Shifting Subsistence Patterns : some Ideas about the End of the Chalcolithic in the southern Levant

Abstract

This paper explores the current evidence for the end of the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. It will be shown that sites in the Beersheva region survived for longer than Teleilat Ghassul, which still remains the "type site "for the Chalcolithic. Possibly certain other major sites, like Abu Hamid, also survived slightly longer. It is my contention that there are environmental and subsistence factors which may explain this. In particular it is argued here that olive production may have been more significant to the Chalcolithic - EBA transition than has been acknowledged to date. This paper attempts to synthesize some recent surveys in order to present a fuller picture of the region at the end of the Chalcolithic. New data from Jordan, including radiometric dates from Teleilat Ghassul and Abu Hamid are also presented.