Early maceheads in the southern Levant: A "Chalcolithic" hallmark in Neolithic context

Maceheads have long been acknowledged as a characteristic feature of groundstone assemblages of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods of the southern Levant, and as indicators of warfare and ritual activity, and symbols of rule. The data presented here suggest that maceheads made their first appearance within the social and economic context of the later parts of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and early phases of the Pottery Neolithic (Yarmukian culture, ca. 6400-5800 CAL B.C.) of the southern Levant; from there they found their way into sites of the Pottery Neolithic Jericho IX/Lodian (ca. 5900-5600 CAL B.C.) and Wadi Rabah (ca. 5700-5200 CAL B.C.) cultures, and subsequently into Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements.