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Large-scale storage and storage symbolism in the ancient Near East: a clay silo model from Tel Tsaf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2017

Danny Rosenberg ,
Yosef Garfinkel  and
Florian Klimscha
Danny Rosenberg*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Ground Stone Tools Research, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khousy Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Yosef Garfinkel
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
Florian Klimscha
Affiliation:
German Archaeological Institute, Eurasia Department, Im Dol 2–6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Recent excavations at the protohistoric (5200–4600 cal BC) site of Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley (Israel) revealed an unusual clay model, found in a room surrounded by several large grain-storage silos. It provides the first insight into the manner in which the superstructures of the silos at Tel Tsaf may have been constructed. More importantly, this find adds a new dimension to understanding the link between large-scale storage and the symbolism related to grain storage, burial and the regeneration of life. It also illustrates the early appearance of distinct strategies for controlling the means of production and for accumulating wealth—factors that led to the creation of social hierarchies in the ancient Near East.

Keywords

IsraelTel TsafChalcolithicsilostoragesymbolism
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 91 , Issue 358 , August 2017 , pp. 885 - 900
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017 

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