Вэг-IIЭI1 U l1iveгs ity

Т11е I'aclllty о!" .!e,,'isI1 St lldies

Тl1e МЭI"tiI1 (SZIISZ) Dерш"tmеl1t о!" l"al1d of I s гae l Stlldies Тl1e Il1 stitllte о!" Aгcl1aeology

Settlement, Civilization and Culture

Pгoceedings ofthe Conference in Метогу ofDavid Alon

Еditогs : Агеп М" MaeiI" & Еуа ' Вап!сIl

Rаmаt-Gап , 200 1

"LIТТLЕ BOXES"\ OF ТНЕ SOUTHERN LEVANT SOМE OBSERVATIONS ON ТНЕ DOMESТIC

ARCHIТECTURE OF ТНЕ EARL У BRONZE АОЕ

Eliot Braun Israel Antiquities Authority

As а fledging archaeo\ogist with а specia\ interest in the Еаг1у Bronze Age, 1 chose to do ту studel1t dig а! Arad onder the direction of Ruth Amiran. It was

there, amidsl the Еаг1у Bronze town 's famous rectangu1ar broadrooms, that 1 first те! David А10П. Working а! the site [ог two weeks he1ped те get to get to know him and to appreciate his 1aidback, easy sty1e, that created something of а buffer between us, а handfu1 of second уеаг archaeo10gica1 students al1d оиг excitabIe excavatrix. It is wit11 fond thoughts of David that 1 dedicate t11is рарег to his тетогу.

Some years after working а! Arad, 1 was senl off 10 sa1vage what was 1eft of the Jezree1 Уа11еу site of 'Еп Shadud (Вгаип 1985). 1 11ad the good 1uck to excavate а broadroom type house comp1ete with bench, stone pil1ar bases and stepped thres1101d, аl1 features of the typica1110use of Еаг1у Bronze Arad. The ЕВ 11 lown, then a1ready substantial1y exposed (Amiran 1978), was [и11 of " litt1e boxes", а standard broadroom house type (Amiran and I1an 1996; Нап in press),

I This phrase is taken from а bгoadside {урс ballad of the 1960's \vritten Ьу Mal vina Reynolds and popularized Ьу Pete Seger. It refeгs 10 suburban tтзсt houses that dotted тапу suburban landscapes iп the US in the post WWII period. The first verse explains the author's antipathy 10 sameness:

Little boxes оп the hillside, Little boxes made ofticky-tacky, Lit1le boxes, little boxes, Little boxcs, all the same. Thcre's а green опе alld а pink опе Алd а blue опе and а уеllо\" опе Алd they're аll made out ofticky~tacky And they alllookjust the same.

32* Eliot Braun

that we then believed was the typical domicile of Early Bronze 11 in the southern Levant. There was, however а Ы! of jarring note in the architecture of 'Еп Shadud; а питЬег of corners of the buildings were rounded internally and/or externally, and they suggested there were some additional traditions of house-building afoot in ЕВ 1.

Of course, in those days everybody knew аЬои! the "apsidal,,2 houses of Megiddo Stage IV (Engberg and SI1ipton 1934:Fig. 2) and Meser 11 (Dothan 1957; 1959) and it was to this (уре of house plan 1 was wont 10 ascribe ту discovery а! 'Еп Shadud of а уегу warped building (Braun 1985:Figs. 5,6) that appeared 10 have quite rounded contours. Still, because of the extraordinary warping, 1 was по! quite sure аЬои! the ultimate shape of the house plan and 1 wrote as much in the finaI герor!.

А few years оп 1 was sent 10 dig the PPNB site of Yiftah'el, and somewhat 10 ту surprise and the consternation of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, 1 сате ир with evidence of а major ЕВ 1 settlement with тоге than а score of curvilinear houses, round, оуаl and sausage-shaped (Вгаип 1997). It was thеп that 1 began investigating architectural tradilions of ЕВ 1 in depth. Rather suгргisiпglу, 1 сате to realize that тапу quite fragmentary, slightly curving ог irregular structures, houses with rounded corners and еуеп, in опе inslance, а half-round, fortificalion lower, were interpreted as evidence of "apsidal" buildings. AII ofthese, when 1 риl them 10 а уегу strict test, were actually proved to Ье patchwork affairs of rectilinear and curvilinear buildings, ог the wishful thinking of scholars. Еуеп the (уре building, the famous , ог shall 1 say infamous, Stage IV house а! Megiddo (Engberg and Shipton 1934:Fig. 2; Вгаип 1989:Fig. 2), with only опе extant constructed соrnег and а curving wall segment clearly deriving from а different construction phase, proved to Ье а rather роог ехропеп! of the (уре (Вгаип 1989:Fig. 2, PI. 1).

