Canaanean Blade Production at Fazael 4 and the Tal`at `Amreh Quarry

Katia Zutovski, Shay Bar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study explores the multi-stage specialized production of long and standard Canaanean flint blades for composite sickles in light of recent findings from the Early Bronze Age Canaanean blade workshop at Fazael 4, and the uncovering of a related flint quarry at Tal`at `Amreh Mountain. The new discovery presents a rare opportunity to explore all stages of production from raw material acquisition to the finished Canaanean blades. This study addresses methodological aspects of establishing a link between a quarry and a workshop, efforts invested in flint procurement and transportation, the scale and organization of production, and the economic benefits of the Canaanean blade industry as a specialized production trajectory.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)23-37
Number of pages15
JournalLithic Technology
Volume47
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We are grateful to Haggay Cohen-Klonymus, Noam Cohen-Klonymus, Sonia Pinsky, Nadav Biran, and Zenia Demchuk who kindly volunteered for the survey and the climbing. We express our deep appreciation to Heeli Schechter and Dr. Ron Shimelmitz, who read an early draft of this paper and made important and useful comments. We thank Sasha Flit for the studio photographs and Sapir Haad for the drawing. We express our gratitude to Sharon Assaf for editing of this text and her practical advice. This research would not have been possible without the financial support of the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.

Funding Information:
We are grateful to Haggay Cohen-Klonymus, Noam Cohen-Klonymus, Sonia Pinsky, Nadav Biran, and Zenia Demchuk who kindly volunteered for the survey and the climbing. We express our deep appreciation to Heeli Schechter and Dr. Ron Shimelmitz, who read an early draft of this paper and made important and useful comments. We thank Sasha Flit for the studio photographs and Sapir Haad for the drawing. We express our gratitude to Sharon Assaf for editing of this text and her practical advice. This research would not have been possible without the financial support of the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • Canaanean blade technology
  • Early Bronze Age
  • Flint quarry
  • flint workshop
  • southern Levant
  • specialization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology

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