Yasur-Lau Assaf. Household Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond
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Figure 7. Schematic plan of Tel Dan Area B, Phase B8 (Stratum IVB).
household gleanings from iron i tel dan 143
For one thing, we begin to see a more comprehensive use of double
rows of smaller stones in the wall construction, a technique that seems
better suited to the construction of mudbrick superstructures. is is
also the only Iron I stratum in which column bases have been identi-
ed (in the building that succeeded Sanctuary 7082 in Area B-west). A
few small rooms seem to have no doorways; it is suggested that these
may be either basements or storage facilities accessed only from above;
grain storage is one possibility.
As in Stratum V, there are very few pits, perhaps one per house-
hold. Unlike Stratum V, however, there are also very few pithoi in the
rooms, perhaps one per household, like the pits. All the complete or
nearly complete pithoi are of the “Phoenician” or “Tyrian” type. Other
pithos types are present as fragments—the upper portions sometimes
used in installations like cooking ranges. us, by Stratum IVB it
would appear that collared-rim pithoi and “Galilean” pithoi were no
longer being manufactured. is reduction in pithos numbers probably
has implications for modes of production and economic organization,
indicating a more centralized system of storage and perhaps taxation.
Metallurgy continued in Area B-west as before, although the plan of
the metallurgy area appears to have changed, with more emphasis on
small square cubicles appended to building walls, a feature reminiscent
of Deir Alla Phase B. In Area B-west, tabun ovens are lacking, in con-
trast to the other elds; perhaps this is another indication of growing
specialization and activity “zoning.”
Architecture, Stationary Installations, and
Socioeconomic Organization
At this point we can take a broader view of the three main Iron Age
I strata of Tel Dan. We are particularly interested in how spatial
relationships and material culture distributions change over time,
since these may reect social, economic, and political change. It will
suce to roster some of these transitions.
e blocking up of doorways and opening of new ones is an indi-
cation of changes in the assignation of space and in extended family
makeup over time. is may have something to do with patrilineal
marriage patterns (Ilan 1999). Banning and Byrd (1981) have dis-
cussed similar processes in the Neolithic of the Levant, and Kramer
(1982b: 117) has described an illustrative example at “Aliabad” in the
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Zagros and emphasized the importance of discerning structural altera-
tions for reconstructing the developmental cycle of residential groups
(Kramer 1982a: 671).
Stratum V and perhaps Stratum VI had mainly, perhaps only, sin-
gle-story houses. In Stratum IVB we begin to see two-story houses.
is is an indication of growing population density. By the same
token, domestic structures became smaller, more segmented, and
more cramped in Stratum V and even more so in Stratum IVB. is
is held to be one sign of habitation transitioning to a smaller, nuclear
family mode (Ilan 1999).
e system of commodity storage changed over time. Liquid com-
modities (chiey olive oil and wine) were stored in pithoi. Grain was
stored in pits in Stratum VI but in Stratum V the bulk was either stored
in pithoi or above-surface cells. In Stratum IVB, with only one or two
pithoi and one or two pits per household, most commodity storage
was concentrated elsewhere. Only quantities sucient for household
use were kept in domestic spaces. is is held to be evidence for a
more centralized economy, which may correspond to a preference for
nuclear family residence (e.g., Ilan 2008).
Animal troughs or feed bins occur in Stratum V (Fig. 4; and see Ilan
2008: Fig. 10, noting that L.4710 dates to Stratum V and not Stratum
IVB, as mistakenly indicated in the photo caption). ey are not a
feature of Stratum IVB (Fig. 7). Similar to the patterns noted above,
this suggests that by the late Iron I (Stratum IVB) animal husbandry
was largely absent from the domestic architecture and had moved to
either a designated locale, or locales, on the tell, or to a place outside
the settlement. is may also be testimony to specialization. Perhaps
by this time not all households participated in the pursuit of animal
husbandry.
