Report on Underwater Excavation at the Phoenician Harbour,Atlit, Israel

Atlit is a small Phoenician settlement on the Carmel coast, with an artificial harbour, built during Iron Age II, before the Assyrian occupation, and used until the end of the Persian era. There are no remains of any later construction, in contrast to other Phoenician ports such as Sidon and Tyre. The study of Atlit harbour has therefore provided invaluable information on the positioning, planning and construction of Phoenician harbours in the Levant. This article is a summary of the most recent underwater excavation seasons at the harbour, and presents our conclusions on construction techniques and their historical implications. © 2009 The Author     

Geoarchaeology of Sidon's ancient harbours,Phoenicia

Geoarchaeological data from Sidon's ancient harbour areas elucidate six evolutionary phases since the Bronze Age. (1) At the time of Sidon's foundation, during the third millennium BC, medium sand facies show the city's northern and southern pocket beaches to have served as proto-harbours for Middle to Late Bronze Age societies. (2) Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, expanding international trade prompted coastal populations into modifying these natural anchorages. In Sidon's northern harbour, transition from shelly to fine-grained sands is the earliest granulometric manifestation of human coastal modification. The lee of Zire island was also exploited as a deep-water anchorage, or outer harbour, at this time. (3) Although localised sediments evoke developed port infrastructure during the Phoenician and Persian periods, high-resolution reconstruction of the northern harbour's Iron Age history is problematic given repeated dredging practices during the Roman and Byzantine periods. (4) Fine-grained silts and sands in the northern harbour are coeval with advanced Roman engineering works, significantly deforming the coastal landscape. Bio- and lithostratigraphical data attest a leaky lagoon type environment, indicative of a well-protected port. (5) The technological apogee of Sidon's northern harbour is recorded during the late Roman and Byzantine periods, translated stratigraphically by a plastic clays unit and brackish lagoon fauna. (6) A final semi-abandonment phase, comprising coarse sand facies, concurs silting up and a 100–150 m progradation of the port coastline after the seventh century AD. We advance three hypotheses to explain these stratigraphic data, namely cultural, tectonic and tsunamogenic. Finally, our results are compared and contrasted with research undertaken in Sidon's sister harbour, Tyre.     

THE SHEPHELAH IN THE IRON AGE: A NEW LOOK ON THE SETTLEMENT OF JUDAH

Abstract

The Shephelah was densely settled in the Late Bronze Age, but most of the settlements were gradually abandoned during the transition to the Iron I period. Only a few Iron I settlements existed in the eastern part of the region (excluding the Philistine sites at the northwestern edge of the Shephelah), forming a small Canaanite enclave. During the Iron II period the region was gradually resettled, and it became part of Judah. This process lasted until the 8th century BCE, when the region reached an unparalleled demographic peak. Sennacherib's campaign brought wide-scale destruction, and the region recovered only partially before being devastated by Nebuchadnezzar. After reconstructing the region's settlement history, the article reassesses its political and demographic history in comparison to the neighbouring regions of the Judean highlands and the southern coastal plain, it is concluded that the Shephelah had a lesser role in the history of Judah than some recent studies suggest.     

Fields,Ritual and Religion: Holistic Approaches to the Rural Landscape in Long‐Term Perspective (c.1500 BC–AD 1086)

This paper discusses the relationship between agricultural activity and ritualized/religious practices in England from the middle Bronze Age to the early medieval period (c.1500 BC–AD 1086). It is written in the context of the ERC‐funded, Oxford‐based ‘English Landscapes and Identities project’ (EngLaId), which involved the compilation of an extensive spatial database of archaeological ‘monuments’, finds and other related data to chart change and continuity during this period. Drawing on this database alongside documentary and onomastic evidence, we analyze the changing relationship between fields, ritual and religion in England. We identify four moments of change, around the start of the middle Bronze Age (c.1500 BC), in the late Bronze Age (c.1150 BC), the late Iron Age (c.150 BC) and the middle/late Anglo‐Saxon period (c.800 AD). However, despite changes in both agricultural and ritual/religious practices during this extensive timeframe, a clear link between them can be observed throughout.     

A multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation of the findspot of an Iron Age bog body from Oldcroghan,Co. Offaly,Ireland

In 2003, the remains of an Early Iron Age bog body, known as ‘Oldcroghan Man’, were recovered during the cutting of a drainage ditch in a bog in the Irish Midlands. Only some fingernails and a withe fragment remained undisturbed in situ in the drain face, providing the sole evidence for the original position of the body. A detailed reconstruction of the depositional context of the body has been undertaken through multi-proxy analyses of a peat monolith collected at the findspot. The palynological record shows that the surrounding area was the focus of intensive human activity during the Later Bronze Age, but was largely abandoned during the Bronze Age–Iron transition in the mid-first millennium BC. In the mid-4th century BC, a bog pool developed at the site, evidenced in the stratigraphic, plant macrofossil, testate amoebae and coleopteran records. Plant macrofossil and pollen analysis of peat samples associated with the fingernails suggests that the body was deposited in this pool most likely during the 3rd century BC. The absence of carrion beetle fauna points to complete submergence of the body within the pool. Deposition occurred shortly before or around the time that the surrounding area again became the focus of woodland clearance, as seen in the extended pollen record from the peat monolith. This period corresponds to the Early Iron Age in Ireland, during which renewed cultural connections with Britain and continental Europe can be seen in the archaeological record and widespread forest clearance is recorded in pollen records from across Ireland. The palaeoenvironmental results indicate, therefore, that the demise of Oldcroghan Man took place at a pivotal time of socio-economic and perhaps political change.     

Hebrew Inscriptions

Abstract

In the light of the ceramical evidence it is clear that a small settlement was built here during the Hyksos period. It was abandoned during Late Bronze and Early Iron, but rebuilt and flourished during the period of the Hebrew monarchy. It was again rebuilt during the Persian period, but permanently abandoned afterwards. The neglect of aqueducts and springs probably led to the swamping of the region.

Several facts are interesting in this story. Firstly, that the periods of habitation attested here are just those when security in the country was good, so that it was possible to live in an unfenced village sited in undefended ground in the lowland. Secondly, in the conditions obtaining prior to the reclamation work undertaken by the Jewish settlers, the site, situated in swamp ground, could hardly have been inhabited. Yet the archaeological evidence indicates occupation here up to the Persian period. The changes in environment leading to the present state of things could thus, at the earliest, have begun after that time. The site thus furnishes dated evidence about geographical changes in the country of which it seems worth while taking cognizance.     

The Excavations at Tel 'Eton (2006–2009): A Preliminary Report

Abstract

Tel 'Eton, commonly identified with biblical 'Eglon, is a large site in the trough valley in the southeastern Shephelah. Since the summer of 2006, Bar-Ilan University has been carrying out a large-scale exploration project at the site and its surroundings. The excavations were preceded by a detailed mapping of the site, which was subsequently divided into 39 sub-units. This was followed by survey and shovel tests in each of those units, and by full-scale excavations in four excavation areas. It appears that the site was first settled in the Early Bronze Age, and again in the Middle Bronze Age to the late Iron Age (8^th century BCE). Following a settlement gap in the 7^th–5^th centuries BCE, the site was resettled for a short period in the late Persian or early Hellenistic period. Among the major finds is a thick Assyrian destruction layer (8^th century BCE), which sealed many houses with their content, including many pottery vessels, metal artifacts, and botanical material (some still within the vessels), and many additional finds. The present article summarizes the results of the explorations of the site in 2006–2009.     

