Ha-Gosherim

THE SITE

Ha-Gosherim is located on a broad terrace near the kibbutz of the same name in the northern Ḥula Valley. The terrace, consisting of a travertine base covered by a 1.5 m-thick layer of soil and accumulations from ancient settlements, rises some 20–30 m above Lake Ḥula. The abundance of flowing water and alluvial soil in the area enabled the inhabitants to earn their livelihood through the cultivation of irrigated crops, grazing, fishing, and hunting.

EXCAVATIONS

J. Perrot, who conducted a survey of the site in the 1950s, was the first to realize its importance to the study of the prehistory of the southern Levant. Surveys conducted by A. Assaf added much to our knowledge of the site and yielded a rich and comprehensive assemblage, now kept at the Museum of Prehistory in Ma‘ayan Barukh. The size of the site as determined by Assaf’s surveys is c. 20 a.

In 1978 and 1980, a pilot excavation was conducted at the site by T. Noy on behalf of the Israel Museum. During the summer seasons of 1996 and 1997, N. Getzov, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, conducted an extensive salvage excavation of a 0.5-a. plot near the site’s southwestern corner. Four areas (from west to east: W, M, N, and E) were investigated as part of this excavation. Six occupation strata were revealed, their distribution indicating that the main part of the settlement moved over time and that the settled area always extended over part of the site only. The excavation results indicate that the settlement attained considerable importance in the early Chalcolithic period.

EXCAVATION RESULTS

STRATUM VI (THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC C PERIOD). The settlement of stratum VI was constructed on flat virgin soil. The main remains from the period in question were found in three settlement layers in areas M and N, located in the center of the excavated area. The scant remnants of walls cannot be associated with entire buildings, but do provide considerable information concerning construction methods. Most of the stratum’s buildings had straight walls whose foundations consisted of a single course of two stone rows with a superstructure probably made of perishable materials or mud bricks, although the excavation produced no remnants of bricks that could be ascribed to stratum VI. Furthermore, foundations of circular buildings consisting of a single row of stones were found in area N, an indication that the walls’ upper parts were probably made of organic material rather than brick. A segment of a 2.5 m-wide curved stone embankment was also found in area N.

There were two floor types. Floors inside the buildings were of crushed travertine, while in open courtyards floors were paved with broken pieces of basalt. Two lower stepped grinding stones were found next to a wall on a basalt floor in locus 122, indicating that grinding activity took place in this open courtyard. In all, several dozen typical Neolithic grinding stones, now on display at the museum in Ma‘ayan Barukh, were found at the site in stratum VI contexts.

Next to the embankment in area N was found a burial of a female individual in the fetal position. Graves and single bones constituting the remains of at least six individuals were discovered elsewhere on the site.

The finds in this stratum include stepped grinding stones, stone discs, many obsidian artifacts, sickle blades with deep and dense denticulation, arrowheads, and flint axes, including fan-shaped axes with a polished blade wider than the axis of the tool. The flint tools and their production technology were the main evidence used to date stratum VI to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. No evidence, for example, was found for the use of naviform cores typical of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period.

STRATUM V (THE POTTERY NEOLITHIC PERIOD). Near the western end of the excavated zone, in area M, the excavators unearthed a gully that cut through the settlement strata to virgin soil as a result of erosion after the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period settlement was abandoned. The site was reinhabited at the end of the Pottery Neolithic period, when buildings were erected at the bottom of the gully, and floors and work surfaces were built over the preceding habitation levels on the gully’s sides. Three settlement stages can be inferred from the remains.

The buildings of stratum V were composed of curved and straight walls with foundations consisting of a single row of stones. Since such foundations are inconsistent with brick superstructures, it may be assumed that the buildings were largely constructed of organic materials. Only scant building remains have survived; however, discernable in the center of the gully was a compact group of four buildings, separated from each other by narrow spaces and dated to stage Vb. Their floors were of broken pebbles, potsherds, bones, and in several cases, compressed earth. It would appear that the pebbles, potsherds, and bones were used for outdoor pavements intended to prevent erosion by rain—a phenomenon also seen in stratum VI, but with the addition of recycled household waste.

Found between the buildings of stage Vb was a semi-circular floor of crushed travertine (locus 212), c. 1.7 m in diameter. Two flat elongated stones set on their sides were erected on the margins of this floor, together with four other stones. The six stones, which form a semi-circle open to the north, were probably cult stelae. Another item indicative of the spiritual life of the inhabitants of stratum V is an ox skull buried under the wall of a nearby building.

