The Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500–3600 BCE) in the southern Levant represents the rise of regional polities, the metallurgical revolution, and a set of other significant socio-economic changes that distinguish it from the preceding Pottery Neolithic period. Central to these issues are the Phase II (1987–1989, 1993) excavations at Shiqmim, a large Chalcolithic settlement centre in Israel’s northern Negev desert.

The first phase of excavations at Shiqmim took place between 1979 and 1984 and were described in Shiqmim I, Parts i and ii (BAR Publishing, 1987). Shiqmim II reports on the second phase of excavations at this complex site and contributes to a greater understanding of its Chalcolithic stratigraphy, architecture, and chronology. It includes the project research design and history framed in an anthropological archaeology perspective, primary excavation data, and a Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates from Shiqmim presented in comparison with dates from contemporary regional sites.

EDITORS
Thomas E. Levy is Distinguished Professor and inaugural holder of the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the University of California San Diego. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he received an honorary doctorate from Charles University, Czech Republic.

Yorke M. Rowan is an anthropological archaeologist and Research Professor at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on later prehistory, particularly the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic (7th–4th millennium BCE) in southwest Asia.

Margie M. Burton is an archaeologist and Research Associate in the Anthropology Department at the University of California San Diego. Her research focuses on prehistoric ceramic technology and its relationship to socioeconomic organization. She has worked on archaeological projects in the southern Levant and southern California. 

Contributors: James D. Anderson, Parke Funderburk, Morag M. Kersel, and Anthony T. Tamberino

REVIEWS
‘This book will be an invaluable resource to students of the Chalcolithic.’ Dr Sandra Scham, University of Maryland

‘Given that Shiqmim is one of the largest and most complex Chalcolithic sites in the Levant, its final publication is of utmost importance to the scholarly community.’ Dr Uri Davidovich, The Hebrew University