The Archaeology of the Daily Grind: Ground Stone Tools and Food Production in the Southern Levant. Near Eastern Archaeology 67/2: 108-117 (2025)

The life-history of basalt ground stone tools from early urban domestic contexts: A chronicle from the EBA III of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel

Recent archaeological excavations at the early urban settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel present the opportunity to reconstruct the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts of an early urban domestic neighbourhood. Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills and the southern coastal plain of central Israel. Survey and excavations over the last two decades demonstrated that it was a major urban centre for the region during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) III. At the eastern end of the site, a neighbourhood of commoner residences (some perhaps associated with mercantile activities) have been exposed. This paper describes and analyses the basalt ground stone tools found in association with this domestic neighbourhood. It seeks to establish the nature of production, distribution, consumption, and discard associated with ground stone tools within a domestic context. The study involved several forms of analysis including typology, macroscopic observations, and excavation data. It is suggested that basalt sources from the northeastern regions of the southern Levant were exploited for the small-scale production of basalt artefacts by non-specialised craftsmen. These commodities were then transported in more or less finished form to Tell es-Safi/Gath where they were further redistributed or sold to the settlement residents. The residents of the Tell es-Safi/Gath neighbourhood utilised the basalt artefacts for traditionally domestic tasks, and ultimately intentionally discarded or recycled them in a few depositional contexts. In summary, this paper presents a unique investigation into the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts discovered in the EB III occupation levels of Tell es-Safi/Gath. It further demonstrates the potential of ground stone tools for understanding the behaviour and daily life of non-elite people.

Beller, J. A., Greenfield, H. J., Shai, I., and Maeir, A. M. 2016The Life-History of Basalt Ground Stone Artefacts from Early Urban Contexts: A View from the EB III of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Journal of Lithic Studies3(3).

Recent archaeological excavations at the early urban settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel present the opportunity to reconstruct the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts of an early urban domestic neighbourhood. Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills and the southern coastal plain of central Israel. Survey and excavations over the last two decades demonstrated that it was a major urban centre for the region during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) III. At the eastern end of the site, a neighbourhood of commoner residences (some perhaps associated with mercantile activities) have been exposed. This paper describes and analyses the basalt ground stone tools found in association with this domestic neighbourhood. It seeks to establish the nature of production, distribution, consumption, and discard associated with ground stone tools within a domestic context. The study involved several forms of analysis including typology, macroscopic observations, and excavation data. It is suggested that basalt sources from the northeastern regions of the southern Levant were exploited for the small-scale production of basalt artefacts by non-specialised craftsmen. These commodities were then transported in more or less finished form to Tell es-Safi/Gath where they were further redistributed or sold to the settlement residents. The residents of the Tell es-Safi/Gath neighbourhood utilised the basalt artefacts for traditionally domestic tasks, and ultimately intentionally discarded or recycled them in a few depositional contexts. In summary, this paper presents a unique investigation into the life-history of basalt ground stone artefacts discovered in the EB III occupation levels of Tell es-Safi/Gath. It further demonstrates the potential of ground stone tools for understanding the behaviour and daily life of non-elite people.

Weinstein-Evron, M. Kaufman, D. and N. Bird-David (2001). Rolling stones: Basalt implements as evidence for trade/exchange in the Levantine Epipaleolithic. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Societies 31:25-42.

Basalt bifacial tools production in the Southern Levant: A glance at the quarry and workshop site of Giv’at Kipod, Israel. Antiquity 82:367-376.

The authors describe the discovery of a Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic basalt axe factory in the Manasseh Hills in Israel and suggest it had a primary role in the region for the production of these functional and symbolic tools. The form of discarded roughouts and flakes is used to deduce the principal eventual product and its sequence of manufacture.

Beller, J. A., Greenfield, H. J., Fayek, M., Shai, I., and Maeir, A. M. 2016. Provenance and Exchange of Basalt Ground Stone Artefacts of EB III Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports9:226–37.

Ongoing excavations at the Early Bronze Age III settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel have recovered a small assemblage of basalt ground stone objects in a residential neighbourhood. As high quality basalt is not found within the Shephelah (the Judean foothills), the occurrence of basalt artefacts at settlements in this region has frequently been cited as evidence of movement of raw material or the exchange of commodities within the southern Levant. However, only a limited number of studies have connected basalt artefacts with sources through geochemical provenance from this area of Israel. Using the geochemical fingerprints from previous studies and an XRF analysis , we attempt to identify the source of origin of nineteen basalt grinding stones using a meta-analysis of previously identified geological sources in the region and surrounding areas. The results demonstrate that the basalt artefacts originated from a wide variety of sources, including the eastern Dead Sea, Jezreel Valley, and Galilee-Golan regions, thereby supporting previously held hypotheses about the movement of basalt commodities from sources within the immediate region. No artefacts were linked to more distant sources (e.g. Egypt, Sinai). These data provide evidence that EB urban centres, such as Tell es-Safi/Gath, were socioeconomically connected even for quotidian commodities to other regions of the southern Levant through some kind of system for the non-local exchange of traditionally domestic commodities.

