Archaeology, Anthropology and Cult

Thomas E. Levy is Professor of Anthropology and Judaic Studies at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Formerly, the Assistant Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (one of the American Schools of Oriental Research) and the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of the Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem, he joined the UCSD faculty in 1992.

'The six-thousand-year old complex of buildings at Gilat, on the desert edge of the Fertile Crescent, raises important questions of how human societies were organized on the eve of urban life. The elaboration of material culture at this and related sites can only be understood in the dual context of environmental constraints and equally strong systems of belief. Tom Levy has brought together not just a highly professional scientific report but also a sustained anthropological investigation. This is both a report to refer to and a volume to read for its ideas.' Andrew Sherratt, Professor of Archaeology, University of Oxford

• Preface Thomas E. Levy. I. Theory - Archaeology, Anthropology and Cult: Exploring Religion in Formative Middle Range Societies Thomas E. Levy; Cults, Shrines and the Emergence of Regional Ritual Centers: The View from New Guinea Donald F. Tuzin; Tribal Pilgrimages to Saint's Tombs in South Sinai Emanuel Marx; The Rise of a New Negev Cult Center Today: Baba Sali's Sanctuary in Netivot, Israel Yoram Bilu; II. Archaeological Foundations; 1. The Sanctuary Sequence: Excavations at Gilat: 1975-77, 1989, 1990-92 Thomas E. Levy, David Alon, James D. Anderson, Yorke M. Rowan and Morag Kersel; III. Biological Data from Gilat; 2. Farming? Feasting? Herding? Large Mammals from the Chalcolithic of Gilat Caroline Grigson; 3. Marine and Riverine Shells from Gilat Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer; 4. Death and the Sanctuary: The Human Remains from Gilat Patricia Smith, Tania Zagerson, Pamela Sabari, Jonathan Golden, Thomas E. Levy and Leslie Dawson; IV. The Emergence of Gilat as a Regional Cult Center - Production and Exchange; 5. Tracking Ceramic Production at Gilat: Petrographic Studies Yuval Goren; 6. Gilat's Ceramics: Cognitive Dimensions of Pottery Production Catherine Commenge, Thomas E. Levy, David Alon and Eric Kansa; 7. Flint Tool Production at Gilat Yorke M. Rowan; 8. Gilat's Ground Stone Assemblage: Stone Fenestrated Stands, Bowls, Palettes and Related Artifacts Yorke M. Rowan, Thomas E. Levy, Yuval Goren and David Alon; 9. The Worked Bone from the Chalcolithic Site of Gilat - Interim Report Caroline Grigson; V. Processes of Integration: The Emergence of a Pan-Regional Ritual Center; 10. The Intensification of Production in the Gilat Sanctuary: Dimensions of Textile and Other Forms of Manufacture Thomas E. Levy, Yorke M. Rowan, Wendy Conner and David Alon; 11. Gilat's Figurines: Exploring the Social and Symbolic Dimensions of Representation Catherine Commenge, Thomas E. Levy, David Alon and Eric Kansa; 12. Conclusion: The Evolution of a Levantine Regional Cult Center Thomas E. Levy