Several unique deposits are worthy of note: three seven-spouted lamps (Free 1960a: 14); a simply decorated kernos ring with free communication between the ring and the seven spouts; five zoormorphic vessels, each fashioned in the shape of a bull with sexual attributes clearly represented; a bronze lamp manufactured in identical form to its ceramic counterparts and a collection of 25 scarabs. Imported Mycenaean and Cypriot wares are represented among the burial vessels. The tomb also yielded bronze weaponry (daggers, spearheads and various projectiles), a collection of 39 bronze bowls and a complete faience bowl with painted lines on the bottom of the vessel. Other deposits included an alabaster chalice, basalt vessels, limestone platters, grinding stones, spindles, whorls and jewelry (bracelets, necklaces, finger rings, toggle pins, beads and pins). Two ivory pendants, fashioned in the shape of a mallet or hammer, were discovered on the chest area of two skeletons. Very few remnants of the food offerings survived. Olive pits, sheep bones, shellfish remains and a fish vertebra were among the few discoveries.
As would be expected in a multiple burial tomb, the level of disturbance made it very difficult to associate deposits with individual burials except for the interment in Crypt H (fig. 12). The deposits associated with this burial included seven pottery vessels and one clam shell. A dipper juglet and an oversize flask were placed at the head of the skeleton, presumably to quench the thirst of the deceased. A medium-sized bowl, rounded-bottom juglet, jug, pot and a Cypriot bowl were placed at the feet. The clam shell was associated with this latter group. No personal adornments, implements, weapons or ritual objects were included in the burial assemblage.
The following charts provide numerical specifics for selected artifacts categories, according to distribution throughout the tomb's five levels.
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Bracelet |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Ring |
6 |
6 |
2 |
30 |
10 |
54 |
|
Earring |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
18 |
|
Gold Earring |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Toggle Pin |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
|
Button |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Ivory Pendant |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Pin |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
94 |
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Dagger |
9 |
18 |
18 |
10 |
16 |
71 |
|
Projectile Points |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
Spear Point |
2 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
94 |
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Scarab |
4 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
0 |
25 |
|
Kernos Ring |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Zoormorphic |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31 |
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Olive Pit |
0 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
|
Fish Bone |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Sheep Bone |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
Shell |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
18 |
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Needle |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Knife |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
Hook |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
Whorl |
3 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
|
Spindle |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28 |
|
Tomb Levels: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
|
Bronze Bowl |
3 |
12 |
14 |
8 |
2 |
39 |
|
Bronze Lamp |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Ivory Cup |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Limestone Bowl |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Basalt Bowl |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
|
Basalt Platter |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Basalt Chalice |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
49 |
Tomb 1 is one of the largest and richest multiple burial tombs discovered to date in the Levant. As will be detailed below, only Megiddo, Shechem, Lachish and Tell el-'Ajjul have yielded burial contexts that are comparable in size, tomb construction and/or wealth of finds.
Numbered among the rich artifact finds of Tomb 1 was an anthropomorphic lamp of unique design and significance (Reg. No. T1-2010-P1344; see accompanying drawings and photographs in figs. 17a-c and 18a-d).
The lamp is likely wheelmade, though only radiographic imaging will provide a definitive determination. The interior surface shows traces of wheel finishing by smoothing of the surface with a rotary movement. The clay is composed of several types of aplastic inclusions (including small fragments of calcite and/or gypsum with medium to coarse limestone and sandstone inclusions well-distributed) and an organic material that has burned out. The hardness of the clay (MOHS 4) suggests a firing temperature above 700o C. The lack of evidence of extreme vitrification in the body indicates a firing temperature below 1000o C and probably below 900o C. No refiring tests, microstructure evaluation or radiographic imaging were conducted. These conclusions are based on visual and low-power optical microscopy.
The vessel has a sharply pinched spout. The fold of the spout is so pronounced that it encompasses half of the lamp form. The reservoir of the lamp has an exterior depth of nearly 6 cm (bottom exterior to the tip of the figure's head) with an interior depth of 3.7 cm. The form has a definite rim with the appearance of a slight base, though the body features of the applied figure may simply create the impression of a base. No traces of burning are in evidence. As is typical of many Tomb 1 vessels, this buff-colored lamp is of relatively poor manufacturing quality.
The molded and applied human figure makes this lamp unique to the Dothan pottery assemblage. The applied human form extends from a point beyond the tip of the spout to the start of the slightly flaring rim. The figure's overall length is approximately 16 cm. The head extends 2 cm beyond the tip of the spout and is 3 cm wide x 4 cm high. Five clay globulets, applied high on the forehead and extending ear to ear, create the impression of a coiffure or some type of head adornment. The skull terminates in a pointed ridge, 1 cm higher than the uppermost globulet. The ears are created by elongated globulets of clay. The right ear is 1.4 cm long; the left is 1.2 cm.
The nose is prominent (1.5 cm in length), flaring slightly from the sloping forehead. The eyes were created by pushing excess clay upward, forming a rounded depression. The lips consist of two thin coils of applied clay (1.3 cm in width by 0.7 cm thick). The arms (each 7.5 cm long) were created by applying a small coil of clay along the bottom fold of the pinched spout. The ends of the arms are splayed with no hands or fingers distinguishable. The legs are rather short in relation to the body (5.5 cm - 6.0 cm long). Similar to the arms, the legs were created by the application of clay coils that were smoothed onto the bottom of the lamp. The feet are also splayed with no toe features discernable. The figure exhibits a two-directional stance. The feet are molded in a left to right stance whereas the body and head are applied in a frontal stance. No gender characteristics are evident. The absence of breasts suggests that the figure is a male. Several imprints of the sculptor's fingers indicate that the clay was quite wet during the application of the figure to the bottom of the vessel.
Although skulls were better preserved in Levels 3 to 5, the skeletal remains in all levels of this tomb were very fragmentary and in a state of complete disorder, often fused in limestone. The poorer state of preservation of the skeletal remains, especially the skulls in Levels 1 and 2, may be explained by the damage incurred when the tomb ceiling collapsed. The five levels yielded a total of 204 skulls: 47 fragmentary skulls in Level 1; 57 fragmentary and 9 complete skulls in Level 2 (one infant skeleton was discovered); 22 fragmentary and 26 complete skulls in Level 3; 3 fragmentary and 30 complete skulls in Level 4; and, in Level 5, 3 fragmentary and 7 complete skulls. Based on these and other other skeletal remains, it has been estimated that Tomb 1 contained between 250 and 300 skeletons.
