP I, II) which appears near the site surface. (Photo courtesy of the Israel Air Force)

grave goods and mortuary structures found in the

cemetery; determination of the extent to which

differences in social status and grave good location are correlated with diet, diseases, and skeletal

morphology; and an examination of the role of

households in the village social organization.

Physical anthropology. This included collection

and analysis of baseline data concerning the palaeo

demography, palaeopathology, nutrition status, and physical characteristics of the population based on the human remains from Shiqmim; clarification

of the relation of the Shiqmim population of this

and other periods in the Levant; obtaining of in

formation on the presence and severity of congeni tal malformations and infectious diseases prevalent in the region during the protohistoric periods.

Metallurgy. The goal was to provide a contextual

and archaeometallurgical study of the metal indus

try at Shiqmim to examine the role of craft speciali zation in formative social change.

FIELD WORK

To answer questions concerning social change in

the northern Negev, the following fieldwork goals were set for the 1987 season: excavation of two

deep trenches through the village to clarify the

developmental and palaeoenvironmental history of

the site; expansion of the horizontal excavation in

the lower village to increase the sample of architec

tural features recovered at the site; and enlarge ment of the sample of mortuary structures, grave

goods, and human remains from the Shiqmim

cemetery to test a wider range of hypotheses related

to social status, palaeopathology and palaeonutri tion of the Shiqmim community.

Deep Trench Excavations

In the winter of 1984, the Israel Petroleum Ex

ploration Corporation mistakenly bulldozed a road

through the width of the Shiqmim village site. As a

result of that damage, a roadway ca. 4 m wide, 30 cm deep and 60 m long was cut through the

village. Fortunately, most of the area disturbed by the cut had been carefully excavated and recorded

during the Phase I investigations, before the road

work (Levy and Alon 1987a).2 As seen in fig. 1, two

cuts were made across the village in an effort to

explore the earliest layers of the site. The western

trench (Section K) was laid out along the north

south site grid and extends for 80 m across the



32

Fig. 2. Shiqmim Square K/11. Support wall built against Pleistocene rede

posited loessial soils to pro tect entrance to bell-shaped

pit. This feature and the wall

on the right date to BP II.

THOMAS E. LEVY, ET AL. SUPPLEMENT 27

mm

,w \

Fig. 3. Deep trench, eastern section. Note the large bell

shaped pit dug into the Pleistocene redeposited loessial soils to the left of the range pole.

entire width of the site. The exceptionally well

preserved architecture in the northern portion of

the village necessitated that we extend the excava

tion on a horizontal plane and take only the upper most square (K/ll) in the section down to virgin

soil; however, the southern aspect of the trench,

adjacent to the Nahal Beersheva, was excavated to

virgin soil and is discussed in the geology report below. That portion of the trench was excavated

over ca. 20 m with a bulldozer. The excavation in

Square K/ll demonstrated for the first time the

presence of subterranean features at Shiqmim such

as large bell-shaped pits similar to those known

from other major Chalcolithic village sites in the

Negev (e.g., Abu Matar, Bir es-Safadi, and Horvat

Bitar; Dothan 1959; Perrot 1955; 1984). The K/ll sequence of layers can be summarized as follows:

surface, topsoil, Building Phase (BP) I fill, BP I

floor, BP II fill, BP II floor, and a BP II support wall associated with a semisubterranean crater and

bell-shaped pit (fig. 2). The deep trench excavated to the east along the

road cut added additional stratigraphie support for

the presence of a network of subterranean struc

tures probably associated with the BP II and III

occupation at Shiqmim. For example, fig. 3 shows

a large, bell-shaped pit, ca. 2 m deep, in this sec

tion; the Chalcolithic inhabitants excavated those

structures into the hard-packed redeposited loes

sial soils that date to the Late Pleistocene period. The distribution of those sediments is now known

to be the determining factor for the location of the

subterranean structures at Shiqmim.

Village Excavation

The patterned behavior of human populations to

organize their space at domestic, community, re

gional and panregional levels is heavily constrained

by their ideological, symbolic, and social systems. Once space is bounded, it is no more a neutral

background, but becomes a social map. It is thus

axiomatic that an understanding of the spatial pat

terning devised by a past society may shed light on




;* ?

Fig. 4. Overview of courtyard and Room 5, BP II. The court

yard is partitioned by three smaller rooms.

major aspects of its social organization. With that

simple principle in mind, the analysis of the spatial

organization of domestic units at Shiqmim has

shown that there are small rooms, most of them

confined in the southern part of the village, and

larger house complexes in the center and more

elevated areas of the village (Levy and Holl 1987). The two house complexes excavated in 1987 belong to the second category and are located at the center

of the village. The delimited space is quadrangular in shape and bounded by the remaining founda

tions of walls built with wadi cobbles and mud

bricks. The internal spaces of both house units are

characterized by the presence of a courtyard and a

variety of small rooms. The area distribution of

facilities such as hearths and grinding stones, and

movable items such as pottery and food refuse

suggest that domestic duties were the main activi

ties in the two house units. During the excavations,

superposition of a number of thin layers was ob

served in the microstratigraphy of the floors, sug

gesting that the house?or more specifically, the

floors?had been resurfaced several times. Samples of sediments were collected to test the accuracy of

that field observation.

