(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN — Unfortunately, there is little evidence of copper objects found in the northern region of the southern Levant, said an American archaeologist, adding that the most northern site to yield objects is the Peki'in Cave site (Upper Galilee), where four objects were encountered.
'They likely date to the latest use of the cave. There is a small hoard of copper objects found at the site of Meser near the western entrance to Nahal 'Iron [the Megiddo Pass], which has been suggested to be a 'foundation deposit' below a sausage-shaped house of the Early Bronze Age I [3300-3,000BC],' said Eliot Braun.
Regarding the cave, it is karst (limestone) cavity that is one of many in the region of Upper Galilee that is full of such formations, Braun continued, adding that it was originally used for occupation, but latterly became a place for burial.
'The earliest use dates to prior to the Late Chalcolithic and is not well known because of the problem of excavating a cave with such heavy mineral deposits that left a layer of accretion, virtually cementing objects in place,' Braun noted.
The pottery includes ossuaries with three dimensional decorations, including one that 'looks like a head of the cartoon character Homer Simpson', Braun underlined, adding that there are all manner of wonderful depictions and bowls, many decorated with painting.
'An associated occupation, above surface, seems to have been located nearby, but is mostly in private land and within the village of Peki'in. Another site, Marj Raba, is in the Upper Galilee, but as far as I know there is no evidence of metal from it. In the Huleh Valley there are two sites, Tell Te'o, which yielded evidence of a well-preserved Chalcolithic occupation with several houses and storage facilities, but no metal,' Braun underlined.
Moreover, the pottery is quite different from the southern Chalcolithic and seems to have antecedents in Late Neolithic styles, where red burnishing was common, the archaeologist claimed.
'This ware seems to be localised to the northern Hula Valley, a site near southern Lebanon, but nothing more is known of that period at the site. More extensive work in the region will undoubtedly yield more evidence of Chalcolithic occupation there,' Braun underscored.
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