Canaanean Flint Blades in Chalcolithic Context and the Possible Onset of the Transition to the Early Bronze Age: A Case Study from Fazael 2

Canaanean blade technology is widely accepted as a hallmark of the Early Bronze Age in the southern Levant. Over the past several years excavations of various sites attributed to the Chalcolithic period have yielded a small number of such blades. Despite this, there is still no consensus regarding the dating of the introduction of this technology and some scholars have argued that these finds came from mixed contexts. Using data from the site of Fazael 2, the paper suggests that Canaanean blade technology had already been introduced in the southern Levant by the end-phase of the Chalcolithic period, possibly as part of the onset of the transition to the early Bronze Age.