West Asia (6000–3500 BC)
60-519: Europe (5500–2200 BC) Central Asia (3700–1700 BC) South Asia (4300–1800 BC) China (5000–2900 BC) Ghassulian refers to a culture and an archaeological stage dating to the Middle and Late Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant (c. 4400 – c. 3500 BC). Its type-site , Teleilat Ghassul ( Teleilat el-Ghassul , Tulaylat al-Ghassul ), is located in the eastern Jordan Valley near
120-421: A Late Neolithic period and was succeeded by an Early Bronze I (EB I) period. Little is understood of the transition from the latest Chalcolithic to the earliest EB I, but there was apparently some transition of ceramic, flint-knapping and metallurgical traditions, especially in the southern regions of the southern Levant. The dates for Ghassulian are dependent upon 14C (radiocarbon) determinations, which suggest that
180-405: A chalice - a bowl set on a high, fenestrated , base (creating the impression that the bowl is standing on several legs that are connected at the bottom). It is very likely that these sets of unique vessels were used for ritualistic purposes. They were not manufactured on site, but rather imported, probably from the northern parts of contemporary Israel or from southern Syria , from the region of
240-667: A living space. Houses of this type are best suited for a climate where the days are hot and the nights are cold, since the temperature in them remains even throughout the day. These houses had ventilation shafts which mostly drew air from the western side of the settlement. Many small ceramic bowls were discovered during excavations - those were probably used as primitive lamps, since these subterranean houses had been immersed in permanent darkness and needed to be artificially illuminated. Most of these underground houses had been abandoned by their owners. Houses with sealed storage spaces containing neatly arranged house appliances were discovered on
300-520: A name applied to a Chalcolithic culture of the southern Levant, is derived from the eponymic site of Teleilat (el) Ghassul, northeast of the Dead Sea in the Great Rift Valley. The name has been used as a synonym for Chalcolithic in general and sometimes for late phases, associated with late strata at that site and other sites considered to be contemporary. More recently it has come to be associated with
360-616: A regional cultural phenomenon (defined by sets of artifacts) in what is today central and southern Israel , the Palestinian territories in the West Bank , and the central area of western Jordan . Other phases of the Chalcolithic, associated with various regions of the Levant, are Qatifian and Timnian (arid zones) and Golanian. The use of the name varies from scholar to scholar. The main culture of
420-517: A shallow depression that served as a yard. Most of the rooms contained storage spaces dug in their floors which the residents kept covered with large stone slabs. Charred grains of food crops were discovered in some of them. Many rooms also contained pits of different sizes, some of which had been sealed with plaster, which indicates that they had been used for storing water. Most of the floors of these rooms were found covered in ash, pottery sherds , animal bones, etc., indicating these houses were used as
480-611: Is an archaeological site in the Valley of Beersheba that contains remains dated to the Chalcolithic period. It is located on the northern bank of the Beersheba Creek, on the southern outskirts of Beersheba in the Negev desert of southern Israel, at a location where water could probably have been obtained by digging wells. The culture discovered on this site and on a number of other sites in
540-543: Is hard to determine the time of the Ghassulian settlement in the region, and whether or not they had evolved out of local, pre-Ghassulian, populations (such as the Besorian culture). It could generally be said that most of these settlements date to the 2nd half of the 5th millennium BC, and that they usually existed for only a short period of time, with the exception of Teleilat el-Ghassul, where 8 successive layers of occupation from
600-480: Is naturally available in the area of Beersheba, so it appears that the ore was brought here from Wadi Feynan , in southern Jordan, and possibly also from Timna , where an ancient copper mine was discovered. It was attributed by Beno Rothenberg to the Chalcolithic era. The Ghassulian, if used as a synonym for the entire Chalcolithic period and not, as more appropriately, just to the Late Chalcolithic, followed
660-599: Is one of the Ghassulian phases of that site; for more details, please read Teleilat el Ghassul#Excavations ) . Animal husbandry was the main sources of subsistence for the residents of Bir Abu Matar. They bred sheep , goats , cattle and pigs . An examination of the animal bones discovered on the site reveals that the average age of death of the local farm animals had been high. This indicates that secondary use of these animals - for instance, for dairy production - had been considerable. The pottery assemblages also point to
SECTION 10
#1732848181501720-466: The Beersheba culture (a Ghassulian subculture) lived in underground dwellings, a unique phenomenon in the archaeological history of the region, or in trapezoidal houses of mud-brick . Those were often built partially underground (on top of collapsed underground dwellings) and were covered with remarkable polychrome wall paintings (one of the most notable examples being the 'Ghassulian Star'). Their pottery