Items in the flint assemblage deserving special mention are sickle blades, their edges and most of their surface shaped by bifacial pressure flaking, and very small arrowheads. The unusually rich pottery assemblage is clearly related to post-Yarmukian assemblages at Jericho (stratum IX) and Lod, and the Pottery Neolithic assemblages at Yiftaḥel and Tel Te’o.

STRATUM IV (THE EARLY CHALCOLITHIC PERIOD). During stratum IV the site consisted of compact clusters of buildings, of which only the floors and one- or two-course stone foundations have survived. It is likely that the foundations supported brick walls. The excavations unearthed two such clusters of buildings, a smaller one at the edge of the western part of the excavated area and a larger one in the eastern part, not far from the center of the site. Between these two clusters was an open area with remains mainly contemporary to stratum VI.

Within the eastern cluster of buildings at least four stages (IVa–IVd) can be distinguished. Only scant remains of stage IVa have survived, due to prolonged exposure near the surface, and several places yielded remains of stages IVc and IVd. But only stage IVb left sufficient remains to allow for the reconstruction of its plan. According to the proposed reconstruction, the cluster consisted of a round structure (building A) in the center—probably of a public function, perhaps as a cultic platform—surrounded by a courtyard with a crushed limestone floor, around which were buildings with straight walls. The largest of these (building G) possessed thick walls, suggesting that it may have had more than one story. The building is very similar to one excavated by J. Perrot at Ḥorvat Minḥa. To the southwest of building G, a wide alley was unearthed, south of which fragmentary remains were found that could not be ascribed with certainty to any particular stage of stratum IV. The surviving remains in the western group of buildings are much scantier. One notable find is an unusually large pit (locus 14) dug into the layers of previous strata. The pit, probably a refuse dump, contained a great number of potsherds and other objects.

The inhabitants of stratum IV buried their dead inside their settlement. At least seven graves were found during the excavation, some of which contained offerings of pottery vessels, stone artifacts, and jewelry.

The pottery assemblages are characteristic of the Wadi Rabah culture as defined by J. Kaplan. These include carinated bowls, bow-rim jars, broad-rimmed and ledge-handled pithoi, and—most characteristic—pottery with a dense punctured decoration. In addition to items such as these, familiar from other assemblages found in the southern Levant, the excavation also brought to light pottery vessels reminiscent of assemblages of the Ḥalaf culture of Syria and northern Mesopotamia, including bowls with double carination; vessels with a burnished black slip known as dark-faced burnished ware; and a few typical Ḥalaf ware vessels recognizable by their thin walls, whitish clay, and painted geometric decoration. Although double-carinated bowls and dark-faced burnished vessels have also been found in other assemblages in the southern Levant, their proportion in the ha-Gosherim assemblage is considerably larger than elsewhere. The delicate Ḥalaf ware has so far been found only north of this region.

The items in the flint assemblage of stratum IV number in the hundreds of thousands and are similar to those of many other assemblages found throughout the region. They include numerous sickle blades with truncated backs and edges, several adzes, and a few transverse arrowheads. Thousands of obsidian objects were also found, mainly bladelets and a few tools, cores, and debitage. Even now, before a final count of the obsidian items has been carried out, it is clear that they far exceed the obsidian finds from all other Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the southern Levant combined. One notable find is a large obsidian core. Although shattered, the many fragments of the core found at the site could be reconstructed. It has a single striking surface and a conical profile, similar to the giant core found at Kabri.

Stone implements, present in great numbers, are a prominent constituent of the material culture of stratum IV. Many of these are everyday items found at most sites of the same period; they include saddle-shaped grinding stones, chalices with a massive base, mortars, pestles, hammer stones, weights, and slingshots. Also found were many fragments of refined ornamental ware, which can be divided into two categories: one consisting of soft limestone vessels with geometric decorations on their outer walls, and the other of vessels made of hard limestone cut with great care to create very thin walls. Most of the hard limestone vessels were shaped in the form of pottery vessels common at the site, such as double-carinated bowls.

Some 15 stone stamp seals previously found at the site are on display at the Ma‘ayan Barukh museum, and some 20 more were found during the excavation. These can all be ascribed with near certainty to the stratum IV settlement. Most seals have engraved geometric patterns but a few bear figurative designs. Such stamp seals are common at sites of the Ḥalaf culture but are found only rarely at sites in the southern Levant.

Two non-adjoining fragments of a figurine made of an antelope leg bone were uncovered in the northwestern room of building F in area E (dating from stage IVb). The front of the figurine has a female form engraved on it. On the lower part of the larger fragment is a small hole for the navel, under which is a belt and a large triangle that represents the genitals. Above the navel is a palm tree on the left and an antelope on the right; the antelope appears to be eating the leaves of the palm tree. The smaller fragment belongs to the figurine’s upper right side and seems to depict an eye looking out of a mask. The scene on the figurine is very similar to one on a seal found inside building A. An antelope eating leaves of a palm tree is an early artistic motif that remained in use in the ancient Near East for millennia.

