ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book attempts to approach dolmens contextually, as Gilead did almost 50 years ago. It argues that dolmens served as stone-built charnel houses for the collective burial of kin groups; that these groups resided in Early Bronze (EB) I villages nearby; that the dolmen tradition was limited to the rift escarpment, principally between the Golan plateau and the Madaba Plains. The book also argues that dolmens are only found within the zone in areas dominated by hard, microcrystalline geological formations. It discusses the chronological, typological and cultural implications of the approach. Our hypothesis posits that dolmens were built exclusively as an EB I tradition. If Gilead were to review the development of dolmen studies today, he would perhaps be most surprised – and distressed – at the rate at which dolmens in the Levant have been destroyed by expanding settlement, agriculture and industry.