The house units were found in Area D, where

horizontal excavations focused on a household com

plex (No. 5) similar in layout to the Room 6 com

plex found in 1984 at Shiqmim (fig. 4; Levy and

Holl 1987: 388-90). Room 5 measures ca. 4.5 x

7.8 m and is associated with a slightly trapezoidal

courtyard (ca. 6.5 x 10.5 m) oriented northwest

Fig. 5. Ceramic snake head found in the BP II deposits of the village.

southeast like the majority of BP I and BP II struc

tures at Shiqmim (Levy and Alon 1987a). Unlike Room 6, which is linked to the northern end of its

courtyard, Room 5 is at the southern end of its

courtyard. In the southwest corner of the court

yard there is a small, almost square store room, 2.75 x 2.85 m. In the northwest corner a larger room, 2.75 x 4.25 m showed evidence of food pre

paration. Like Room 6, the courtyard and asso

ciated subrooms were all built during BP II and

renewed in BP I along the same foundation lines. North of the courtyard, a figurine shaped like a

serpent head was found (fig. 5), similar to examples




from Teleilat Ghassul in the Jordan Valley (Mal lon, Koeppel, and Neuville 1934: pi. 52).

In Area C, a foundation deposit (fig. 6) consist

ing of two copper implements including a broken

periform standard (fig. 7a, b) and a complete mace

head (fig. 8) were found in a wall of a large "public" building (No. 4). Those exceptional finds add to the growing assemblage of copper-related artifacts from Shiqmim (see below).

Excavations south of Building 4 demonstrated that rectangular buildings at Shiqmim were esta

blished directly on a thick layer of wadi gravel. That suggests that when the flood plain associated with the Nahal Beersheva became a terrace free from overbank flow, the Chalcolithic inhabitants extended the limits of their village closer to the

valley bottom.

Cemetery Excavations

To date, Shiqmim is the only known Chalco lithic village in the northern Negev desert associ

ated with a cemetery. Previous excavations in the

cemetery complex, which extends for more than

800 m along an Eocene chalk ridge adjacent to

Shiqmim and the Nahal Beersheva, have demon strated its importance for investigating fourth millen nium burial practices in southern Palestine (Levy and Alon 1982; 1987b).

A total exposure of 925 m2 was made in three areas of the Shiqmim cemetery. The areas include 300 m2 in Cemetery II west, 200 m2 in Cemetery II east and 425 m2 in Cemetery IV. Several new finds added significantly to our understanding of Chalco lithic burial practices in the Negev. A new type of

burial feature consisting of elongated (on average, ca. 0.50 x 1.0 m) rock cairns associated with Chal colithic pottery vessels and occasional human bone remains came to light. Thirteen cairn structures

were found in Cemetery IV, which is the only area

in the Shiqmim mortuary complex where the new

feature has been discovered. In Cemetery II, ex

ceptionally well-preserved human remains were re

covered in Grave Circle 51 (below).

GEOARCHAEOLOGY

Geoarchaeological research in previous seasons

concentrated on placing the site in a regional stra

tigraphie context and achieving a preliminary analy sis of the geogenic and anthropogenic deposits in the site (Goldberg 1987). Efforts in the 1987 season

Fig. 6. Copper objects discovered in a foundation deposit set into the wall of a large rectangular building (No. 4) in the Shiqmim village. To the left is a mace head and on the

right, the head of a standard.

Fig. 7. Copper standard from the foundation deposit; a) ex

terior view of standard, b) sectioned interior view. Note the bitumen fill, probably from the Dead Sea region, found inside the standard with the clear impression of a wooden

stick.




Fig. 8. Detail of copper mace head from the foundation

deposit.

continued along those lines. Although the emphasis this year was given to onsite questions, quarrying for gravel in the wadi bed permitted an expanded assessment of previous results and conclusions. In

addition, the two deep bulldozer cuts from the

wadi north through the cultural deposits (fig. 1) made possible observation of both temporal and

spatial variations of the deposits between the wadi

and the heart of the site.

Stratigraphie Considerations

Overall, previous appraisals were confirmed and

refined. Chalcolithic gravels that were visible only in several limited exposures next to the banks of

the wadi (Goldberg 1987) were found to be much

more extensive and volumetrically important. In

fact, during quarrying operations near the site a

large Chalcolithic basalt vessel was uncovered in

the gravels at a depth of ca. 3 to 4 m below the

former surface of the wadi (the latter has changed

considerably since the large floods of October

1987). Hence, the amount of high competent flood

ing during the earlier Chalcolithic phases (i.e., pre

site, since those gravels underlie the site) was more

prominent than previously estimated.

