The cemetery as a symbol: A reconsideration of chalcolithic burial caves in the Southern Levant

The deposits of disarticulated human remains in caves, often associated with designated ceramic receptacles, is one of the most striking hallmarks of the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant. Owing however to their perplexing variability, this phenomenon is still poorly understood. Approaching these sites as cemeteries and social institutions, this article presents a reconsideration of their structures, temporal trajectories and meanings. It is argued that at least two regional subgroups can be distinguished, differing in the identities they structure, their concerns and their underlying logic.