Tel Tsaf and the Impact of the Ubaid Culture on the Southern Levant: Interpreting the Radiocarbon Evidence

Abstract

A data set of 18 radiocarbon dates from the domestic quarter and the well at Tel Tsaf provide conclusive evidence for the absolute dating of this Middle Chalcolithic site. Bayesian modeling suggests that the site was occupied in the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC and abandoned in the first quarter of the 5th millennium. The absolute dating of Tel Tsaf has further implications for the synchronization of the protohistory of the Levant. The ceramic assemblage of Tel Tsaf included delicately painted ceramic sherds (so-called Tel Tsaf ware), which are distinct from the common plain ware. Comparable motifs have been identified in ceramic assemblages of contemporary Ubaid sites such as Tell Mashnaqa, Tell Zeidan, Tell el-Abr, and Hammam et-Turkan IV in northern Mesopotamia. Tel Tsaf is a rare example of a little researched connection between the Ubaid culture and the Middle Chalcolithic of the southern Levant. The findings of Tel Tsaf expand the southwestern border of the Ubaid sphere of influence and shed new light on long-distance interaction in protohistory.

7,200 years old constructions and mudbrick technology: The evidence from Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel

“…Thus, considering that most of the architecture so far uncovered in the site's upper levels dated between ca. 5200-4700 cal BCE [59][60], the results show that the mudbrick composition at Tel Tsaf was stable for at least 500 years.…”

“…Tel Tsaf is located in the middle Jordan Valley (Fig 1) and is dated between the Early Chalcolithic and Late Chalcolithic periods, ca. 5200-4700 cal BCE, also referred to as the Middle Chalcolithic [56][57][58][59][60]. The site consists of three hills that were formed by laminate layers of sediment deposited by the Pleistocene Lisan lake [61][62][63].…”

“…100 m 2 ) were conducted from 1978-1980 [66], revealing Pottery Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic strata. Later excavations from 2004 to 2007 exposed approximately 800 m 2 [58,60,[67][68][69][70][71][72]. In the main excavation area (Area C), remains of four large courtyard buildings were found (Buildings I-IV); these are characterised by rooms enclosed by courtyards that contain various installations (Fig 2), identified primarily as silos and cooking facilities.…”

Large-scale storage and storage symbolism in the ancient Near East: a clay silo model from Tel Tsaf

“…5200 and c . 4600 cal BC (Rosenberg et al 2014; Streit & Garfinkel 2015). This corresponds with the so-called Middle Chalcolithic period, bridging the ‘gap’ between the end of the Late Pottery Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic and the appearance of Late Chalcolithic settlements.…”

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

“…It is dated to the end of the 6 th to the beginning of the 5 th millennium BCE (Garfinkel 1992: 6;Gopher 2012Gopher : 1533 and is considered to be a relatively obscure phase in this sequence. Tel Tsaf is one of the only well-documented and extensively excavated sites of this period, with 14 C dating suggesting that it was occupied during the entire Middle Chalcolithic period (Gophna & Sadeh 1988: 33;Garfinkel et al 2007: 27;Streit & Garfinkel 2015a). …”