In addition, fresh exposures in the bulldozer

trenches demonstrated the lateral extent of the finer

("Byzantine") silt deposits that overlie the gravels. The silts extend ca. 20 m away from the wadi bank

and rest with sharp unconformity upon the gravels over the exposed section (fig. 9). Whereas that

stratigraphie relationship was inferred from the

previous wadi exposure, it was confirmed in this

trench.

The second bulldozer section (fig. 1) originated several meters north of the wadi and was deeper than the first. Consequently it exposed only Chal

colithic deposits and not the younger, silty unit. A

measured profile along the west face (fig. 10) demonstrated that the Chalcolithic settlement rests

upon and abuts an eroded (or artificially leveled?) terrain of Late Pleistocene fine grained fluvial sedi

ments. That contact between cultural and sterile

material becomes higher in the direction away from

the wadi. Furthermore, in the southern and lower

parts of the section it was possible to observe the

relationship of the wadi and cultural sediments.

That clearly shows that the Nahal Beersheva was

active at the time and level of occupation and

suggests that the hydraulic regime had changed

considerably during the previous phase of gravel

deposition. Finally, some of the mudbrick walls in

that segment seem to have been modified by wadi

activity, suggesting the possibility that they might have been built to protect against flooding.

On-Site Issues

A number of geology samples were collected in

the site area for micromorphological and other

analyses to provide a better understanding of the

site formation processes. The samples and their

purposes included the following:

Living floors, both of ashes and decayed mudbrick, to evaluate the apparent effects of trampling.

Mudbrick and decayed mudbrick, to appraise the

sources of mudbrick and the processes by which it

decays. Many of the bricks contained white crystal line flecks, presumably gypsum and calcite, al

though that needs verification; and we want to

determine whether they formed within the brick

after its manufacture or were inherited from the

parent material.

Upper Pleistocene sediments, collected for com

parison with the mudbrick material; in the field

their compositions were quite similar.

Laminated sediments, in contact with mudbrick

structures, to assess whether they were deposited

by water or by human-related activities.




Fig. 9. Trench K, western face. Note the junction of the Byzantine silty sediments and the thick layer of Chalcolithic

gravels.

SHIQMIM - Deep trench

174.91 NORTH WEST

Mottled ashy mudbrick

Fig. 10. Measured profile on western face of the Deep Trench.




Detritus from hearths and burnt layers, to identify the types of material burned and to allow inferences

about the conditions of burning. In addition to the spot samples, similar material

was collected from the larger bulldozer trench to

permit evaluation of the types and origin of the

material and to monitor the lateral and vertical

development of the occupation deposits. In the

southern part of the eastern trench, samples were

taken in zones of connection between cultural and

wadi sediments so that we could observe on a

microscopic scale the ways in which cultural mate

rial can be reworked. Current efforts concentrate

on the analysis of these samples.

RADIOMETRIC DATING

At present six radiocarbon determinations have

been made on organic material collected during the

1987 excavations.3 Three of the dates come from

the deep trench and three from the upper building

phases of the lower Shiqmim village (Table 1). The

dates have been calibrated using the University of

Washington Quaternary Isotope Lab Radiocarbon

Calibration Program 1987 (Pearson and Stuiver

1987).

The dates from the lower village are consistent

with those obtained in earlier seasons for the up

per building phases at the site (Levy and Alon

1985: 74). Of more immediate interest are the three

dates from the deep trench (fig. 1). Sample 859B

(Field 14) represents the earliest cultural deposit found in the massive deep trench excavation

(ca. 5 m deep x 40 m long). The calibrated date for

that determination, ca. 4343 b.c., sheds light on

some of the geomorphological processes active dur

ing the early Chalcolithic settlement at Shiqmim. The sample comes from a small ash lense, probably

representing a hearth, which was established on a

thick layer of virgin sand and silt deposited by the

wadi. This ash lense is capped by a layer (ca. 40 cm

thick) of gravels deposited by the Nahal Beersheva. The sample was found ca. 3.5 m below the site

surface and is well below the main building phases at Shiqmim, which are less than 1 m below surface.

Thus, there is clear evidence for heavy fluvial ac

tivity in the valley bottom during the initial Chalco

lithic period in the valley. It was only after the

succession of high powered fluvial deposits that

the extensive architectural remains that character

ize the upper building phases of the village were

constructed.

SOUTH EAST

1983-84 CXCAVATION

f~ ] Geology Sample /\ ,4C Sample

OHEBREW UNION COLLEGE JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION




Table 1. Radiocarbon Determinations for Shiqmim, 1987 Season

Years Calibrated

Lab No. Field No. before present date b.c.

