RESISTANCE AND AUTHORITY AT THE BEGINNING OF URBANISM: THE CASE OF TEL BET YERAH BROKEN MACEHEADS

Abstract

A large number of broken limestone maceheads found at Early Bronze Tel Bet Yerah appears to be the result of intentional curation and fragmentation. Our analysis suggests that Early Bronze maceheads could function as weapons, but their efficiency and dependability were limited. Based on their properties, provenance, breakage pattern, and dating, we suggest that the maceheads symbolized the distribution of power in the community and resistance to centralized authority during Early Bronze II. Their accumulation and fragmentation would then represent a reversal of heterarchical tendencies and possibly an attempt to assert centralized power at the beginning of Early Bronze III.