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We explore the nature of three small villages or "hamlets" situated in close proximity to Shiqmim--one of the largest Chalcolithic (ca. 4500-3600 CAL B.C.) settlements in the southern Levant. Located in the northern Negev Desert of Israel, Shiqmim and other large sites in the Beersheva valley have yielded data suggesting the emergence of a regional chiefdom-level social organization in this period. Identifying chiefdoms in the Near Eastern archaeological record is difficult because there is little material evidence of displays of rank and power such as are found in Mesoamerican chiefdoms. A two-tier settlement hierarchy with large settlement centers that coordinate religious, political, and economic activities for a constellation of smaller satellite villages or hamlets is one of the most important cross-cultural attributes of chiefdoms documented by anthropologists. The results from archaeological soundings, material culture analyses, and radiocarbon dating of small-scale sites in the vicinity of a large settlement center in the Beersheva valley are consistent with the presence of a dynamic regional chiefdom-level society during the Chalcolithic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the findings of the archaeological excavations in the Negev Desert, Israel regarding the interaction between Canaanites and Egyptians in the third century. Role of Egypt's King Narmer in the expansion of the Nile Valley civilization; Impact of the development of the Nile Valley to the Canaanites.

The article discusses the discovery of the remains of the first Chalcolithic cemetery complex to be found in Meẕad Aluf, in the Northern Negev desert of Israel. The 1979 discovery is accredited to a survey team led by Thomas Evan Levy and David Alon, the authors of the article, express anticipation that evidence will be uncovered to elucidate the nature of the social organization of Chalcolithic societies.