780-560: The Dnieper-Donets culture , and migrated northwest to the Baltic and Denmark, where they mixed with natives ( TRBK A and C). This may be correlated with the spread of Indo-European languages, known as the Kurgan hypothesis . Near the end of the period, another branch left many traces in the lower Danube area (culture of Cernavodă culture I), in what seems to have been another invasion. Meanwhile,
840-976: The Golan Heights or from the Hauran , where this stone is plentiful. The presence of similar sets of tools made from clay in other houses indicates that these basalt vessels may have also served as symbols of status, indicating an early phase of social stratification in Late Chalcolithic Levantine societies. Many different flint tools were discovered in Bir Abu Matar, mostly scrapers , tools for cutting and drills. Limestone tools and tools made of other types of hard stone were also manufactured locally - hoes , club heads, small discs, platters, figurines , pendants. Few bone tools were made or used in Bir Abu Matar - mostly picks, needles, combs and sickles. The large variety of objects and artifacts used by
900-555: The Negev had been settled a couple of centuries before the Beersheba Culture appeared. The settlements discovered in Bir Abu Matar belong to the Chalcolithic period, Beersheba Culture , and can be divided into 3 distinct settlement phases , each with its own particular architecture : the earliest settlers built underground dwellings, dug in the soft loess . Later, when some of these homes collapsed - their ceilings had caved in - new, semi-underground houses were built on top of
960-565: The little owl (Athene Noctua) and the long-eared owl (Asio otux). This period extended from c. 2500 BC to c. 1800 or 1700 BC (depending on the region). The dates are general for the whole of Europe, and the Aegean area was already fully in the Bronze Age. c. 2500 BC the new Catacomb culture , which originated from the Yamnaya peoples in the regions north and east of
1020-621: The Austro-Hungarian Empire in recent times. The rest of the Balkans was profoundly restructured after the invasions of the previous period but, with the exception of the Coțofeni culture in a mountainous region, none of them show any eastern (or presumably Indo-European) traits. The new Ezero culture , in Bulgaria, had the first traits of pseudo-bronze (an alloy of copper with arsenic ); as did
1080-524: The Black Sea. Some of these infiltrated Poland and may have played a significant but unclear role in the transformation of the culture of the Globular Amphorae into the new Corded Ware culture . In Britain, copper was used between the 25th and 22nd centuries BC, but some archaeologists do not recognise a British Chalcolithic because production and use was on a small scale. Around 2400 BC. this people of
1140-529: The Chalcolithic have been excavated, of which 6 are considered Ghassulian; and the earlier, pre-Ghassulian, layers are believed to belong to the Besorian culture. The total depth of these layers is 4.5 meters. The earliest evidence to the existence of a copper-industry in Israel was discovered in Bir abu Matar , near Beersheba , which specialized in copper production and the casting of copper tools and artifacts. No copper ore
1200-528: The Chalcolithic period in Israel is the Ghassulian culture, named after the name of its type-site , Teleilat el-Ghassul, located in the eastern part of the Jordan Rift Valley , opposite Jericho . Afterwards, many additional settlements, located in other archaeological sites, were identified as Ghassulian settlements. All these settlements had been built in areas that had not been previously inhabited, mainly on
1260-534: The Corded Ware replaced their predecessors and expanded to Danubian and Nordic areas of western Germany. One related branch invaded Denmark and southern Sweden ( Single Grave culture ), while the mid-Danubian basin, though showing more continuity, also displayed clear traits of new Indo-European elites ( Vučedol culture ). Simultaneously, in the west, the Artenac peoples reached Belgium. With the partial exception of Vučedol,
SECTION 20
#17328481815011320-628: The Danubian Lengyel culture absorbed its northern neighbours of the Czech Republic and Poland over a number of centuries, only to recede in the second half of the period. In Bulgaria and Wallachia (Southern Romania ), the Boian-Marica culture evolved into a monarchy with a clearly royal cemetery near the coast of the Black Sea. This model seems to have been copied later in the Tiszan region with
1380-651: The Danubian cultures, so buoyant just a few centuries ago, were wiped off the map of Europe. The rest of the period was the story of a mysterious phenomenon: the Beaker people . This group seems to have been of mercantile character and preferred being buried according to a very specific, almost invariable, ritual. Nevertheless, out of their original area of western Central Europe, they appeared only inside local cultures, so they never invaded and assimilated but rather went to live among those peoples, keeping their way of life. The rest of