Disposal of the Dead
ere are no human remains in the Iron Age I levels of Tel Dan, nor
have any tombs or burials from this period been identied in the
surrounding countryside. is dearth of burials is paralleled, by and
large, throughout the southern Levant (Kletter 2002: n. 3; contra the
impression given by Bloch-Smith 2004 and Faust 2004: 174–175, 183);
it is especially prominent in the central highlands of Canaan (Kletter
2002).
household gleanings from iron i tel dan 145
Artifactual and Ecofactual Clues to Socioeconomic Organization
Ceramics
A total of 401 complete vessels were recorded in the Early Iron Age
levels of Tel Dan (a complete vessel is one where at least 40% is pre-
served). Area B-west had the most in total (N = 193), but Area Y
had the most (N = 76) relative to the size of the excavated area. e
ceramic assemblage shows close anities with Early Iron Age sites of
the southern Levant, but also with sites of coastal and inland Leba-
non and the Golan Heights (Ilan 1999). Inland Syria is still somewhat
unknown in this regard. Any notion of cultural or social insularity
should be ruled out, whatever the mechanisms of communication and
exchange. Information exchange took place from almost all directions
and across wide distances.
Once again, we can suggest some ways in which the ceramic assem-
blage reects trends in household behavior and organization. It also
provides evidence for the existence and acculturation of distinct (“eth-
nic”) traditions in food preparation and commodity storage.
• Two distinct pithos-making traditions are present, one more south-
ern (collared-rim pithoi) and one more maritime (both “Galilean”
and “Phoenician” or “Tyrian” pithoi; Biran 1989; Ilan 1999: 81–85).
e three dierent pithos types were manufactured on site. At the
same time, hybrid types developed too. Nowhere else are both tra-
ditions represented in such large numbers of vessels. Among other
things, the dierent forms of pithos variability are an expression
of acculturation.
• Recycling of broken ceramics is an important theme. Large pithoi
fragments—upper or lower halves—were recycled as latrines (Ilan
1999: Fig. 3.83) and as cooking ranges, with the mouths placed
upside down (Ilan 1999: Fig. 3.72, 3.84). Cooking pot fragments
are used frequently as a lining for pyrotechnic installations such
as metallurgy furnaces and tabun ovens. ese fragments tend to
be large ones, reecting their curation for recycling, initiated not
long aer breakage.
• Cooking pots display a variety of circumferences and volumes.
One assumes that this reects the dierent quantities required for
preparation and consumption. Some foods are prepared in larger
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quantities—for feasting or other forms of wide distribution—and
others are prepared in smaller quantities as sauces and garnishing,
or as portions sucient for a small family or for a family’s high
status members. Cooking pot diameter shows a statistical bimodal-
ity with vessels in the 20–25 cm category and the 41–45 cm cate-
gory dominant (see graph in Fig. 8). ese must be the most
frequently used sizes by the cooks of Tel Dan. When viewed dia-
chronically, however, Stratum IVB (the latest Iron I horizon) shows
a distinct drop in the proportion of very large cooking pots relative
to earlier strata. Perhaps this is an indication that communal food
preparation and consumption was less common and that food was
more oen consumed in smaller groups, i.e., within the framework
of nuclear families.
• A particular kind of handle-less cooking jug is characteristic of the
Beqa Valley of Lebanon (Fig. 9; Metzger 1993: Pl. 117). ese ves-
sels’ closed forms suggest that they served for the heating of liq-
uids. Since they seem to be lacking in the southern Levant and are
common in the Beqa Valley, they would appear to reect a local,
or more northern, food-preparing tradition. is too can be viewed
as having an acculturative resonance.
Ground Stone (Mainly Basalt)
e ground stone assemblage shows a wide variety of types used
in food preparation, industry, and cras (a substantial sample was
obtained from the metallurgy area in B-west). As noted above, grind-
stones and mortar-and-pestle assemblages occur at a frequency of one,
rarely two, per household. No larger groupings have been found yet.
is suggests a household mode of production in all phases, despite
evidence for growing specialization and centralization. Moreover, such
groupings suggest discrete household units (cf. Pfälzner 1996) though
ground stone tool sets, in themselves, cannot determine whether we
are talking about nuclear or extended families.
