Fifty Years Later: A Critical Review of the Stratigraphy, Chronology and Context of the Nahal Mishmar Hoard

The discovery of the Nahal Mishmar hoard in 1961 is a milestone in the study of ancient metallurgy. While important aspects of the hoard have been studied since its discovery, especially the technology, composition, provenance of the ore, iconography and social implications, a critical review of the hoard's spatial and stratigraphic position in the cave and its relation to other Chalcolithic and later remains has not been carried out. Our analysis of the available spatial and chronological data indicates that some common assumptions concerning the Chalcolithic remains should be questioned. For example, there were most probably no Chalcolithic woolen textiles in the cave; pomegranate and several other vegetal remains seem to be Roman; the current suggestions concerning social hierarchy and an organized cemetery, on the basis of the human remains, cannot be substantiated. The 14C dates and the nature of the pottery assemblages indicate that the occupation of the cave is Late Ghassulian (last quarter of the Fifth Millennium Cal BC). It therefore seems that the hoard was related to sites in the Nahal Beer Sheva area rather than to En Gedi. The symbolic nature of artifacts and their final ritual burial-like concealment, suggest that the production of the copper artifacts was part of a ritualized process