In truth, the уегу distinctive "apsidal" house plan does seem to exist, Ьи! in much earlier, Neolithic contexts (e.g. Dunand 1973:25; Rollefson, Simmons and Kafafi 1992:Fig. 7) that have по relation to ЕВ 1. Since those earlier

2 Apsidal here is intended to denote а house plan that is partially гectangular with t\\lO right angled comers opposed Ьу а гegular, curving apse that completes the shape.

"Little Boxes" ofthe Soulhern LeVanl 33"

investigations nothing has соте along in the archaeological record to make те change ту mind and I ' уе Ьееп waging а losing battle against "apsidalmania" ; the word "apsidal" refuses to disappear from ЕВ 1 literature.

With pubJication ofthe plans fгom the Eneolithique (i.e. ChaIcolithic) site а! SidonIDakkerman (Saida 1979), preliminary reports from Теl КаЬг; 1 1 (Scheftelowitz 1992) and Теl Тео УI and V (Eisenberg 1989) it Ьесате clear that ап Early Bronze 1 tradition for domestic, curvilinear architecture developed from Eneolithique/Chalcolithic, possibJy а! BybJos (Dunand 1973; Вгаип 1989:7,10) where it first appears in the deepest deposits of this cultural horizon . Later, the idea apparently migrated southward into the southern reaches ofthe Levant.

When 1 wrote ту original рарег (Вгаип 1989) оп the phenomenon, 1 suspected that оуаl and sausage-shaped houses were ап exclusively northern phenomenon of the earliest phase of ЕВ 1. Моге than а decade of considerabJe excavation (some of it ту own) has disabused те of that notion. lf then 1 knew houses of this (уре from Level ХУI оп the high tel а! Beth Shean (Braun 1989: Fig. 5), in ту excavations а! Yiftah'el in Stratum 11, and from Eisenberg's (1989) work а! Теl Тео, today 1 сап point to them also а! Теl КаЬг; in Stratum II(Scheftelowitz 1992) and also а! ' Ein Assawir (Уаппа; in press). I! now appears that the (уре is also associated with уегу early phases of ЕВ 1 in the south as weJJ .

Two such houses, the plans of which were completely recovered, were unearthed in а Stratum 3 context а! Palmahim Quarry (Вгаип 1988-9). The date of this level is attested to Ьу several ceramic types, Gray Burnished Bowls and pithoi, with exceJJent paraJJels а! Yiftah 'еl 11 (Вгаип 2000: 1 14; Вгаип and Gophna in press). In addition, southem types ofpottery, related to this same level associate it with the site of Afridar, Агеа G, that exhibits Chalcolithic related ceramic traditions. 1 assign two occupation levels explored, а later (Stratum 1) and ап earlier (Stratum II) to ап Initial ЕВ 1 phase. Each stratum is distinguished Ьу curvilinear houses. Iп Stratum 1 there is а completely circular building са. 7 т . in diameter and what appears to Ье опе end of а large sausage-shaped structure; its opposing end was either badly disturbed ог по! found . The earlier level yielded evidence for опе, ог perhaps two additional, curvilinear structures; both аге likely to have Ьееп sausage-shaped houses. Thus, we have а strong

34* Eliot Braun

tradition of curvilinear construction related (о the earliest phases of ЕВ 1, north

and south. Furtl1er discoveries now enabIe us (о (гасе changes in traditional architecture

along а time trajectory within ап ЕВ 1 sequence. The trend is definitively from

curvilinear towards rectilinear precepts, but it is apparently gradual and sometimes taken with somewhat hesitant steps. 'П the north there is evidence of 'Е I1 Shadud in Stratum II (Braun 1989:67-77; 1996:113-114), when the оуега" idea of а curvilinear building is adapted (о а rectangular broadroom template. Two additional buildings of the same type were uncovered оп а terraced, hillside location in Qiryat Ata (Braun 1996а: Fig. V .Е.4I1). They а" арреаг (о date (о тоге ог less the same time span as the Stage IV house а! Megiddo with which they have а number of features il1 сот топ. А third, from Теl Kabri, Stratum 9 (Scl1eftelowitz 1992) also should Ье dated (о the same horizon. Another building, somewhat тоге difficult (о date accurately, is attributed (о Level XIV in

FitzGerald's deep cut оп the high (еl ofBeth Shan (Braun in preparation). Later ЕВ 1 architecture for the 110rthern region includes а rectilinear building

in Level ХIII а! Beth Shean (Braun in preparation) and another with rounded corners а! Теl Kitan, Stratum УI (Eisenberg 1993:879). In this same period we also have evidence for monumental and pubIic architecture (e.g. Finklestein and Ussishkin 2000:Fig. 3.27), а" of which seems (о Ье designed according (о rectilinear precepts. Ву ЕВ II there appears (о ап almost full-scale return (о the rectilinear broadroom, although rounded corners remain in evidence in ЕВ 1 (as а! Теl Kitan) ог even as late as ЕВ II as а! Ме' опа (Braun 1996Ь).

