ABSTRACT
As noted, cemeteries are often considered an innovation of the Chalcolithic period. eir novelty, however, does not pertain to the emergence of collective burial grounds per se, but to their specialization. Indeed, sites of repeated human burial are known from earlier periods, particularly the Natuan (e.g. Grosman et al. 2008; Nadel et al. 2009), and the Neolithic (e.g. Galili et al. 2009). However, their funerary function was commonly intertwined with quotidian and sometimes also cultic realms of conduct (cf. Grosman & Munro 2007; Rosen et al. 2007). Unlike these, the cemeteries of the Chalcolithic period suggest a greater degree of specialization: they are clearly demarcated in space, they are only minimally inuenced by other elds of practice, and they are specically designated for the interment of human remains.
