Everything I know about archeology... and would ever care to know.

The process of growth that humans go through from the Chalcolithic times to the Iron Age is astounding. This paper is an attempt to summarize the transitions through archaeological studies of finds including art, pottery, settlements, burials, and weapons. I will begin with the Calcholithic period and work through the other periods until the Iron Age. The Chalcolithic time period is from 5000-3100 BC. There were several finds that included art of the Chalcolithic time. Many of the finds during this time period were influenced by their values. The Chalcolithic people valued life and fertility which were depicted by large noses and accentuated breasts. First is Telleilat Ghassul on the Coast of the Red Sea. There, in the 1920’s while some Jesuit monks were digging they found several paintings including one of a red, black, and yellow 8 pointed star, and another of a blue bird. . In 1950 at Beer Sheva there was a great discovery of what was later named the Beer Sheva Venus. It is a sculpture of a woman with a large nose and breasts. In 1960’s there was a huge rush to the area of Qumran because of the remarkable findings of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Through the wadi systems helicopters ventured to look inside caves on the sides of the wadis. In one of these caves they found some pottery of the Chalcolithic time period. Tools of the Calcholithic time period were made up of flint. At Nahal Mishmar there were over 400 flint tools found including some spear heads. This was a very important find because until that point not many tools and weapons were found from Chalcolithic time. In Nahal Qama there are several natural caves which were used as living spaces during the Chalcolithic time. In one of these caves there were several copper rings discovered. The rings, being unfitting for any type of jewelry, were concluded to be means of exchange. In Gilat there was found a figurine of a woman holding a butter churn. The woman’s breasts and nose were both accentuated. They also found cultic objects inside a temple there. The objects were violin shaped with a nose and breasts supposedly depicting some kind of fertility God. Cultic objects and temples were also very big during this time. In the 1960’s at a dig in En Gedi a temple was found. It was a square temple with three offset rooms. In the middle of the temple was found a circular structure thought to maybe hold a tree of idol. In the room opposite of the entrance was an alter. In the 1970’s in the Golan Heights Epstein and later Kathleen Kenyon found alters with human faces carved into them they also found many ossuaries. More ossuaries were also found in the Judean Wilderness. Other burials that were found include Nawamis which had Sinai burials, Shalahim were they found round burial structures as well as in Piqmim by Thomas Levy. In Thomas Levy’s article entitled Chalcolithic he describes these burial structures as all facing one direction. They were made of stones and built up from the ground. They can be seen now through areal photography. They also found depictions of humans with animal masks. Later on in Hadera in 1936 some homeowners were digging for the foundations of their homes and came across some remarkable finds. There they discovered some box ossuaries the length of the human femur. They looked like long barns with a hold in the front just large enough to put a skull through and a nose protruding from the top of the hole. Many of these ossuaries found in this time period were studied by J. Perrot. The living areas of the Chalcolithic time were very distinguishable as well. In the Golan Heights in the 1970’s Claire Epstein and later on Kathleen Kenyon did a dig in which broad houses were discovered. These houses were rectangular and joined to another on the shorter side to form a train. The doors of the homes were on the long side as the maintain circulation within the room. Earlier in 1909 Parker dug at the City of David where he found cave dwellings like those near Qumran and Nahal Qama. He was able to identify the time period by the potter in the caves.
The next time period to be studied is the Early Bronze Age I which spans 3100-2950. This time period can be distinguished by the pottery. The pottery of the time was of both a gray and shiney red varnish. There were several instances in which pottery could be dated because of inscriptions. In both Arad, where Ruth Amiran dug, and Tel Erami, which was studied in the 1960’s by Albright, there were finds of potter with the name Nar Mer, an Eqyptian ruler during the time of the EBI. Some of the pottery, as described by Miss Amiran, had a “painted rim” and on the larger bowls there were “stripes along the side of the lower center”. During this point in history there was not much concern for art like there had been before in the Chalcolithic time period. People did however concern themselves with urbanization. This was a luxury they were able to obtain because of the invention of the plow. The plow allowed for organized agriculture which allowed for more stable living. The cities like the one discovered in Bab-ed-Dra in 1924 by Albright were very well built. Lapp also dug at Bab-ed-Dra in the 1960’s where he found some interesting sideways “u” shaped burials with pottery in strata 0. The houses of the EBI are called apsidal houses. They are shaped much like a Chalcolithic butter churn in that they are flat on one side and rounded on the other. These houses were identified several times at Megiddo. In 1838 by Robinson in 1902-1905 they were studied by Shoemacher, and finally in 1925 by the University of Chicago. Tombs of this time period were mass burials which included pottery. At Beth Yerah, Albright was able to identify several of these types of tombs. Now, because of a school and other buildings the tombs are no longer visible. The weapons of the time were revolutionary. The epsilon axe was introduced. The epsilon axe was shaped like and epsilon with a wooden handle and stop to ensure cutting of the limbs with easy retrieval. They also used spearheads. Finds of these weapons were found in Jericho as Tel el Hesi by Bliss.