Deep Trench

859A 10 3540 + 90 1888 859B 14 5460 ? 140 4343

859H 9 3850+120 2334

Lower Village

(Square No.)

859C L.210, B.0317 5080 ? 180 3946,3846, Sq. K/ll 3822

859D L.216, B.0323 5370 ? 180 4238

Sq. K/10 859E L.211, B. 0329 5390 ? 180 4243

Sq. K/10

Radiocarbon samples 859A and 859H are much

later than the Chalcolithic period and may repre sent intrusive material brought into the subterra nean Chalcolithic pits and cavities by rodents. Only when the full corpus of carbon-14 dates is available from Shiqmim at the close of Phase II will a more

definitive statement be made concerning the chron

ology of the site.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND

EARLY METALLURGY

The discovery during the 1987 season of a metal

foundation deposit (fig. 4) and other copper indus trial remains enabled Levy and Shalev to conduct a

systematic study (1989: 352-72). The foundation

deposit was discovered in the northern wall of a

large broadroom (No. 9; Locus 029) dating to

Building Phase II. The deposit included a broken

scepter head and a well-preserved macehead, both

of copper (Table 2). Both objects are representative of cultic or prestige metal work known from other

Chalcolithic sites such as the Cave of the Treasure

in Nahal Mishmar, Bir es-Safadi/Neve Noy (Eldar and Baumgarten 1985), the Judaean Desert (Levy and Shalev 1989), and Palmahim on the coastal

plain (Gophna and Lifschitz 1980). The standard

(Table 2,0231) has a disk-shaped rim and periform

shaped head with diagonal ridges. The shaft is

broken. This hollow standard resembles a number of those found in the Cave of the Treasure (Bar Adon 1980: 63 [no. 45]; 64 [no. 48]; 75 [no. 82]; 77

[no. 88]) and sites in the Beersheva valley (Perrot 1955; Eldar and Baumgarten 1985: 135). Inside the standard was an asphalt (bitumen) filling, in the socket. It was probably obtained from the Dead Sea region (fig. 7) and used to secure the standard to a staff. The impression of a wooden staff can still be seen in the asphalt.

The metal in the standard has been totally oxi

dized, providing uniformative analytical results.

However, it seems reasonable to assume that, like other Chalcolithic cultic or prestige metalwork

analyzed by chemical methods (cf. Gophna and Lifschitz 1980: 4; Key 1980: 239; Shalev and North over 1987: 358-59), this standard was made of an

alloy of copper with arsenic and antimony. The mace head (Table 2, 0230) was made of such an

alloy, which also included some silver. In summary, from our research to date it has

been possible to define two distinct metal industries at Shiqmim (Shalev and Northover 1987). One consists of the on-site manufacture of copper tools, as evidenced by the widespread distribution of

metalworking debris all over the site as well as in almost every structure at Shiqmim. The analysis of

slags, ores, and crucible fragments at the site con

sistently match up with the chemical fingerprint of

copper tools found at Shiqmim. On the other hand, an increasing number of cultic or prestige metal

objects was found, such as the ones described here, made of an arsenic alloy that does not match the

local slags and crucible fragments. That indicates selected access to information concerning the

manufacture and distribution of prestige metal work (Levy and Shalev 1989). This observation has

important ramifications for the analysis of fourth millennium social organization, a topic currently under investigation.

Chipped Stone Tools and Intrasite Variability

Most analyses of chipped stone tools from Chal

colithic sites have focused on the description of

those assemblages as integrated units for chrono

logical and geographical comparison. As a general rule the minimal level of analysis has been based on the entire site, or perhaps, on the stratum (e.g.,

Neuville 1934; Yeivin 1959; Levy and Rosen 1987). Chalcolithic chipped stone assemblages may also

be examined on the intrasite level, providing clues




Table 2. Descriptive Aspects of

Shiqmim Foundation Deposit (Locus 029)

No. Item

Weight Diameter Length Opening Preservation (gr.) (cm) (cm) (cm)

0231 Standard 0230 Mace Head

Broken

Complete

218 345

4.69

4.68

8.28

4.43

1.42

1.44

Table 3. 1987 Shiqmim Chipped Stone Industry:

Summary Contextual Data for Selected Loci

Locus

Area

(m2) Character

Total

tools

Tool

density

Total Waste waste density

North Trench

219 267 269 264 283 221 284 250 252 244 274 276

2 5 2

15 14 16 5 6 2 2.5

3

10

Garbage pit

Fill-courtyard

Storage room

Open area

Courtyard

Fill Fill Fill

Storage room

Ash lens (pit) Bell-shaped pit Courtyard

4

1

2

22

18

1

2

2

2

0

2

2.0

0.2

1.0

1.5

1.3

0.1

0.4

0.3

1.0

0

0.7

0.8

13

4

60

136 250

72 23

1 7 6

28 28

6.5

0.8

30.0

9.1

17.9

4.5

4.6

0.2

3.5

2.4

9.3

2.8

South Trench

22

14

17

34

12.5

16

13

16

Courtyard

Fill Floor

Fill and surface

20 14

23 3

1.6

0.9

1.8

0.2

153 165 136 22

12.2

10.3

10.5

1.4

as to the functions of the different areas of the site, and better understanding of the nature of the

"integrated" assemblage usually used in intersite

comparison.

