The cultural and occupational continuity between Early and Middle Bronze Ages in the Upper Khabur basin, north-eastern Syria has been investigated before with regard to pottery and settlement patterns. This paper addresses the question from the less commonly explored perspective of funerary behaviour and, in particular, material culture represented by grave finds from Tell Arbid in Syria. Material from five child graves dated to the late 3rd millennium BC, presented in this paper, and complementary data on other child graves from the region, provide grounds for discussion. This touches specifically upon jewellery placed in graves. Personal adornments from the late EBA child graves display a strong cultural affinity with those of the 3rd millennium BC, and are indicative of a distinctive social identity for their users. This differs from that of the population that continued to use the same burial ground in the early 2nd millennium BC. The material provides a thought-provoking case for recognizing a break in the cultural legacy between the EBA and MBA despite possible continuity in settlement. Adult burials from the period, which are fewer and mostly devoid of grave goods other than pottery, are largely excluded from the discussion as they do not contribute so effectively to our understanding of these changes.

中文翻译：

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文化遗产的突破：来自叙利亚泰尔阿比德的儿童坟墓库存，从 EBA 到 MBA 的过渡

之前已经对叙利亚东北部上哈布尔盆地的青铜时代早期和中期之间的文化和职业连续性进行了有关陶器和聚居模式的调查。本文从不常探讨的丧葬行为的角度来解决这个问题，特别是从叙利亚 Tell Arbid 的墓地发现所代表的物质文化。本文介绍的五个公元前 3 世纪晚期的儿童坟墓的材料以及该地区其他儿童坟墓的补充数据为讨论提供了依据。这特别涉及放置在坟墓中的珠宝。来自已故 EBA 儿童坟墓的个人装饰品显示出与公元前 3 千年的强烈文化亲和力，并表明其用户具有独特的社会身份。这与公元前 2 千年早期继续使用同一墓地的人口不同。该材料提供了一个发人深省的案例，用于承认 EBA 和 MBA 之间的文化遗产的断裂，尽管定居点可能具有连续性。这一时期的成人墓葬数量较少，除陶器外几乎没有陪葬品，因此在很大程度上被排除在讨论之外，因为它们对我们对这些变化的理解没有那么有效的帮助。