The third time period to be studied is the Early Bronze Age II which spans 2950-2650. The EBII was very much a continuation of EBI where there were great cities being built and fortified. During this time circular bastions were constructed to better protect these growing cities. Circular bastions serve as great protection because they allow the defenders to maintain sight and access to fight off their offenders. These bastions can be seen at Arad. At Eim Besor there was another dig done in the 1930’s by Krause-Marqait. There they found great mudbrick fortifications on top of stone foundations. At Tel Yarmuth Miroshegi, a French archaeologist dug and found walls 50 meters thick. They also found several important buildings within the city which spoke to the combined efforts of the community there. There was a palace, temples, and even an auditorium. Another building that was quite important to this period was the Arad house which was shaped as a square. The inside had benches all around and in the middle a circular pillar like structure. Connected to the side of the rectangle house was a kitchenette. These houses were not only found in Arad but also in Area E of Jerusalem.
Early Bronze Age III, which spans 2650-2350, continues this growing city phenomenon. At Beth Yerah there were several pottery shapes found by Albright including a horseshoe shape, a barrel, and even lids with perforations. The lids were quite revolutionary. The artwork of this time included ivory carvings which were also found a Beth Yerah, and jewelry like those found at Kinneret in the 1930’s. These golden jewelry items were found in the tombs of the area. Some important buildings of the time include the palace in Ebla which was discovered in 1970’s by Matie of the University of Rome. In this palace was one of the most extraordinary finds ever. Over 15,000 tablets were discovered that contained information regarding economic and administrative situations. Also at Beth Yerah Albright discovered a grainery. It was shaped much like the windmill across the Hinnem Valley.
The last of the Early Bronze Age stages was the EB IV (2350-2200) which consisted of the degeneration of the cities. This is why there is not much information regarding this time period. There is no real knowledge of why these cities degenerated. It could have been for a number of reasons including battles with Egypt which were described in Egypt Hieroglyphs, ecological problems, or internal problems such as poverty.
The Middle Bronze Age I is a time of reorganization of the urban lifestyle including culture and buildings. We can see this with several of the archaeological finds of the time including the fortifications and the homes. Several homes were found at Hazor in the 19th century by Porter, in 1928 by Garstang, and lastly in 1955 by Yadin. Megiddo was also dug in search of homes in 1925. The fortifications of this time period include glacis and ramparts. Glacis are earthen fortifications, many of which helped to shape the looks of the tell. In 1955 Yadin’s search at Hazor lead him to find Area C where there were remains of inner ramparts. Later on in the 1960’s he found more foundations for ramparts which were made up of both dirt and stone foundations. At Tel Batash, there were finds of square ramparts by Claremont Ganneau in the 19th century. Earthen fortifications were also found at Tel Bourga, Tel Massos, Lachish and Yavnah Yam.
The Middle Bronze Age IIa continued this cultural boom. This can be seen with the new gates being established, temples, palaces, inscriptions, and burials. The gates of this time were the Syrian gate. At Megiddo on level 12 of the dig was found a gate. Also at Dan which was dug by Biram in the 1980’s they found a Syrian gate with three tiers. At Ashkelon they also found a gate with three tiers. The inscriptions from this time are many. The Egyptian execration texts which are formed on pottery and figurines offer much insight to the MBIIa. Also, at Mari there were wall paintings and a king’s archive which led to even further information. At Hazor there were also clay tablets found. Some interesting stories come from the findings of the clay tablets in Hazor. For example, within the past few years there have been several school groups that have gone up to Hazor to study and while they were there a student actually found one just by dragging their feet around. Serabit el Khadem, dug in 1905 by Petrie and in 1915 by Gardner yielded some other interesting finds including a temple to Hathor with acrophonic writing. This spoke to the great amount of knowledge that was spreading at this time. In addition to texts, some oil lamps had been found at Naharia in the 1940’s by Ben Tor. These oil lamps look like covered bowls with holes on top for lights. Some cultic objects found at Tel Beth Mirsim by Albright in the 1920’s include an idol of a serpent goddess. Other cultic objects found include whole temples. At Hazor, there was a basalt temple found by Epstein in the 1950’s. At Tel Haror there were finds of mud bricks and sacrificial burial pits. At Megiddo on level X there was a temple found with a circular alter with steps. In addition to temples, some palaces were also found that lead back to this time including the Harrenhaus palace of Tel Beth Mirsim by Albright in the 1920’s, and a large residence in Ta’anakh found in the 1960’s by Lapp. The burials of the MBIIa period are mostly shaft graves. Two of these finds were discovered by Kenyon. In the late 1950’s she discovered the graves of Jericho and later in the 1960’s she discovered the graves near Silwon village of Jerusalem. During this time horses were also domesticated and buried with people. This can be seen at Shiqmona, Tel ed-Daba, Tel Haror, and Tel el-Ajjul.
After the MBIIa period came the MBIIbc period. This was distinguished by the delicate pottery found at many of the sites which calls to the significance of the pottery wheel. This distinct potter type was easily recognized by Beck at Aphek. Petrie also found some of this pottery at Tel Yahudiya. The pottery he found there was a combination of gray, black and brown. Later on Garstang dug there and made a remarkable discovery of some pottery with faces molded into their bodies. The faces had large chins, eyes, and ears. Clay moldings were also popular at this time including pottery like a clay fish found at Tel Poleg. The weapons of this period also spoke to the refinement of the times. They were beginning to evolve the previously mentioned epsilon ax into what would now be called the duck bill ax which can be found at both Mari and Tel el-Daba. There were also palaces of this time which can be seen at Aphek.