Stone pedestalled vessels from Tel Tsaf, a Middle Chalcolithic site in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel

Abstract

Abstract:The pedestalled bowls described here are part of the ground stone tool assemblage discovered during the Hebrew University of Jerusalem excavations at Tel Tsaf (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007). This site, located in the Central Jordan Valley, is the first well-documented and large-scale excavation of the Middle Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. The inhabitants used two types of raw materials for their stone items: basalt and limestone. While the first is commonly used in the stone-vessel industry of the Chalcolithic period, the second is rarer. We present here the preliminary results of our analysis of the typology and function of the pedestalled bowls, a small but important component of the local ground stone tool assemblage.

Introduction. Leave no stone unturned: Perspectives on ground stone artefact research

“…In addition, specific studies dealing with particular segments of the ground stone tool repertoire, some with specific function or functions, are becoming more common (e.g., Takaoǧlu 2006;Basgall 2008;Beaumont & Bednarik 2015;Nadel & Rosenberg 2015;Reich 2015;Bekker & Garfinkel 2016;Breglia et al 2016;Ilan 2016;Larocca 2016;Thiébaux et al 2016;Usacheva 2016). Studies based on historical sources (see, for example, Lang 2016) and ethnographic observations (e.g., Cane 1989;Hamon & Le Gall 2013;Robitaille 2016) are also significant and important contributions in recent years.…”