Joshua’s Tomb

Abstract

Following the recent excavations of the Jerusalem 'Warren's Shaft System' and its attribution to the Middle Bronze II period, the authors re-evaluate the dating of the Gezer water system. R. A. S. Macalister attributed it to the 'Second Semitic' period, which roughly corresponds to the ME II period. Several scholars challenged this dating, suggesting a lower date in the Late Bronze or the Iron Age. The article draws attention to a detail which escaped the types of scholars, namely that the cave at the bottom of the system has in fact a lower outlet, to the tell's southern perimeter. This detail appears on a plan and section drawn by L Vincent, when visiting the excavation. This explains how the miners knew where to locate the entrance to the system within the city's boundary, and to what direction and angle to aim their tunnel to hit that cave. This increases the similarity between the Jerusalem and the Gezer water systems, and corroborates the MB II dating for the Gezer system, originally suggested by Macalister.     

Context for a carnyx: excavation of a long-lived ritual site at Leitchestown,Deskford, Moray,north-east Scotland

Excavations at the findspot of the Deskford carnyx, a major piece of Iron Age decorated metalwork found in a bog in the early nineteenth century, revealed a special location with a long history. Early Neolithic activity on the adjacent ridge consisted of massive postholes and pits, suggesting a ceremonial site. An Early Bronze Age cremation became the focus for a feasting event in the Middle Bronze Age. Around this time, peat began to form in the valley, with vessels of pot and wood smashed and deposited there; these activities on ridge and bog may be connected. Activity in the bog intensified in the later Iron Age, when offerings included quartz pebbles, the dismantled carnyx head, and two unusual animal bone deposits. The ridge was cut off at this period by a complex enclosure system. This Iron Age activity is interpreted as communal rituals at a time of increasing social tension. The site’s significance in this period may stem from its unusual landscape character, with flowing water to one side and a bog to the other. The area saw occasional activity in the Early Medieval period, but its significance had waned.     

The Iron Age lower settlement at Kabri revisited

ABSTRACT

During the 2017 excavation season at Tel Kabri, Iron Age remains were found cutting into the western part of the Middle Bronze Age palace. These remains consisted of a segment of a large structure and a series of sizable pits. Similar Iron Age remains were unearthed during previous soundings in Areas D and F of the excavation and were loosely dated to the Iron Age II. The ceramic assemblage from these soundings demonstrated a disproportionate number of imports and cooking pots, which prompted the excavators to suggest that the lower settlement was engaged in the processing of agricultural products connected to the nearby forts located elsewhere on the tell. A recent re-examination of the pottery from the previous excavations suggest that the forts could have only existed during the Iron Age IIA and IIC. Our examination of the pottery indicates that the imports can be dated to the Iron Age IIA, while the large number of cooking pots should mostly be dated to the Iron Age IIC. We would therefore like to suggest a new interpretation for the function of the lower settlement at Kabri during the Iron Age II in relation to the forts and the political reality in the Galilee at that time.     

Silo or Vat? Observations on the Ancient Textile Industry in Malta and Early Phoenician Interests in the Island

This paper concerns the Bronze Age/Phoenician contact period, focusing on a cache of pottery from Mtarfa, Malta, excavated by Ward Perkins in 1939, and the evidence of coastal and other pits, possibly used in the process of dyeing textile. Dyed fabric, it is argued, may have been the reason for Phoenician contact with the island prior to colonization. Murex shells and other possible dye sources within Malta are discussed.     

Environmental Archaeology of Prehistoric NW Crete

Abstract

The occurrence of Central European tree-types no longer growing on Crete indicates that Neolithic and Bronze Age climates were moister than at present. Of equal significance is the appearance of large quantities of olive pollen in Late Neolithic levels, suggesting the practice of olive cultivation. Early Bronze Age levels show a disappearance of some Central European tree pollen and an increase in Mediterranean tree types, suggesting that the climate became somewhat drier. The pollen findings are used along with other environmental and archaeological data to reconstruct landscapes for the Neolithic and Bronze Age of NW Crete.     