Fragments of ground stone turned up in many rooms, oen as
building material in secondary use (pit, wall and bench construction,
oor paving). Since they show no discernible patterning, I have con-
cluded that these are of little use in reconstructing activity areas or
family organization.
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Chipped Stone (Flint)
Chipped stone occurs in the Iron I levels in three categories: (a) ad
hoc tools on blades, akes, and cores (Matskevich forthcoming), (b)
reused, scavenged Neolithic blades and akes, and (c) specialized
sickle blades of the classic trapezoidal form, usually bearing silica
sheen (Rosen 1997: 55–60).
Given the limitations of space, I would elect to highlight only a large
group of tools and debitage recovered in a dened space, approxi-
mately 2 m × 2 m, in Area B-west—the metallurgy area (Ilan 1999:
105–107). It consists mainly of sickle blades in various states of wear and
appears to be a sickle-manufacturing spot, much like the one identied
in a contemporaneous level at Gezer (S. A. Rosen 1986). Many of the
blades have been broken and recycled.
Faunal Remains
e archaeozoological work carried out mainly by Wapnish (1993)
and Wapnish and Hesse (1991) is invaluable for the reconstruction
of social processes. is work is ongoing, but for the present, their
conclusions can be summarized as follows:
Figure 8. A graph showing cooking pot diameters by stratum. Note the
bimodal distribution and the changes from Stratum VI through Stratum IVB.
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Figure 9. A handle-less cooking jug from Locus 3114 at Tel Dan. is type
is characteristic of the Lebanese Beqa Valley and probably has group-identity
implications.
household gleanings from iron i tel dan 149
• In all periods, cattle are present in signicant proportions. is
indicates that much of the meat eaten was beef, but, more impor-
tantly, that plow agriculture was always an important component
in the local economy.
• e relative abundance of cattle changed over time. In the Late
Bronze Age half of the animals slaughtered were cattle. In the early
phases of the Iron I (Stratum VI) only 17% of the slaughtered ani-
mals were cattle, but by Strata V and IVB cattle once again achieved
proportions of ca. 50% of the slaughtered animals. is is held to
signify changes in the relative importance of plow agriculture and
attendant emphasis on land ownership as opposed to livestock.
• Amongst the ovicaprid population, sheep are generally twice as
frequent as goats. Goats are generally seen as more subsistence-
oriented animals while sheep are more market oriented, producing
more in the way of secondary products (especially wool).
• In contrast to Stratum VI, Stratum V and IVB show that a greater
proportion of the ovicaprids were slaughtered in their second year
rather than in the rst. With regard to sheep and goat, a greater
emphasis on meat consumption, rather than secondary products,
can be inferred.
3
is may be the result of either or both of two
mechanisms: local producers shied their emphasis to meat, or
meat was being brought in from outside sources. e second alter-
native is to be preferred because of the following:
• In Strata VI and VIIA the proportions of oal remains indicate
that beef was acquired through middlemen while sheep and goat
were slaughtered and butchered in the dwelling units. In Strata
IVB and V, the proportions are the opposite: sheep and goat meat
were acquired from outside sources and cattle were butchered in the
home. e community had become more economically specialized.
• Other animals are represented to a lesser degree and comprised a
dietary supplement, gazelle and fallow deer in particular. Some sh
bones were also recovered, which is not surprising considering the
proximity to Lake Hula and the large fountain of the Dan River.
3
Generally, when secondary products are given preference, most male ovicaprids
are slaughtered when they reach maximal growth, i.e., at 6–12 months. is is the main
meat supply. If more animals are being slaughtered at more advanced ages (but not as
very old animals), this is an indication that they are being kept and marketed over the
longer term for their meat (e.g., Gamble 1982: 162–163; Wapnish 1993: 431).
