To some, the Chalcolithic (4700/4500-3700/3600 BC cal.), as the first
period with metallurgy, large sprawling villages, rich mortuary
offerings, and cult centres, represents a developmental stage on the
road to the urban Bronze Age, the "dawn of history". Others have called
it 'the end of prehistory'. More recent scholarship focuses upon the
diversification of the subsistence economy, elaborated craft production,
and expanded networks for resource acquisition. Many of today's
Chalcolithic specialists were taught by biblical archaeologists, such
that the culture history paradigm remains deeply embedded. This volume
grew out of a workshop held in Madrid in 2006 and aims to kick start a
dialogue about how to move beyond culture history and chronology in
order to re-engage with larger theoretical discourses. A vast swathe of
research in the region ignores these issues and considers theory to be
irrelevant. One has the impression that the political realities of the
region (including a predilection for biblical archaeology) has left a
large proportion of archaeologists in the region, including
prehistorians, lost without a map. Contributors to this volume recognize
that culture history is the platform upon which current archaeological
research is discussed but differ in the degree of emphasis placed on
previously defined entities or phases. Delineating levels of difference
and similarity between temporal boundaries is critical in this process.
The two themes of this volume - culture and chronology - combine the
need for theoretical engagement with the establishment of broader, more
precise empirical data using explicit classificatory schemes. This is,
essentially, the rock and the hard place where much archaeological
debate is wedged, and as such the volume will have resonance for
scholars of other periods and regions.