When the Wadi Rabah culture was discovered and defined, Kaplan immediately noted its affinity to the Chalcolithic Ḥalaf culture in Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Similarities in the shapes of pottery vessels were perceived, but no objects demonstrating a direct link between the two cultures had been found in the southern Levant. It appears, however, that specific features of the Ḥalaf culture can be identified among the finds at ha-Gosherim, particularly the distinct Ḥalaf pottery types and the widely used stone stamp seals. The import of large quantities of obsidian also attests to much greater contact with cultures to the north than at other sites in the southern Levant. There were also clear links to the Wadi Rabah culture, specifically with respect to many components of the pottery assemblage, such as vessels with incised and punctured decorations.

It thus emerges that the nature of settlement at the site changed quite drastically at the beginning of the Chalcolithic period. The small stratum V village, whose material culture is clearly related to the assemblages found at other sites in the southern Levant, gave way to the rather large settlement of stratum IV, whose remains clearly attest to links with the widespread Ḥalaf culture in the north as well as to a looser connection with the Wadi Rabah culture in the southern Levant. This striking change was probably due to the site’s location on a route connecting the north and the south of the Levant, a location which increased in importance as the Ḥalaf culture and its interconnections in the area were propagated. It occurred at a time in the beginning of the Chalcolithic period when the Ḥula Valley’s importance as an international transit point was on the rise, and the site of ha-Gosherim constituted a flourishing bridge between cultures.

STRATUM III (THE MIDDLE OF THE EARLY CHALCOLITHIC PERIOD). Only a few pits can be ascribed to stratum III. These contained potsherds that are apparently contemporaneous with stratum VIII at Jericho and stratum 17 at Ḥorvat ‘Uẓa.

STRATUM II (THE BEGINNING OF THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC PERIOD). The most recent remnants of settlement on the site consist of a number of silos with stone-lined inner walls and several pits. The pottery assemblage contains typical late Chalcolithic period items such as churns and handles with a triangular cross-section. Interestingly enough, the site yielded no pottery typical of the Golan culture, as defined by C. Epstein, or of the Ḥula Valley assemblage discovered by Y. Dayan (Nevo), although such pottery was in common use at nearby Tel Turmus and at Tel Te’o. The assemblage of stratum II at ha-Gosherim would thus appear to be somewhat earlier than the Golan culture. Thousands of adzes collected at the site and apparently belonging to this stratum are at the museum in Ma‘ayan Barukh. The excavation therefore seems to have touched the margins of a large settlement of the late Chalcolithic period.

STRATUM I. Found throughout the excavated area were worn potsherds and a small number of coins dating from the Hellenistic period to modern times.

ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL FINDS. Many animal bones were found during the excavation, providing evidence for the inhabitants’ diet. The archaeozoological finds from strata VI, V, and IV were studied by A. Haber of the Department of Zoology of Tel Aviv University. She concluded that the great majority of such finds in these strata are bones of sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, with bones of other animals constituting less than 10 percent of the identifiable bones. The sheep, goats, and cattle exhibit morphological signs of domestication starting from the earliest strata, while clear evidence for the domestication of pigs appears only in stratum IV.

Sheep and goats appear in approximately equal numbers in strata VI, V, and IV. This proportion is typical of sites in Syria and northern Mesopotamia and quite different from what is usually seen at sites of the southern Levant, such as Naḥal Zehora and ‘Ain Ghazal, where goats are typically much more numerous than sheep. It may be assumed that the equal ratio of sheep and goats was due to farm management considerations, which took local conditions into account, and does not reflect a cultural preference imported from abroad.

NIMROD GETZOV

THE SITE

Ha-Gosherim is located on a broad terrace near the kibbutz of the same name in the northern Ḥula Valley. The terrace, consisting of a travertine base covered by a 1.5 m-thick layer of soil and accumulations from ancient settlements, rises some 20–30 m above Lake Ḥula. The abundance of flowing water and alluvial soil in the area enabled the inhabitants to earn their livelihood through the cultivation of irrigated crops, grazing, fishing, and hunting.

EXCAVATIONS

J. Perrot, who conducted a survey of the site in the 1950s, was the first to realize its importance to the study of the prehistory of the southern Levant. Surveys conducted by A. Assaf added much to our knowledge of the site and yielded a rich and comprehensive assemblage, now kept at the Museum of Prehistory in Ma‘ayan Barukh. The size of the site as determined by Assaf’s surveys is c. 20 a.