1440-611: The Early Chalcolithic assemblages display all the hallmarks of the later Classic Ghassulian culture . – S.J. Bourke 31°51′39″N 35°38′26″E / 31.86083°N 35.64056°E / 31.86083; 35.64056 Chalcolithic Europe West Asia (6000–3500 BC) Europe (5500–2200 BC) Central Asia (3700–1700 BC) South Asia (4300–1800 BC) China (5000–2900 BC) The Chalcolithic (also Eneolithic, Copper Age) period of Prehistoric Europe lasted roughly from 5000 to 2000 BC, developing from
1500-504: The Ghassulian culture have been identified at numerous other sites in what is today southern Israel, especially in the region of Beersheba , where elaborate underground dwellings have been excavated. The Ghassulian culture correlates closely with the Amratian of Egypt and also seems to have affinities (e.g., the distinctive churns, or “bird vases”) with early Minoan culture in Crete. Ghassulian,
1560-628: The Iberian Peninsula: one in the Portuguese region of Estremadura (culture of Vila Nova de São Pedro ), strongly embedded in the Atlantic Megalithic culture; the other near Almería (SE Spain), centred on the large town of Los Millares , of Mediterranean character, probably affected by eastern cultural influxes ( tholoi ). Despite the many differences the two civilizations seemed to be in friendly contact and to have productive exchanges. In
1620-526: The Mediterranean basin, several cultures (most notably Chassey in SE France and La Lagozza in northern Italy) converged into a functional union, of which the most significant characteristic was the distribution network of honey-coloured flint . Despite this unity, the signs of conflicts are clear, as many skeletons show violent injuries. This was the time and area where Ötzi , a man whose well-preserved body
1680-524: The Megalithic super-culture , which extended from southern Sweden to southern Spain, including large parts of southern Germany. But the Mediterranean and Danubian groupings of the previous period appear to have been fragmented into many smaller pieces, some of them apparently backward in technological matters. After c. 2600 several phenomena prefigured the changes of the upcoming period. Large towns with stone walls appeared in two different areas of
1740-459: The Valley of Beersheba was named the Beersheba Culture . The settlements existed between c-4200 and c-4000 BC. The earth in this area is soft loess . One of the characteristics of the site, during the early phase of its settlement, was the construction of underground dwellings, dug in the earth. The site was first discovered and surveyed by David Alon, an Israeli archaeologist, in 1951. It
1800-462: The area of Dordogne ( Aquitaine , France), a new unexpected culture of bowmen appeared, the culture of Artenac , which would soon take control of western and even northern France and Belgium. In Poland and nearby regions, the putative Indo-Europeans reorganized and consolidated again with the culture of the Globular Amphoras. Nevertheless, the influence of many centuries in direct contact with
1860-532: The area, therefore it seems the ore was brought here from Wadi Feynan , in the southern Jordan Rift Valley , or, possibly, even from Timna , where an ancient mine was discovered, attributed by Beno Rothenberg to the Chalcolithic era. Many remains of copper ore, including several slag cores , have been found in Bir Abu Matar. Several kilograms of copper ore were discovered near a pair of flat flint stones that were probably used for grinding it. The ground material then received initial processing in regular ovens, and
Ghassulian - Misplaced Pages Continue
1920-438: The carriers of this culture were immigrants who had brought their own culture with them: all excavated sites represent an advanced stage of this culture, whereas no evidence of its nascent stages has been discovered, so far, anywhere in the region. This culture's characteristics indicate that they had connections with neighbouring regions and that their culture had not evolved in the southern Levant. Their origins are not known. It
1980-682: The centre of the Beaker Pottery returned to Bohemia, while in Iberia there was a decentralization of the phenomenon, with centres in Portugal but also in Los Millares and Ciempozuelos . [REDACTED] Media related to Copper Age in Europe at Wikimedia Commons Bir abu Matar 31°14′01.5″N 34°46′31″E / 31.233750°N 34.77528°E / 31.233750; 34.77528 Bir Abu Matar
2040-592: The continent remained mostly unchanged and in apparent peace. From c. 2300 BC the first Beaker Pottery appeared in Bohemia and expanded in many directions, but particularly westward, along the Rhone and the sea shores, reaching the culture of Vila Nova (Portugal) and Catalonia (Spain) as its limit. Simultaneously but unrelatedly, c. 2200 BC in the Aegean region, the Cycladic culture decayed, being substituted by
2100-461: The culture of Bodrogkeresztur . Labour specialization, economic stratification and possibly the risk of invasion may have been the reasons behind this development. The influx of early Troy (Troy I) is clear in both the expansion of metallurgy and social organization. In the western Danubian region (the Rhine and Seine basins) the culture of Michelsberg displaced its predecessor, Rössen . Meanwhile, in
2160-663: The first significant Aegean group: the Cycladic culture after c. 2800 BC . In the North, the supposedly Indo-European groups seemed to recede temporarily, suffering a strong cultural danubianization . In the East, the peoples of beyond the Volga ( Yamnaya culture ), surely eastern Indo-Europeans, ancestors of Iranians , took over southern Russia and Ukraine. In the West the only sign of unity comes from