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• Equid bones are very rare. Two individuals come from doubtful
Area K contexts, both apparently domestic donkey. Four bones,
apparently of horse (Equus caballus), came from what are probably
Stratum IVB contexts in Area B-west. e obvious conclusion is
that equid meat was not consumed as food.
• Unlike the MB and LB faunal assemblage, the Iron I material exhib-
its no remains of pig. is may be the result of cultural selection,
perhaps reecting an early form of the biblical injunction against
the consumption of pork (Lev. 11: 7; Deut. 16: 8), though there are
also practical reasons for excluding pigs from a husbandry regime,
particularly if protein is easily available from other sources (Hesse
and Wapnish 1998: 125).
Overall, the archaeozoological remains evince processes of evolving
social complexity, increasing emphasis on land ownership (more cattle),
economic specialization (more sheep for wool), and greater auence
(more meat consumption).
Archaeobotanical Remains
Carbonized grain was identied in three separate contexts. Lentils and
chickpeas have also been noted provisionally. Olive pits were pres-
ent in most rooms and courtyards. Obviously, oil production was an
important part of the Iron I economy, but why are olive pits distrib-
uted so evenly, in so many places, but in small quantities? At least
three interpretations are possible:
• Olive oil was produced within the connes of the settlement in
installations that have gone unrecognized. Perhaps olive oil was
produced on a small scale in mortars and large basalt bowls.
• Olives were being cured or pickled at this time and the pits are
eating refuse.
• Residual pulp, including pits, from the pressing process was brought
into the village as fuel for ovens and metal furnaces.
We cannot reject any of these scenarios at present; perhaps all are
true.
Most of the charcoal that derives from Iron I contexts is oak, either
Quercus boissieri or Quercus ithaburensis. However, some Pistacia
household gleanings from iron i tel dan 151
atlantica is also present. Today, too, these are the most common-
place timber species in this region. e lack of Quercus calliprinos,
Pinus, Cedrus and Plantanus orientalis is rather conspicuous. Pine and
cedar forests may have been too distant at this time to have been uti-
lized. Quercus calliprinos and plane trees may have been deforested or
deemed inferior.
Conclusion: Archaeological Reflections of Habitus from Early to
Late Iron I
Wilk and Rathje (1982) have identied four primary household func-
tions: production, distribution, transmission, and reproduction (Fos-
ter 2009: 81 . adds consumption). Needless to say, these functions are
all in evidence at Tel Dan; I will discuss selected aspects only.
In Wilk and Rathje’s (1982) terminology, most of the productive
labor in evidence in the dwellings of Iron I Tel Dan was linear (that is,
individuals carry out multiple tasks, one aer the other). e density
and segmentation of the later two strata is a reection of this.
4
Simulta-
neous tasks (i.e., those intensive jobs that require many hands) would
have been carried out elsewhere, such as agricultural work in the elds
(e.g., harvest) and perhaps ceramic production in an as yet unknown
workshop. e small dwelling units of Strata V and IVB suggest small
households and a corresponding dearth of complex simultaneous labor
(Wilk and Rathje 1982: 623–624; Faust 1999a: 243–246).
Cra production—recycling metallurgy being the most conspicu-
ous example—seems to have been initially practiced redundantly in a
number of architectural units throughout the tell (Ilan 1999: 125–131).
By Stratum IVB, however, it appears to have been conned to one
group of insulae, Area B-west. is suggests increased specialization,
with the attending increase in the specialization of architecture (Kent
1990b: 128 and the following discussion of Category III and IV soci-
eties). Households that specialize are oen property-less households.
is is largely due to land being too scarce to be transmitted by par-
tible inheritance. When land is scarce it is most oen transferred to
4
e fragments of architecture in Strata VIIA and VI do not allow a reconstruction
of structure size or subdivision. It is only clear that architecture was more sparsely
arrayed at this stage.