Artefact
was imported centuries before Late Chalcolithic.
The southern Levant became a major
centre for metallurgy in Southwest Asia during the Late Chalcolithic period
from 4500 to 3800 BC. Artefacts from this period include eight massive gold
rings weighing a total of almost 1 kg (2.2 lb.) from the Nahal Qanah Cave,
Israel, and prestige copper items from a cave at Nahal Mishmar near the Dead
Sea, which display lost wax casting technology.
However, the origins of this metalworking
tradition have remained obscure until recently. Now a newly-published report
has suggested that the roots of southern Levantine metallurgy might be found in
an earlier, non-local tradition. Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley was excavated
between 2004 and 2007. The main period of occupation of the site occurred
during the Middle Chalcolithic, and dates to between 5100 and 4600 BC. The
mud-brick complex included courtyard buildings and grain silos, two of which had
been repurposed as graves. Artefacts from the site included elaborately painted
pottery and over 2,500 beads made of ostrich egg-shells and stone. Many
artefacts were of non-local origin, including obsidian items from Anatolia or
Armenia, a shell from the Nile and pottery from northern Syria or Mesopotamia.
Animal remains included large numbers of cattle and pigs and the capacity of
the grain silos has been estimated at around 15 to 30 tons. Wealth and food surpluses
were being accumulated at Tel Tsaf far in excess of anything else known in the
region during this period; and the site had access to long-distance exchange
networks throughout Southwest Asia.
From one of the silo-graves was
recovered a badly-corroded copper awl. The awl is a 41 mm (1.6 inch) pin made
from cast copper, with a rounded cross-section. The maximum diameter is 5 mm
(0.2 inch), narrowing to 1 mm (0.04 inch) near the tip. The burial held the remains
of a woman aged around forty, and other grave goods included an ostrich-shell
bead necklace with 1,668 beads.
Chemical analysis indicated the
metal composition of the awl included 6 percent tin and 0.8 percent. Although
corrosion may have altered the chemical composition of the awl, the presence of
tin suggests that it was not of local origin. Copper items of such a
composition have not been found in the Late Chalcolithic or the Early Bronze
Age of the southern Levant, nor does it match the composition of local native
copper. It is thought that the alloy is natural, as it unlikely that artificial
copper/tin alloys were being produced at this stage. Tin bronze is not known
from the region until the Middle Bronze Age, around the second millennium BC.
Thus the awl not only predates all previously-known metal artefacts in the
southern Levant by several centuries, it also predates all known tin bronze
items in the region by around 3,000 years.
Assuming that the awl is not of
local origin, then it must have reached Tel Tsaf via long-distance exchange
networks. Metallurgy must have diffused to the southern Levant from the north.
At first, artefacts were imported and it was not until some centuries later
that they were produced locally. Thus it can be seen that the elaborate Late
Chalcolithic metallurgy of the southern Levant developed from an earlier,
non-local tradition.
That the awl was found in an
elaborate grave suggests that at this stage, metal items were seen as rare and
prestigious. The residents of the courtyard building where the grave was found
apparently belonged to a family or group that controlled the local cultivation
and storage of grain as well as long-distance trade. Their wealth may have
either led to or been the result of a trade in luxury items obtained from
sources very remote from Tel Tsaf.
References:
1. Garfinkel, Y., Klimscha, F.,
Shalev, S. & Rosenberg, D., The Beginning of Metallurgy in the Southern
Levant: A Late 6th Millennium CalBC Copper Awl from Tel Tsaf, Israel. PLoS
One 9 (3), e92591 (2014).
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