Erich Lessing

Clay ossuaries with stylized decorations, dating to the fourth millennium B.C., were discovered in a burial cave in Azor, south of modern day Tel Aviv. Placing previously dessicated human bones in ossuaries for final burial was practiced during the Chalcolithic period (4500–3200 B.C.) and again during the Herodian period (30 B.C.–70 A.D.).