The End of the Chalcolithic Period in the South Jordan Valley: New 14C Determinations from Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan
Open accessAbstract
This article reports on 12 new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates from the latest phases of the Chalcolithic period occupation (late 5th millennium cal BC) at Teleilat Ghassul, type site for the south Levantine Ghassulian Chalcolithic culture. The new AMS dates from Teleilat Ghassul favor an amendment to a previous suggestion (Bourke et al. 2001), that all significant occupation at the site had ceased by 4000/3900 cal BC. This end-date should now be amended to 3900/3800 cal BC. Follow-up statistical modelling sourced to published 14 C data drawn from a wide selection of south Levantine Chalcolithic period sites (Bourke 2001; Burton and Levy 2001) raises the possibility that Chalcolithic period occupation had ceased at virtually all major centers by 3800/3700 cal BC. This, in turn, suggests that the new data bearing on the end-date for occupation at Teleilat Ghassul may reflect a more widespread horizon of abandonment in the southern Levant.
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Early dates for the beginning of EB IA are consistent with high 14C dates obtained for the preceding Late Chalcolithic.
“These early dates for the beginning of the EB IA are consistent with the high 14 C dates obtained for the preceding Late Chalcolithic”
From Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology (2012) · cites this paper as Bourke et al. 2004
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- Authors
- Bourke, S., Zoppi, U., Meadows, J., Hua, Q., & Gibbins, S.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (AU)
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Bourke, Stephen
- Venue
- Radiocarbon
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2004
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 315-323
- ISSN
- 0033-8222 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-5755
- OpenAlex
- W2138026966
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Radiocarbon (publishedVersion)
- UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
- Keywords
- Chalcolithic, Southern Levant, radiocarbon chronology, abandonment
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