Selected loci were chosen (by Levy) to provide a

representative range of functions and types of de

position characteristic of the Shiqmim village. Table 3 presents a list of loci utilized, with brief

characterizations, area, and summary data. Table

4 illustrates typological frequencies, by locus. Typo

logical and technological descriptions have been

outlined in Levy and Rosen (1987). Raw material is variable and difficult to characterize. In general, four or five types are recognizable, all but one of

which can be found nearby. The exception is a

fine-grained brown flint from which tabular scrap ers were manufactured, and whose source may be

in the western Negev (cf. Rosen 1987). A correlation analysis of the variables presented

in Table 3, not presented here for lack of space, showed significant correlations between most of the variables. However, the density variables did




TOOLS/

10 H

2.0-1 p FL

M2 0 C

S c C F

C

P F F

FFpF 10 20 30

WASTE/M2

Fig. 11. Plot of tool density versus waste density. P = pit,

Fl = floor, C = courtyard, O =

open area, S = storage,

F = fill.

not correlate significantly with area, or with each

other, suggesting that plots of these variables might be fruitfully examined (fig. 11). When tool density is plotted against waste density, a relatively clear

clustering by locus type is apparent. The court

yards, floor, and open areas cluster on both graphs,

showing relatively high densities of both tools and waste. That suggests that those areas were foci of

activities utilizing flint tools. This is of some in

terest since roughly contemporary sites in the

Negev highlands exhibit a different pattern, with

courtyards showing low lithic densities relative to

other loci types. The contrast undoubtedly reflects

differences in function, specifically the use of court

yards as animal pens in the highland sites; court

yards were used as actual occupation areas in the

village at Shiqmim. The fill loci show very low tool densities and

medium to low waste densities, reflecting the ab

sence of activity concentrations in a fill. That might be expected, given that the village fills are usually a

result of wall collapse. The storage loci and refuse

pits seem to cluster with the courtyards, reflecting concentration of artifacts. This wide range of vari

ability is also evident in the tool and waste types

(Table 4). It suggests that comparative analyses of

assemblages from large Chalcolithic sites should

consider the internal variability inherent in these

large sites.

The 1987 Vertebrate Remains

About 1900 fragments of animal bones and teeth

were retrieved from the 1987 excavations at the

Shiqmim village, of which 422 have been identified

to taxon. This low proportion (22 percent) of iden tified remains suggests good retrieval, despite the

fact that many of the bones and teeth were poorly preserved and many were damaged in excavation.

With the exception of bone tools, two rodent

bones, the skeletons of two sheep and one ox, and some other "special deposits" of bone (below), all the vertebrate remains are the usual domestic de bris found in Chalcolithic sites (cf., Grigson 1987).

Except for some tarsal and carpal samples, all the bones had been broken in antiquity, initially prob ably for the extraction of marrow and subsequently by trampling.

The numbers of remains identified to taxon are

shown in the first column of Table 5. As usual,

many of the small ruminant bones could not be

identified beyond either the sheep/goat/gazelle category or the sheep/goat category. However it is

assumed that the bones in those categories could have been distributed among the three species in

the same proportions as those that could be iden

tified to the three species. Thus, of 149 bones in the

sheep/goat/gazelle category, the proportion of

2:208 (that is the number of identified gazelle com

pared with the total number of sheep, goat, and

sheep/goat bones) one (149 x 2/208 =

1) should be of gazelle (Table 5, column 2). The total number

of gazelle remains is therefore estimated as 3 (col umn 3). A similar procedure was followed to calcu

late the probable numbers of sheep and goats and

of cattle and equids. The results are shown in Table

5, column 3.

The small size of the sheep, goat, and cattle

bones shows that they are from domestic animals.

