This volume presents the data and analysis of the ground-stone assemblage from the renewed excavations at Sha'ar Hagolan, a major site of the Pottery Neolithic Yarmukian culture in the Jordan Valley of Israel. Hundreds of ground-stone implements were unearthed in the course of the eleven excavation seasons at the site (in 1989–1990 and 1996–2004), conducted by one of the authors, Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. These items are the focus of this monograph, which aims at presenting their characteristics, analysing their attributes and discussing their significance for our understanding of the Neolithic period of the southern Levant.
            Ground-stone tools, like other forms of material culture, reflect the sum of many functional, stylistic and symbolic choices made by ancient societies. As such, ground-stone assemblages should be perceived as promising arenas for studying various social and economic phenomena pertaining to past communities. This versatile tool group is a key factor in our understanding of prehistoric societies.
            The ground-stone implements on which this volume focuses were retrieved from within the courtyard buildings and other architectural units, as well as from various open areas between and near the main architectural complexes. Many ground-stone items were also found incorporated in floors, in various installations and in walls, and others were found in fills or on the surface. The assemblage was studied by one of the authors, Danny Rosenberg, in 2009–2010 and was presented as part of his Ph.D. dissertation. Different aspects of the assemblage were further investigated in the framework of his post-doctoral research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
            This volume, published in 2015 by Israel Exploration Society in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the outcome of over twenty years of research into Yarmukian Sha'ar Hagolan