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The Fourth Millenium BC among the Southern Levant, the Negev, and the Sinai Peninsula: Conversation Between Groups and Traditions

PAOLUCCI, Domizia

In the last decades, the debate on the relationship between urban and marginal areas has become increasingly lively, attempting to escape the dichotomy of centre and periphery. The Arad Plain is a privileged place to observe these interactions in the Southern Levant. In this area, during the 4th millennium BC, the site of Arad emerged as an urban settlement with typical elements of the Levantine EB II “Cities”. At the same time, in the desert zone of Negev and Sinai, economic and technological changes occurred, conditioned by the growing trade routes. In this paper, I will review the material culture from Strata IV-II of Arad and the transformations of contemporary desert sites. The aim is to outline the interactions and integrations between these regions and to propose an interpretation of their nature. In fact, through an analysis of the ceramic typologies and their petrography, it is possible to observe the double meaning of these exchanges as commercial relations and sharing of social practices. The movement of communities blurs their boundaries and the identity characteristics of each group, such as culinary and funerary traditions, move with them.

Session 4. Crafting Identity and Clusters through Material Culture, Iconography and Texts [info]