It is not known whether the few remains of equids found in Chalcolithic sites in the Negev are from

wild or domestic animals. Also, the domestic status

of one bone fragment that is possibly from a pig and of the canid remains recovered is uncertain. As

shown in Table 6, the total animals of uncertain

domestic status amount to only 1.9% of the total

sample, and with wild animals comprising only

2.1%, it is clear that the animal-based part of the

economy was overwhelmingly based on the hus

bandry of domestic ungulates?sheep, goat, and

cattle. Table 7 shows the relative proportions of

those animals, with sheep and goats making up

88% of the domestic ungulates and cattle 12%. As

in the material from previous seasons at Shiqmim and in the Chalcolithic sites near Beersheva (Abu

Matar, Bir es Safadi and Horvat Beter), there is a

virtual absence of pigs (cf. Grigson 1987). Pigs,




Table 4. Lithic Frequencies by Locus and Type

PPPFFFFFFS SOCCCFL* 219 244 274 267 221 284 250 14 34 252 269 264 283 276 22 17 Total

Chips Chunks

Flakes

Primary

Blades/ bladelets

Core trim.

Cores

Subtotal

Retouched

flakes

Retouched

blades

Sickles Sickle

blanks

Awls

Celts

Notches/ dentic.

Choppers

Scrapers Hammer

stones

Misc.

Tabular

scrapers

Instrusives

Subtotal

Total

7

1

3

1

13

2

4

17

1

4

11

28

2

30

11

28

21

72 23

1 2

73 25

65 26 44 14 10

5

165

3

2

16

22

14

179 25

17 26 10 23

5 22 51 5 13

1 6 13

56 58 81 31 18

1 9

60 136

2 2 22

9 62 158

13 17 208 23 11 192 70 68 403 28 22 153 13 10 89

250 28

6 1

5 1

2 4

153

4

3

3 1

3 1

2

3 8 5 51

136 1104

13 36

2 16

3

1

18 7

14

4 13

1 2 3

18 8 20 23 124

268 36 173 159 1228

* P = pit, F =

fiill, S = storage, O =

open area, C = courtyard, FL = floor.

however, are numerous in Chalcolithic sites further

west, between Shiqmim and the Mediterranean.

Although the numbers of bones definitely identified as sheep (n

= 32) and goat (n

= 14) are small, they

do suggest a predominance of sheep among the small ruminants in the 1987 Shiqmim sample.

The "special deposits" of animal bones found in 1987 are listed in Table 8. A large number of ox

bones and a smaller number of sheep bones were

spatially associated in a bell-shaped pit (Locus 285) in the deep section, with a second group of sheep bones in a smaller pit (Locus 288), also in the deep

section. Careful analysis in the laboratory revealed that the very fragmentary cattle bones all came

from the same young cow and that the sheep bones,

though fewer in number, are probably the rem

nants of two skeletons of young animals. The other special deposit was in Square K/ll

(Loci 254, 257, 260). It consisted of 11 well

preserved phalanges from the fore and hind feet of the same goat, a polished scapula of an ox, and a

polished radius of a sheep or goat. The significance ofthat deposit has not yet been ascertained; it may represent some form of offering.




Table 5. Shiqmim 1987 Faunal Remains:

Basic Economic Data

Assigned Calculated

Species Identifications proportionately totals

Sheep Goat

Sheep/goat Gazelle

Sheep/goat/ gazelle

Cattle

Equid Cattle/equid

Pig? Canid

Felid Bird Ostrich egg

Totals

32

14

162 2

149

35 3

13 1 3 2 2 2

420

216 94

12 1

324

248 108

47 4

1 3 2 2 2

420

Table 6. Faunal Remains:

Domestic/Wild Proportions

Presumed

Domestic Domestic Wild

Sheep Goat

Cattle

Totals

Percent

248 108 47

403

96.0

Canid 3

Pig? 1 Equid 4

1.9

Gazelle 3 Birds 2 Ostrich 2 Felid 2

9

2.1

Table 7. Faunal Remains: Ungulate Proportions

Species Number Proportion

Sheep Goats

Sheep and goats Cattle

Total

248 108 356 47

403

61.5% 26.8% 88.3% 11.7%

100.0%

Physical A nthropology

Numerous Chalcolithic mortuary sites have been

reported in Israel (cf. Perrot and Ladiray 1980), but little is known about the physical appearance of the Chalcolithic population. Studying the hu

man remains of Bir es-Safadi and Abu Matar, Ferembach (1959) concluded that this Chalcolithic

population was brachycephalic and of Armenian or Anatolian origin. Haas and Nathan (1973) con

cluded that the population of Nahal Mishmar was

dolicomesocranic with high brain cases and broad

frontal bones. Arensburg (1973) considered them

of local provenience, and more recently Smith

(1989) has shown that the dolicomesocranics were a majority, at least in the Negev. From the cultural

material discovered at the mortuary complex of

Shiqmim in 1982, Levy and Alon (1985; 1987a) concluded that there were links between the north ern Negev and protohistoric sites in the Sharon

coastal plain and the Sinai peninsula. With the

discovery of cist structures in Cemetery 3 and dur

ing the 1987 season in Cemetery 6, Levy and Alon

(1985; 1987b) suggest that the cists may have been

used as body preparation pits for primary burial

before the human remains were placed as second

ary burials in the grave circles. The excavation of

the mortuary complex at Shiqmim provides us an

opportunity for studying the skeletal remains of

the Chalcolithic populations of the region and for

testing the relations between the archaeological and

physical anthropological finds.

