ABSTRACT
This chapter considers debate regarding the level of social complexity achieved during the Chalcolithic. Specifically scholars disagree as to whether social organization developed to such a point that there were significant disparities in wealth and status resulting in standing if not rigid social hierarchies. The extensive burial site adjacent to the village of Shiqmim represents the only extramural cemetery in the northern Negev. The cemetery spans over 1 km stretched across the hilltops of a chalk ridge overlooking the Beer Sheva Valley. Grave circles similar to those at Shiqmim also appear at Wadi Fidan Site 009 where a cemetery sits on a low plateau along the northwest side of the Fidan Gorge Levy et al. The funerary culture of the Dead Sea region incorporated a variety of practices including open-air enclosures for excarnation cist graves and tumuli used for secondary burials. The ceramic assemblage from Kissufim includes both specialized mortuary wares as well as pottery more typical of domestic assemblages.
