Bioarchaeology and Behavior: The People of the Ancient Near East

8. Daily Activity and Lower Limb Modification at Bab edh-Dhra᾿, Jordan, in the Early Bronze Age

8 Daily Activity and Lower Limb Modification at Bab edh-Dhra᾿, Jordan, in the Early Bronze Age Jaime M. Ullinger, Susan G. Sheridan, and Donald J. Ortner The purpose of this investigation is to document skeletal changes in the lower limb between the Early Bronze IA (EB IA; ca. 3150–2950 bc) and Early Bronze II–III (EB II–III; ca. 2800–2300 bc) at Bab edh-Dhra᾿, a site located on the southeast plain of the Dead Sea in Jordan (Figure 8.1). Skeletal modifications from repetitive use, including squatting facets on tali, kneeling facets on metatarsals, degenerative joint disease of distal femora, and facets on the femoral neck, were examined to assess changes in daily activities between Early Bronze IA and Early Bronze II–III. This shift in time periods corresponded to the expansion of large, settled, fortified towns in the southern Levant. EB IA Bab edh-Dhra᾿ is characterized by an expansive cemetery comprised of thousands of shaft tombs (Ortner and Frohlich 2007). The absence of settlement remains contrasts sharply with the extensive mortuary evidence, and it is unknown where the tomb occupants actually lived. Small, permanent structures were built on the site during Early Bronze IB (EB IB; ca. 2950–2800 bc). By EB II–III, a large town fortified with walls seven meters thick and multiple towers had been constructed near the cemetery (Rast and Schaub 2003). The current study hypothesizes that the construction and maintenance of a large walled town with extensive agricultural fields and orchards led to changes in the daily lives of the inhabitants of the town and that these changes are reflected in the skeletal evidence. Daily Activity and Lower Limb Modification at Bab edh-Dhra᾿, Jordan · 181 Biocultural Context The Early Bronze Age (EBA; 3150–2000 bc) in the southern Levant (an area that includes modern-day Jordan, Israel, and Palestine) was characterized by numerous innovations. These changes included the intensification of agriculture, including the widespread use of irrigation and the oxdrawn plow and increased cultivation of tree crops (Philip 2001); changes in social organization that included the expansion of corporate kinship groups (Chesson 2007; Philip 2003); new mortuary patterns (Philip 2003; Figure 8.1. Map of the southern Levant. 182 · Jaime M. Ullinger, Susan G. Sheridan, and Donald J. Ortner Paz 2005); the construction of walled, fortified towns (Philip 2003); increased trade (Mazar 1990); and a “higher standard of living” (Ben-Tor 1992). While some of these practices are noted in the preceding Chalcolithic , during the EBA these practices intensified. Bab edh-Dhra᾿ is one of the few thoroughly excavated Early Bronze Age cemeteries in the southern Levant and is one of only two sites (along with Jericho) where human skeletons have been recovered that date to EB II–III (Bloch-Smith 2003; Chesson 1999, 2001; Ilan 2002). Additionally, it is the only well-excavated site that contains burials from all subperiods of the EBA (Chesson 1999; Ilan 2002). Therefore, Bab edh-Dhra᾿ provides a unique and important opportunity to examine emerging complexity throughout the EBA (Chesson 2003). This research used skeletons from EB IA and EB II–III. EB IB is represented by relatively few skeletons and therefore is not included in this study. The Early Bronze IA at Bab edh-Dhra᾿ There is little evidence for permanent settlement by EB IA people in the area surrounding the cemetery of Bab edh-Dhra᾿. Archaeological remnants of temporary campsites from this time period, probably used by the tomb builders, exist near the tombs (Rast and Schaub 2003). The lack of settlement evidence precludes the identification of the group as either settled or nomadic, although Rast and Schaub tentatively refer to them as pastoralists who grazed in the area and seasonally visited the cemetery to inter group members. There is evidence that the EB IA people had access to agricultural goods, although it is unknown whether these were locally cultivated or acquired through trade with settled populations. A juglet filled with grape pips was discovered in an EB IA shaft tomb (McCreery 1981), as were two peach pits (McCreery 2002), although the peach remains may have been intrusions (McCreery 2003). Just as there is no conclusive evidence regarding where the EB IA people at Bab edh-Dhra᾿lived, there is no evidence to identify their primary mode of subsistence. Early Bronze II–III at Bab edh-Dhra᾿ Bab edh-Dhra᾿ reached its zenith in EB II–III, around...