This preliminary report concerns the human

skeletal remains from Shiqmim Cemetery 2 East, Structure 51, where fragmentary remains of 27 indi

viduals were found in association with V-shaped bowls and other Chalcolithic artifacts. Only one

specimen (HI5) was found with a prestige item, a

highly polished hematite mace head placed beneath

his mandible.

Unlike earlier excavations at Shiqmim (Levy and

Alon 1979; 1982; 1985; 1987b), a number of differ

ent burial types were recognized in Structure 51.

The early burials were secondary interments in

which bones were put in basins, in pits with the

bones stacked in an upright position (H6 in the

southwest portion of the circle), in small pits paved with stones and piled with bones (H5 in the eastern

part of the circle), and in ceramic basins in which

bones were piled (HI3 in the northern portion of

the circle). Adjacent to those features and on the

same level, three more ceramic basins of the same

size were found with no bones. In the southeast

portion of the circle, a cluster of bones was ar

ranged in a rectangle. The eastern side of that fea

ture was formed by a large concave stone. The

northern and western sides of the cluster were de

limited by long bones. Two specimens were identi




Table 8. Faunal Remains: "Special Deposits

Complete Polished Articulated

Species skeletons bones bones Totals

Cattle 1 1 ? 2

Sheep 2 ? ? 2

Goat ? ? 11 11

Sheep or ? 1 ? 1

goat

Total 3 2 11 16

fied (HI2, H3d) of which one was lying with its

bones arranged parallel in an east-west direction

and the other with its bones parallel in a north

south direction. Beneath them were fragments of a

ceramic ossuary. Two V-shaped bowls were found

with this feature, one on the northern edge of the stone and one on the southern edge; each was

associated with mandibles or teeth. Another bowl, found inside the cluster, was surrounded by teeth.

An additional cluster of bones was found asso

ciated with the later burials in the southwestern

portion of the circle, above H6. There all of the

postcranial bones were grouped beneath the skull. The postcranial material consisted mainly of upper

girdle bones. Each skull was lying on a hum?rus

placed at the transverse angle to the face and skull

and was surrounded by a circle of stones. All skulls were facing southwest or south. In the northern

portion of the circle, the upper level consisted of two complete skeletons, a male (HI) in a flexed

position and a female (H2) who was semiflexed.

The skulls and mandibles were separated and sur

rounded with stones. The northeast and most of

the southwest portions of the circle seem to have

been disturbed. Only a few bone fragments were

found (H4, Hll, H20). The specimens identified

from Circle 51 are listed in Table 9 and the age and sex distinction of those individuals are in Table 10.

Table 9. Hominid Specimens from Grave Circle 51, Shiqmim Cemetery

Hominid No. Age Sex Cranial Mandible Teeth Postcranial

HI 36 M - + + whole skeleton H2 60 F + ? + whole skeleton H3a 36 M face, maxilla - + upper, lower limbs

adult F - upper limb

H3b adult M + - ? upper girdle, lower limbs adult F -

upper, lower limbs

child (5?) - -

upper, lower limbs H3c adult F + ? upper, lower limbs

H3d 46 M - + + upper, lower girdles 17-18 ?

- +

H5 48 M face + + complete skeleton 12 ?

- - + radius

H6 adult M + - upper, lower limbs

H7 39 F + + upper, lower limbs H9 22 M + ? + upper girdle H10 37 F face - ? ?

H11 adult M rt ramus - ?

H12 20 M - - +? upper, lower limbs H13 child ? ? ? ? all postcranial H15 36 M - + + upper girdle, tibiae H16 adult F face - ? upper girdle, one femur H17 18 ? + + ?

H18 28 F - + ?

H19 adult F + + upper girdle child (5-6) + + ?

child (8-9) - - + ?

H20 adult ? - hum?rus, ribs




Table 10. Age and Sex of Hominids

in Grave Circle 51

Age Male Female Unknown Total

(years) No. % % % %

0-1 _____

2-5 1 ? ? 3.7 3.7

6-10 2 ? ?

