The megalithic manifestation of the urban process at the Golan during the early bronze age
Part of : Mediterranean archaeology & archaeometry : international journal ; Vol.5, No.1, 2005, pages 5-14
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5-14
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Articles
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Abstract:
The Golan is one of the most unfamiliar landscapes in terms of archaeological research of theEarly Bronze Age in the land of Israel. So is most of the area that is known as the 'Bashan' and'Horan', located east and south-east to the Golan. This article deals with one of the mostoutstanding manifestations of the urbanization process that took place in the Golan: megalithicmonuments that appear in various shapes. Huge fortified settlements, that were known as'enclosures' were another characteristic of this urbanization process. The analysis of theexcavation's results at Leviah, one of these 'enclosures', and the unique complex at Rogem Hiri, aswell as survey results comprise the data-base of the present endeavor.The urbanization process that took place at the southern-central Golan had many commoncultural affinities with similar processes in other southern Levantine regions, like the Jordan valley,but was best connected to the area east of the Golan, that is till today Terra Incognita.The megalithic manifestation of the urbanization process during the EBA is an integratedresearch that examined the data accumulated to date from archaeological fieldwork in the Golan,along with theoretical issues concerning megalithic monuments as reflected in the Post ProcessualApproach in archaeology. This way we tried to understand the meaning and the significance ofthose monuments in human societies that lived in the Golan during the third millennium BC.
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Keywords:
Golan Ht., Levant, enclosures, Megaliths, urbanization, EBA
