9 - Structured deposition and depositional structures

Summary

The funerary landscape of the Chalcolithic period of the southern Levant is diverse and, at times, quite confusing. Regularities are not always forthcoming and a sense of disorientation is never far away. Moreover, typological distinctions do not always imply differences in structure, and sometimes the same symbols were used differently. The previous chapters set out to define and characterize the nature of Chalcolithic funerary institutions in so far as they are embodied in formal cemeteries. Altogether, four elemental types were defined:

1. single-cave cemeteries;

2. multiple-cave cemeteries;

3. cemeteries in large, active karstic systems;

4. mortuary-structure cemeteries.

To an extent, these cemetery types are ideals for which variations are readily observed, manifested along structural (e.g. Sha'ar Efrayim), typological (e.g. Kissufim Road) or temporal (single- and multiple-cave cemeteries) lines. Nevertheless, it is assumed that their distinctiveness also implies that they embody different ideas and facilitate different discourses. The task ahead is accordingly to disclose and articulate the concepts involved and to appreciate the variability and range of the mortuary institutions of the Chalcolithic period.

Discussion will progress through a number of issues. First, questions pertaining to the manipulation of human remains will be discussed; this will be followed by an overview of the cemeteries as components within a broader context of Chalcolithic funerary behaviour; and, finally, an analysis and interpretation will be offered of the structural and ideological features.