2220-480: The floors of the rooms of the houses indicate that the locals produced an excess of food, beyond their immediate, everyday, needs. This is why they required a lot of storage space, and they also needed to protect it from rodents and from other pests, which is why those storage spaces were sealed with large slabs of stone. Signs of an extensive copper industry have been found in Bir Abu Matar, including remains of copper and of Malachite . There are no copper deposits in
2280-450: The houses from the previous occupational phases (subterranean and semi-subterranean). Of the houses belonging to this phase only the stone foundations have survived. The rooms were rectangular, with average dimensions of approximately 3 x 7 meters, with some reaching the length of 15 meters. Perrot estimated there was a connection between this phase and Level IV in Teleilat el Ghassul (which
2340-419: The importance of dairy in the lives of the locals: it includes butter churns shaped like waterskins and horn shaped goblets . Butter churns of this type are not present in assemblages postdating the Chalcolithic era. Grains of wheat and barley , and also of lentils , were discovered on the site. Grinding stones for grain have also been found. The presence of so many pits and storage spaces dug into
2400-504: The local population indicate that they had trading relationships with neighboring and with far away settlements. This is also consistent with the tendency of the various sites of the Berrsheba Culture to specialize in different types of industry. Basalt tools were imported from the north, probably from the Hauran . A large basalt bowl had been discovered in the Sea of Galilee , Copper ore from
2460-432: The metal had cooled off. No other metalworking instruments, nor instruments that could have been used for increasing the air flow inside the furnaces, were discovered in Bir Abu Matar. Several copper artifacts were found at the site, which had been probably manufactured locally, including several round club heads and various types of copper jewellery. Other copper tools - axes , plows and other instruments - were found on
Ghassulian - Misplaced Pages Continue
2520-483: The new palatine phase of the Minoan culture of Crete . The second phase of Beaker Pottery, from c. 2100 BC onwards, was marked by the displacement of the centre of this phenomenon to Portugal, inside the culture of Vila Nova. This new centre's influence reached to all southern and western France but was absent in southern and western Iberia, with the notable exception of Los Millares. After c. 1900 BC ,
2580-549: The northern edge of the Dead Sea , in modern Jordan . It was excavated in 1929-1938 and in 1959–1960, by the Jesuits . Basil Hennessy dug at the site in 1967 and in 1975–1977, and Stephen Bourke in 1994–1999. The Ghassulian stage was characterized by small hamlet settlements of mixed farming peoples, who had immigrated from the north and settled in the southern Levant - today's Jordan, Israel and Palestinian territories . People of
2640-549: The old ones. In the 3rd and final phase the settlers built their homes completely above ground. During all phases, houses usually contained one large central room connected to up to 10 other rooms located around it. The population had never exceeded 200 people. Bir Abu Matar was part of a system of settlements that had economical connections with each other. In addition to subsistence farming , each settlement tended to specialize in one particular branch of industry: in Bir Tzafad it
2700-575: The outskirts of populated areas. Thus, Chalcolithic settlements have been discovered in the Jordan Rift Valley, in the Israeli coastal plain and on its fringes, in the Judaean Desert , and in the northern and western Negev . On the other hand, it seems that people of the Chalcolithic period did not settle in the mountainous regions of Israel or in northern Israel. Several facts allow us to assume that
2760-549: The preceding Neolithic period and followed by the Bronze Age . It was a period of Megalithic culture, the appearance of the first significant economic stratification, and probably the earliest presence of Indo-European speakers. The economy of the Chalcolithic, even in the regions where copper was not yet used, was no longer that of peasant communities and tribes: some materials began to be produced in specific locations and distributed to wide regions. Mining of metal and stone
2820-426: The previous phase. These houses were round or oval in shape and had walls made of unburned mud bricks . On top of these walls four depressions were made, one in each corner. These depressions held wooden beams that supported a roof made of branches covered in clay. In the third phase of settlement, which consisted of two construction phases, houses were built above ground, on stone foundations that were laid on top of
2880-466: The shapes of bearded men, naked women, birds, miniature sickles and other objects, and were probably used for ritualistic purposes. They have holes at the top, indicating they were intended to be hanged by a cord. There are several phases of settlement followed by abandonment in Bir Abu Matar. The residents tended to neatly arrange their belongings in one of the storage spaces dug in the floor of their house, then seal that storage space and all rooms of
