The “Last” Canaanean Blades: Some Insights from the Early Bronze IV Site of Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan in Jordan

A new study of materials recovered from the British Museum excavations at Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan in Jordan offers new insights into the production and use of Canaanean blades during the Early Bronze Age IV (EB IV) period in the southern Levant. The specialized purpose of the site, which was probably occupied seasonally for the annual production and temporary storage of olive oil, presents a unique window to observe changes in the Canaanean blade system in the 3rd millennium b.c. The assemblage suggests a significant continuity in Canaanean blade production and circulation despite the abandonment of the region’s proto-urban centers and the reconfiguration of economic, political, and social systems that defined the period of ruralization that followed. These blades, produced by a small number of flint specialists, were easily acquirable, never completely exploited, rarely recycled as ad hoc tools, and probably used for activities other than cereal harvesting. The examples at Khirbet Um al-Ghozlan suggest that some EB IV communities had a versatile tool kit, adaptable to other roles than as curved and composite sickles, which enabled them to exploit different environmental zones between the Jordan Valley floor and the uplands of the adjacent escarpment above.