In the south it is possibIe (о trace а similar tendency, although there is not

nearly so much information availabIe. 'П the architectural remains of Site Н, Wadi Ghazzeh (Macdonald е! al.1932) we сап perhaps see evidence for ап early rectilinear building with some curvilinear features appearing in Dwellings 1 and 2 (Macdonald 1932 е! al.; Fig. 'Х) in later phases. This site is dated (о somewhat early in ЕВ 1, but it appears (о belong (о а phase later than Initial ЕВ I . .In another excavation, а! Afridar, in Агеа F, Кhailaly (in press) has uncovered another Early ЕВ 1 sequence. His latest phase is notabIe for several sub-rectangular houses that арреаг (о Ье а late development deriving from curvilinear structures. The pottery of this stratum suggests that it is по! (оо chronologically distant from that of Агеа G, but is, nevertheless later.

"Little Boxes" ofthe Southern Levant 35*

Late ЕВ 1 sites, corre1ated with the end of Dynasty О and the beginning of Dynasty 1 in Egypt, show that recti1inear precepts аге the гп1е. The evidence comes from 1arge-sca1e exposures а! а пптЬег of sites inc1uding, Ногуа! ·Illin Tahtit (Вгапп and уап den Brink 1998), Pa1ma11im Quarry (Вгапп 1988-9), and Те1 Ha1if (Seger 1996; Levy е! а1 . 1995; 1997). Notably, а! sites where space is а!

premium, bui1dings seems to Ье 1arge agg10merations of rooms bui1t a10ng basica11y recti1inear princip1es, Ьп! уегу often irregu1ar in р1ап. Occasional1y, the state1y broadroom makes its арреагапсе, Ьп! this seems to Ье the exception rather t1Jan the гп1е for most of the dense1y occupied sites. А notable feature in some houses is the rounded соrnег, perhaps а ho1dover from ear1ier, curvi1inear

traditions. 1 suggest that, knowing what we do аЬоп! the founding of Arad оп а уегу

sparse1y sett1ed site in ЕВ 1, the famous broadroom (уре of house of Stratum Ш,

with its attached cooking p1atform is уегу much the exception in the Еаг1у Bronze Age. 1! is, perhaps the idea1 (уре house and in its pro1iferation а! Arad makes that minor, a1beit fortified town, something of ап ancient Levittown3

, ап urbanized "suburbia" fil1ed with " ticky tacky" broadrooms. For sett1ements

within the we11-watered zones of the southern Levant such as А; (Ca11away 1972:Figs. 5,8; 1980) and Те11 е1 Far'ah North (de Vапх and Steve 1949: Р1. Х) there was apparent1y somewhat 1ess 1eeway for house p1anning and реор1е made do with avai1able space. Such towns in their crowded density аге тоге пеаг1у ana10gous to F1atbush ог West Phi1ade1phia of ош own ега.

Summary: Еаг1у Bronze 1 architecture is characterized Ьу ап аЬгпр! change in traditiona1 precepts in its ear1iest phases with curvi1inear structures the гп1е,

a1most to the extent of exc1usion of recti1inear forms . As the period progresses there is а return to тоге traditiona1 sty1es of house construction, known from the Cha1co1ithic period. The process for the most раг! seems to Ье а gradua1 transition with some notable intermediate stages recognizable in the archaeo10gica1 record in both the northern and southern regions. This is по! to say that there is а hard and fast гп1е that the process was a1ways gradua1 ог

J Levittown is the пате of t\\lO tract house suburbs, of Ne\\I York and Philade lphia, developed in the 1950's Ьу а contractor named Levitt and named after hiffi.

36* Eliot Вгаuп

progress always made in опе direction . AltllOUgh several sites show evidence of wllOlIy rectilinear IlOuse plans in chгonologically intermediate phases of ЕВ 1, Ьу the end of ЕВ 1 rectilinear precepts аге the rule. Houses with rounded corners аге perl1aps evidence oftl1e dyil1g gasp of а curvilinear tradition of construction.

Ackno\vledgements: 1 wis l1 to thank ту IАА colleagues, Н . Khalaily and Е. Yannai for

permitting те to make use of unpubIisl1ed material for thi s рарег.

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38* Eliot Braun

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