The characteristics and significance of prestige goods during the Early Bronze Age period of the southern Levant: The particular case of the four-handled basalt vessels phenomenon

The production of prestige objects is one of the hallmarks of the Early Bronze Age period in the southern Levant. The manufacture of notable numbers of highly invested basalt vessels during this time span forms an important aspect of the prestige good industries. The present paper deals with one of the facets of this prestige industry, the appearance of highly stylized basalt vessels bearing multiple handles. In this paper we identify patterns related to these invested vessels and discuss aspects of their chronology, distribution, typology, morphology, production, use and discard patterns. It is suggested that their significance was primarily bound with their value as special prestige objects and with the role they fulfilled in the public sphere during the Early Bronze Age period in the southern Levant.