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‘Atiqot 61 (2009)
ISBN 2948-040X
Late Chalcolithic Burial Remains and Early Bronze Age I Dwelling Remains from a Karstic Cave at Shoham (Northeast)
(with contributions by Yossi Nagar and Nili Liphschitz)
(pp. 1–18)
Edwin C.M. van den Brink
Keywords: burial, ceramic ossuaries, punctured decoration, Byzantine winepress
Since the 1990s, excavations at Shoham, located at the eastern edge of the Lod Valley, yielded several karstic caves used for burial and dwelling during the Late Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze Age. One such cave is described in this article. The finds included, inter alia, sherds of rectangular or domiform ceramic ossuaries, V-shaped bowls and some fenestrated pedestal bowls, dating to the Late Chalcolithic period, as well as pottery types typical of Late EB I. The cave is part of a large system of cemeteries comprising karstic caves, which served the population living in nearby settlements on the foothills of the Samaria anticline.