Basalt bifacial tool production in the southern Levant: a glance at the quarry and workshop site of Giv'at Kipod, Israel

Antiquity, 2008

The authors describe the discovery of a Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic basalt axe factory in the Manasseh Hills in Israel and suggest it had a primary role in the region for the production of these functional and symbolic tools. The form of discarded roughouts and flakes is used to deduce the principal eventual product and its sequence of manufacture.

Provenance and exchange of basalt grinding stones of EB III Tell es-Safi/ Gath, Israel

Ongoing excavations at the Early Bronze Age III settlement of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel have recovered a small assemblage of basalt ground stone objects in a residential neighbourhood. As high quality basalt is not found within the Shephelah (the Judean foothills), the occurrence of basalt artefacts at settlements in this region has frequently been cited as evidence of movement of raw material or the exchange of commodities within the southern Levant. However, only a limited number of studies have connected basalt artefacts with sources through geochemical provenance from this area of Israel. Using the geochemical fingerprints from previous studies and an XRF analysis , we attempt to identify the source of origin of nineteen basalt grinding stones using a meta-analysis of previously identified geological sources in the region and surrounding areas. The results demonstrate that the basalt artefacts originated from a wide variety of sources, including the eastern Dead Sea, Jezreel Valley, and Galilee-Golan regions, thereby supporting previously held hypotheses about the movement of basalt commodities from sources within the immediate region. No artefacts were linked to more distant sources (e.g. Egypt, Sinai). These data provide evidence that EB urban centres, such as Tell es-Safi/Gath, were socioeconomically connected even for quotidian commodities to other regions of the southern Levant through some kind of system for the non-local exchange of traditionally domestic commodities.

FINDING THE SOURCE: Locating Quarries and Workshops for Basaltic Milling Implements and Vessels from the Southern Levant

2007

The use of the concept of Châine d’Operatoire as a tool to enrich our understanding of the archaeological record has led to recent interest in looking more carefully both at everyday household processing tools and vessels and ceremonial items used in sacred contexts (Ebeling 2001). Here we focus on the earliest portion of the Châine d’Operatoire for basaltic household processing implements and vessels: the stone chosen for the manufacture of these objects: where it is on the landscape, its acquisition, the manner in which it was shaped, and its transport from quarry sources to markets and into households. Further, we look even more deeply at the “inside story”: the geological characteristics of the stone and why it was chosen for implements and vessels, even at considerable economic cost. Schneider (2002a, 2002b) hypothesized that, in relatively sedentary societies, the stone tools that were sought after for intensive and repetitive tasks were made from stone that had superior functional characteristics. Even with mobile groups such as hunter/gatherers and pastoral nomads, stone that had characteristics that made it functionally superior to other local stone was traded and sought after (Rosen and Schneider 2001; Abadi-Reiss and Schneider n.d.).

Rosenberg, D., Shimelmitz, R., Gluhak, T.M. and Assaf, A. 2014. Geochemistry of basalt handaxes from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Ma‛ayan Baruch, Israel – A perspective on raw material selection. Archaeometry. doi: 10.1111/arcm.12096

The Upper Acheulian site of Ma'ayan Baruch, northern Israel, is primarily known for its exceptionally large assemblage of thousands of flint handaxes. Within this assemblage, a minute collection of basalt handaxes was retrieved as well, representing particular technological choice within the Upper Acheulian. Using geochemistry, we were able to determine that these basalt handaxes were not made from local basalt, but from different sources. Thus, the use of basalt at the site does not represent an ad hoc choice of using local raw material but, rather, a more complex technological choice pertaining to variability in raw material selection in the Lower Palaeolithic Levant.

The Geochemistry of Basalt Handaxes from the Lower Palaeolithic Site of Ma‛ayan Baruch, Israel-A Perspective on Raw Material Selection

Archaeometry, 2014

The Upper Acheulian site of Ma'ayan Baruch, northern Israel, is primarily known for its exceptionally large assemblage of thousands of flint handaxes. Within this assemblage, a minute collection of basalt handaxes was retrieved as well, representing particular technological choice within the Upper Acheulian. Using geochemistry, we were able to determine that these basalt handaxes were not made from local basalt, but from different sources. Thus, the use of basalt at the site does not represent an ad hoc choice of using local raw material but, rather, a more complex technological choice pertaining to variability in raw material selection in the Lower Palaeolithic Levant.