Placing South Levantine Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic

In an area dedicated to mortuary activity near, albeit physically distinct from the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements of Teleilat Ghassul, excavations in the 1930s unearthed numerous small, stone-lined cist graves sunken into the soil, some in distinctive ladder-like arrangements. Several of those ladder-like arrangements apparently represent the earliest inhumations found within the boundaries of that cemetery. This paper compares those early burials to similar ladder-like burials found at three additional sites in the southern Levant, with comments on their chrono-cultural ascriptions. It further suggests a significant change in mortuary behavior, which prior to that time, saw interments within settlements, beneath and/or directly adjacent to domiciles. Accordingly those four concentrations of cist graves are likely the earliest evidence for the tradition of interring the dead in distinct areas beyond settlements in what may be described as planned cemeteries or necropoli. This paper discusses the totality of the archaeological evidence from those four aggregates of burials presently available. As those specialized burials are completely devoid of grave goods or associated artifacts, based on their stratigraphic associations they are ascribed to a to a very late phase of Neolithic (LN) or an early Chalcolithic phase (EC) that may be termed an LN/EC horizon. Unfortunately, that lack of associated material culture does not allow for any more precise chrono-cultural ascription.