Identification of an EB IIIA Incised Bone Tube Workshop at Tell el-Hesi, Israel

The Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi (1970-1983) identified an unusually large number of incised bone tubes from Early Bronze Age IIIA contexts in Field VI. Excavations recovered a total of 15 fragments of the distinctive EB III incised artefacts, two incised bone beads, worked bone d...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ludvik, Geoffrey (Author) ; Larson, Kara (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2020]
In: Palestine exploration quarterly
Year: 2020, Volume: 152, Issue: 4, Pages: 332-364
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bronze Age / Animal remains / Attribute / Analysis / Bone implements / Tradition / Workshop / Levant (Süd)
IxTheo Classification:HD Early Judaism
HH Archaeology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi (1970-1983) identified an unusually large number of incised bone tubes from Early Bronze Age IIIA contexts in Field VI. Excavations recovered a total of 15 fragments of the distinctive EB III incised artefacts, two incised bone beads, worked bone debris, and installations for heating concentrated in a sector immediately adjacent to the city wall. Based on these co-occurrences, the original project staff tentatively suggested a bone tube workshop was operational on the site. However, a follow up study was never conducted. This paper provides empirical evidence for the existence of this bone tube workshop and for an associated techno-stylistic tradition at Tell el-Hesi during the EB IIIA. We identify the workshop’s presence using a suite of archaeological correlates: 1) the physical concentration of working debris, partially-finished artefacts, copper tools, and working installations in a differentiated ‘industrial’ space in Field VI; 2) evidence for the same chaîne opératoire involving distinctive production sequences and metal tool use on artefacts and debris from this sector; and 3) closely-shared stylistic and morphometric attributes among both finished and partially-finished fragments.
ISSN:1743-1301
Contains:Enthalten in: Palestine exploration quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/00310328.2020.1848085