2940-503: The site. The finest basalt artifacts of the Chalcolithic era were found on the sites of the Beersheba Culture , one of which is Bir Abu Matar. As was mentioned before, many of the ancient residents of Bir Abu Matar had abandoned their homes, leaving their house appliances neatly sealed away in one of the house's storage spaces. In some of those homes, sets of three elegant basalt tools of impressive craftsmanship were discovered. Those consist of two large bowls, 30 - 50 cm in diameter, and
3000-410: The site. Their rooms had been sealed with large stone slabs. Many of these houses had never been re-occupied; they were found whole and still "locked up", during excavations. After the residents of the subterranean houses had abandoned them the site was re-settled, most likely by the same people. They built semi-subterranean houses in the pits left over after the collapse of the subterranean houses from
3060-648: The southwest, from, Wadi Feynan or from Timna and malachite from Wadi Feynan. Marine shells that were used for decoration point to the existence of trading relations with the Red Sea coastline and with the Mediterranean coastline. Huge shells were also found that could only have been imported from the Nile Valley ; also ivory statuettes that include motives found in artifacts from pre-dynastic Upper Egypt ( Amratian and Gerzean cultures). The statuettes are in
SECTION 50
#17328481815013120-452: The still-powerful Danubian peoples had greatly modified their culture. In the southwestern Iberian peninsula , owl -like plaques made of sandstone were discovered and dated to be crafted from 5500 to 4750 BP (Before Present). These are some of the most unique objects discovered in the Chalcolithic ( copper age ) cultural period. They have generally a head, two rounded eyes, and a body. Theses species were modeled after two owl species,
3180-530: The typical later Ghassulian began sometime around the mid-5th millennium and ended ca. 3800 BC. The transition from Late Ghassulian to EB I seems to have been ca. 3800-3500 BC. The Issue of the nature of the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Chalcolithic is re-examined in this article [...] The Late Neolithic assemblages are to be closely identified with earlier Neolithic norms, whereas
3240-406: Was ivory carving and in Bir Abu Matar - copper smelting and the production of copper instruments, artifacts and jewelry . Initially, the houses were made of one large rectangular room accessible by a horizontal entry tunnel. The ceilings of those houses soon collapsed, and the locals began building houses of a different type: those usually contained several round or oval rooms, the size of which
3300-417: Was about 3.5 x 4.0 meters. These houses were dug relatively deep under the surface, leaving a thick layer of soil between their ceiling and the ground above. All the rooms were connected by tunnels, at least one of which led to a vertical entry shaft, leading to the surface. These shafts sometimes had staircases built in them or carved out of the wall. Around the top of such entry shafts the residents usually dug
3360-603: Was excavated by the French archaeologist, Jean Perrot , between 1951 and 1960. Rescue excavations were carried out in Bir Abu Matar in the 1980s and in the early 1990s. A small park was later built on top of the site, which is now situated at the southernmost edge of Na'veh Ze'ev borough, in Beersheba. The Beersheba Culture is thought to be a phase, or a subculture, of the Ghassulian Culture , though other Ghassulian sites in
3420-586: Was found in the Alps, lived. Another significant development of this period was the Megalithic phenomenon spreading to most places of the Atlantic region, bringing with it agriculture to some underdeveloped regions existing there. This period extends along the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. Most significant is the reorganization of the Danubians into the powerful Baden culture , which extended more or less to what would be
3480-498: Was highly elaborate, including footed bowls and horn-shaped drinking goblets, indicating the cultivation of wine. Several samples display the use of sculptural decoration or of a reserved slip (a clay and water coating partially wiped away while still wet). The Ghassulians were a Chalcolithic culture as they used stone tools but also smelted copper. Funerary customs show evidence that they buried their dead in stone dolmens and also practised secondary burial . Settlements belonging to
3540-437: Was later smelted in special furnaces . These furnaces were round, less than one meter in diameter, with evident signs of smelting still seen on their inside when they were discovered. They were made of earth reinforced with straw. At the end of the smelting process the copper was distilled in small bowls, prepared especially for this purpose. It seems the molten copper was then poured into earthen molds which were shattered after
3600-627: Was particularly developed in some areas, along with the processing of those materials into valuable goods. From c. 5000 BC to 3000 BC, copper started being used first in Southeast Europe , then in Eastern Europe, and Central Europe. From c. 3500 onwards, there was an influx of people into Eastern Europe from the Pontic-Caspian steppe ( Yamnaya culture ), creating a plural complex known as Sredny Stog culture . This culture replaced
#500499