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‘Atiqot 104 (2021)
ISBN 2948-040X
Khirbat el-‘Umdan: A Site from the Chalcolithic Period (Ghassulian Culture) at Bet Shemesh
(with a contribution by Elisabetta Boaretto)
(Hebrew, pp. 1*–12*; English summary, pp. 237–238)
Ron Be’eri
Keywords: Judean Shephelah, economy, orchards, livestock, trade, metallurgy, Negev, Be’er Sheva‘ Valley
A small excavation near Khirbat el-‘Umdan in the lower Judean Shephelah exposed stone floors bearing remains from the Late Chalcolithic period. The rich finds from the excavation comprise pottery vessels, such as V-shaped bowls, large basins, store jars, holemouths, churns and cornets, and a fragment of a zoomorphic figurine; groundstone vessels; flint tools, including many sickle blades; and a cash of three copper axes and a copper-alloy macehead. Also found were some 30 burned olive stones and animal skeletal remains. It seems that the settlement at the site existed for a short period in the first phase of the Late Chalcolithic period, a date further supported by three Carbon-14 dates.