Dolmens in the Levant

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Abbreviations

Part I The typology, chronology and distribution of dolmens in the Levant

1. Approaching dolmens in the Levant 1.1. Reappraising dolmens as a megalithic phenomenon 1.2. Terminology and function 1.3. Chronology 1.4. Distribution 1.5. Dolmens in the Wadi ar-Rayyan

2. Megalithism, nomadism and the dolmen problem: a history of dolmen research in the Levant 2.1. 19th-century travellers and explorers 2.2. Diffusionism and the apostles of the megalithic faith 2.3. Dolmens in the biblical texts 2.4. Challenging diffusionism and a megalithic Kulturkreis 2.5. New approaches in the 1960s and dating dolmens to the EB I 2.6. Dolmens, nomad hypotheses and dating dolmens to the EB IV 2.7. Zohar's 1992 hypothesis of dolmens and nomadism in the EB IV 2.8. Prag's 1995 hypothesis of dolmens and nomadism in the EB I 2.9. Recent developments 2.10. Conclusion

3. Untangling dolmen typologies and chronologies in the Levant 3.1 Typologies 3.2 Chronologies 3.3 Discussion

4. The dolmen phenomenon in Israel/Palestine and the northern Levant 4.1. Israel/Palestine and the destruction hypothesis 4.2. Syria, Lebanon and south-eastern Turkey 4.3. Approaching the dolmen phenomenon in the Levant

ã 5. Dolmens, geology and the EB settlement landscape in Jordan 5.1. The relationship between dolmens and EB I settlement sites 5.2. Dolmens and geology 5.3. The limitations of the data 5.4. The south Jordan Valley, the eastern escarpment and the Madaba Plains 5.5. The Wadi az-Zerqa 5.6. Northern Jordan between the Wadi Kufrinja and the Wadi Yarmouk 5.7. Dolmen distribution beyond the Irbid-Madaba zone 5.8. Discussion

6. Dolmens, geology and the EB settlement landscape in the Galilee, the Golan and the Leja 6.1. The Golan 6.2. The Raqqad-Allane plateau 6.3. The Leja 6.4 The Hauran 6.5. The Huleh Valley 6.6. The Korazim plateau 6.7. The Upper Galilee and southern Lebanon 6.8. Discussion

Part II Dolmens in the Wadi ar-Rayyan 7. Dolmens and settlements 7.1. Topography, environment and the Yabis/Rayyan toponym 7.2. 19th- and 20th-century research until 1980 7.3. The Wadi Yabis Survey 7.4. Excavations 7.5. Late prehistoric settlement patterns 7.6. Dolmens 7.7. Dolmens and settlements 7.8. A view-shed analysis of dolmens 7.9. Dolmens as collective cemeteries

8. The megalithic landscape 8.1. The North Jordan Tomb Project 8.2. Dolmens 8.3. Cairns 8.4. Standing stones 8.5. Walls 8.6. Rock-cut features 8.7. The EB IV site of Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan 8.8. Chronology 8.9. Approaching the megalithic landscape

9. Dolmen morphology and burial 9.1. Construction and materials 9.2. Configuration of the chamber 9.3. Side-stones 9.4. End-stones 9.5. Roof-stones 9.6. Platforms, terraces and walls 9.7. Tumuli 9.8. Dolmens and burial 9.9. Discussion

10. Dolmen orientation 10.1. Variability throughout the southern Levant 10.2. Palumbo's analysis of dolmen orientation in the Wadi ar-Rayyan 10.3. The orientation of dolmens at Tell er-Ras 10.4. Discussion

11. Dolmen construction: the quarrying, extraction and movement of megalithic blocks 11.1. Evidence for quarrying 11.2. Quarrying and extraction processes 11.3. Transporting and placing the stones 11.4. Discussion

12. Dolmens in context: summary and concluding remarks 12.1. Dolmens in their chronological context 12.2. Dolmens in the context of other EB I funerary traditions 12.3. The end of the tradition 12.4. Conclusion

Bibliography Index