The geochemical evidence from basaltic rock tools in the southern Levant: Reconstruction of trade and exchange systems during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I periods in Israel

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The overriding objective of the proposed study is to contribute to the understanding of the social and economic mechanisms behind long-distance trade and exchange during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I periods of the southern Levant (ca. 4500-2950 CalBC). We focus on vessels, potter's wheels and spindle whorls that were selectively made from basaltic rock, which owns the potential of a clear geochemical characterisation, and thus serves as an ideal instrument for reconstructing trade and exchange systems, as well as to determine the tools' provenance. Furthermore, the conspicuous selection of basalt as raw material for these tool types indicates a preference obviously beyond its mere material properties. The use of basaltic rocks often meant favouring non-local raw material, which raises essential questions regarding the socio-functional significance of this raw material, travel distances, trade routes and the nature of the social and economic mechanisms by which these items were exchanged. Selected tools from different Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I sites in Israel will undergo a detailed archaeological analysis, be documented and sampled to define their geochemical fingerprints. The artefact samples will be analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), electron microprobe (EMP) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), to test the inter- and intra-site variability of the basaltic raw material used, dependent on tool type and dating, and to identify possible exchange localities and distributions centres. As the investigation of potential raw materials sources is imperative for conclusive provenance determinations, an intensive geochemical study of potential basalt sources will play a major role. Based on the results of the artefacts' analyses, our own preliminary geochemical data from geological samples and data from published sources, we will constrain possible basalt deposits and sample these potential raw materials in high resolution. These rock samples will be analyzed geochemically by XRF/EMP and LA-ICP-MS. We aim to work out detailed spatial differences among the basaltic rocks in the field, which will serve as the necessary background on which we will identify raw material sources and locate quarry and production sites. All analyses will be supported by GIS-based evaluations to visualise the distribution of the raw materials used for the artefacts as well as the geochemical-mineralogical variability of the potentially extracted basaltic rocks in the field. This interdisciplinary approach in its methodological extent was up to now never applied neither in Israel nor in any other (published) archaeometric provenance study, and represents true fundamental research. The project will produce data and results, which will be an essential input for future research, not only in Chalcolithic/EBI basaltic raw material trade and exchange systems in Israel, but also for adjacent regions and other periods.