7.4 7.4

11-15 1 ? ? 3.7 3.7 16-20 2 ? ? 7.4 7.4

20-29 3 7.4 3.7 ? 11.11

30-39 5 11.11 7.4 ? 18.51

40-49 2 7.4 ? ? 7.4

50+ 1 ? 3.7 ? 3.7

Unknown 9 11.11 18.57 3.7 33.38 adults

Unknown 1 ? ? ? 3.7

children

Total 27 37.02 33.37 29.6 100.00

Discussion

There is no firm evidence concerning the amount

of time Grave Circle 51 was in use; however, the

varying burial patterns suggest long usage or reuse

at different times during the Chalcolithic period. Individuals of many ages were found in the tomb, but there were no infants. A similar age distribu

tion was found in Shiqmim Cemetery 1 (Levy and

Alon 1982: 48-49), but Structure 51 contained an

exceptionally old individual (H2, 60 years old). Children and juveniles are present in very low fre

quencies (Table 10). The reason for that pattern

may be the poor preservation of the bones in gen eral. Another result of the poor condition of the

skeletal remains was that it limited the extent to

which morphological comparisons could be made.

All of the long bones comprised their shafts only. From the observations and the few measurements

that could be taken of the skulls, mandibles, and

postcranial bones, it appears that the population buried there was small and gracile. Compared to

the rest of the skeleton, male humeri were relatively robust, and their deltoid tuberosities were well pro nounced. That may suggest some physical activity involved with the frequent use of the upper girdle,

mainly the arm. Evidence for arthritis was found in all the specimens aged 40 or older. Research is now

to be carried out on details concerning the diet and

health of the Shiqmim population.

SUMMARY OF 1987 RESEARCH PROJECT

This report has presented an interim view of some of the analytical studies carried out thus far on material collected during the 1987 Shiqmim

expedition. The primary aim of the 1987 expedi tion was to explore the earliest evidence of settle

ment at the site to test a wide range of theories

concerning the development of Chalcolithic soci

eties in the northern Negev region. The excavation

of two large-scale, deep trenches during the season

brought this part of the project to a successful

close. The discovery of numerous subterranean fea

tures in 1987 has helped to pinpoint those under

ground structures to be excavated in 1988. The

presence of large underground storage facilities at

Shiqmim will shed new light on a type of settle

ment system that previously was thought to have

focused only around Chalcolithic sites in the vicin

ity of Beersheva. Although only six radiocarbon

determinations have been presented here from our

excavations, by the end of Phase II many more

samples will have been processed. In addition to

the stratigraphie work, the 1987 excavations also

provided important information about the spatial

layout and function of the site during the main oc

cupation at the site, Building Phase II. Work is still

progressing on the archaeobotanical, fossil land

snail, ceramic, and phytolityh studies. However, the results of those analyses are not yet complete.

NOTES

!The 1987 excavation at Shiqmim was sponsored by the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology (He brew Union College, Jerusalem) and the Israel Depart ment of Antiquities and Museums, and affiliated with the American Schools of Oriental Research. The project

was funded by a National Endowment for the Humani

ties matching grant (No. RO-21541-87) and matching funds by the Skirball Foundation. Some travel grants

were provided by the Anglo-Israel Archaeological So

ciety. We are grateful to all of those institutions for their

support.

The core staff for this multidisciplinary project includes the following: T. E. Levy, principal investigator;

D. Alon, codirector, field project; J. Buikstra and P. Smith,

physical anthropology; P. Goldberg, geology; G. Goodfriend, fossil land snail analyist; I. Carmi, isotope dating;




M. Kislev, archaeobotany; C. Grigson, archaeozoology; A. Holl, anthropological archaeology; S. Shalev, archaeo

metallurgy; A. Rosen, phytolith analyist; and S. Rosen,

flint tool analyist. The following worked as field staff

during the 1987 season: Y. Rowan, R. Adams, H. Salami

and H. Miller, field supervisors; F. Dillon and A. Jones,

laboratory supervisors; S. Hayosh, cook; I. Al-Assam,

major domo; D. Rabin, volunteer coordinator; and

A. Levy, administrator. A team of seven workers from

the village of El Kom and 50 volunteers from the United

States, Europe, and Israel participated in the excavation.

The artifact photographs in this article were made by Z. Radovan, Jerusalem; the aerial photograph was made

courtesy of the Israel Air Force, and T. E. Levy took the

remaining photos. All photographs copyright, Hebrew

Union College, Jerusalem.

2During the 1987 season, the presence of a team of

gravel excavators working adjacent to the Shiqmim site

in the Nahal Beersheva provided an ideal opportunity to

use their bulldozers to excavate a deep trench following

the already disturbed roadcut. Although this company is

in the process of destroying one of the last and most

beautiful undisturbed areas along the Wadi (Hebrew =

Nahal) Beersheva, they were kind enough to put their

equipment at our disposal. Therefore, the Shiqmim core

staff thanks the Haim Tzarfati Gravel Firm (Beersheva), and in particular the foreman, Shaul, for putting their

tractors at our disposal. Special thanks to Kibbutz Ha

zerim, and I. and M. Yazarski for all of their logistical

help.

3I. Carmi, of the Weizman Institute of Science in

Rehovot, Israel, processed the dates.

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