THE DEVELOPING CRAFT OF BONE TOOL TECHNOLOGY AT CHALCOLITHIC TELEILAT GHASSUL, JORDAN

Abstract

The Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic site of Tuleilat Ghassul is located on the northeastern corner of the Dead

Sea and was occupied throughout the Fifth Millennium BCE. It is the type-site of the Ghassulian culture and,

covering 20 hectares, is one of the largest Chalcolithic sites in the southern Levant. This paper analyses the

worked bone objects from Hennessy’s (1967-77) and Bourke’s (1994-99) Sydney University excavations at

Ghassul, currently stored in the Salt, Amman Citadel and Yarmouk University museums in Jordan. The aim

is to investigate the production methods and describe specific form/function combinations of worked bone

tools at Ghassul and to contextualize the assemblage through comparative analyses with contemporary arte

facts recovered in Jordan.

Results display a variety bone objects categories like pointed tools, spatulas and decorated objects.

Stereomicroscopic analysis documents different production processes on bone objects surfaces. Bone objects

at Teleilat Ghassul illustrate the development of bone crafting during Chalcolithic period.