Textiles have long been recognized as a key feature in the economic and social development of early complex societies. Many comparative dimensions, however, remain unexplored, including within the ancient Near East. Unlike contemporary societies in Syria and Mesopotamia, wool was not used as a staple finance good in the Early Bronze Age southern Levant (c. 3700–2000 bce) since the landscape could not permit adequately scaled production. In larger cultural regions wool was produced at vast scales and helped underpin royal institutions. But without a non-perishable, high-volume and high-value commodity like wool, staple finance in the southern Levant was restricted to seasonally produced grain, wine and oil, primarily used in exchange for local labour. Moreover, without wool there was little need in the southern Levant for the administrative and security technologies used elsewhere, namely seals and sealing, and later, writing. This limited the development of complex institutions and cognitive abilities.

长期以来，纺织品一直被认为是早期复杂社会经济和社会发展的关键特征。然而，许多比较维度仍未被探索，包括在古代近东地区。与叙利亚和美索不达米亚的当代社会不同，在青铜时代早期（约公元前 3700-2000 年）南部，羊毛并未被用作主要的金融商品，因为该地区的景观无法实现足够的规模生产。在更大的文化区域，羊毛被大规模生产，并帮助支撑了皇家机构。但是，由于没有羊毛等不易腐烂、产量高、价值高的商品，黎凡特南部的主要金融仅限于季节性生产的谷物、葡萄酒和石油，主要用于换取当地劳动力。此外，没有羊毛，黎凡特南部就几乎不需要其他地方使用的行政和安全技术，即印章和印章，以及后来的文字。这限制了复杂机构和认知能力的发展。