Pottery production at Tell es-Safi/Gath: a Longue Durée perspective

The development of pottery production during the Bronze and Iron Ages at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel, is examined based on the analysis of 224 pottery vessels representing most periods within this ca. 1700 years time frame. The main tools employed were visual examination of manufacturing techniques and petrographic thin section analysis, all of which was conducted on the entire group. This was combined with a chronological, functional, typological, and cultural characterization of the samples. The results indicate a tendency of a diachronic shift from the use of calcareous-based clays to non-calcareous clays, from the Bronze Age towards the late Iron Age, although the primary shaping techniques do not change. Intentional tempering, when relevant, is mostly type- or function-dependent. It is suggested that this trend, possibly evident at other sites in the southern Levant as well, may be related to the employment of higher firing temperatures by the potters. This phenomenon may also be related to the decrease in the relative amount of decorated pottery that is seen during the late Iron Age.     

Diversity in foddering strategy and herd management in late Bronze Age Britain: An isotopic investigation of pigs and other fauna from two midden sites

Abstract

Middens of the southern British late Bronze and Iron Age are vast accumulations of cultural debris that can be explained as refuse dumps linked with large periodic feasting events. A distinctive feature of these sites is that their faunal assemblages invariably comprise a considerably higher proportion of pig remains than contemporaneous settlement sites. This paper presents results from a programme of stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope analysis of fauna from two major midden sites, Llanmaes in South Wales and Potterne in Wiltshire. The research aim is to reconstruct husbandry strategies and foddering regimes, particularly concerning pigs, to better understand how the challenges of raising large herds were met. Analysis produced exceptionally wide-ranging results for pigs and other domesticates at both sites, particularly in terms of δ¹⁵N values, demonstrating that diverse foddering strategies were employed. Diversity in the late Bronze Age pig foddering regimes indicates that the Neolithic husbandry practices (focusing on woodland fodder) had not been abandoned, but that new husbandry methods (consumption of household waste) were also being practised, which subsequently became more widely established in the Iron Age. The heterogeneity of signatures suggests that animals may have been husbanded in a piecemeal fashion at a local, household level. This in turn hints that fauna may have been brought to these sites from households across the surrounding landscape, rather than being husbanded by specialist producers in the vicinity of the middens.     

Genesis 38: The Search for Progeny and Heir

The construction of a second temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem during the early Achaemenid period is usually attributed to the religious fervor of ethnic Yehudite immigrants from Babylon. The general shape of reconstructions of this period most often follows the general outline of the events given in Ezra 1-6. According to this model, there were two attempts to build the temple, a first attempt in the reign of Cyrus and a second attempt in the reign of Darius. This paper proposes an alternative reconstruction, placing the entire construction project in the reign of Darius and attributing the primary motivation for the project to the needs of the Persian imperial administration rather than Yehudite religious sentiments.     

On the Life and Death of Earl GodwineGodwine During the Reign of Harold the First and Harthacnut

This report reviews and updates the evidence from the Roman temple site of Pagans Hill, Chew Stoke, North Somerset, which was partly excavated between 1949 and 1953. This includes a revised terminus post quem for the initial building of the temple complex of c. A.D. 262 and an emphasis of the importance of the location of the well on the axis of a planned layout. This is accompanied by a resumé of a reassessment by George Boon of the sculpture of the torso of a dog found in the well in 1951; this was formerly dated to the sixteenth century, but is now redated to the Roman period, and assigned to a group of temple sculpture. This has also stimulated discussion about the dedication of the temple, possibly to Apollo Cunomaglus. There is also a new review by Professor Vera Evison of the Anglo-Saxon glass jar from the temple well and other comparable vessels.

A further excavation in 1986 clarified certain ambiguous points in the earlier work, and added some new data, notably of prehistoric (Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and? Iron Age) use of the site, and of the construction of the Roman well. Finds reports include details of a collection of flints, prehistoric pottery, and industrial refuse; a review of the consolidated coin evidence, the first assessment of any faunal remains from the site and details of objects found by metal-detecting, the latter including a note on a rare coin of Edward the Confessor.     

Neolithic and Bronze-Age Herders of Pupićina Cave,Croatia

Abstract

Pupi?ina Cave (Croatia) preserves an important archaeological sequence spanning 12,000 years. Here we present and discuss the results of extensive excavations in post-Mesolithic deposits.Pupi?ina Cave,located in NE Istria in a region rich in caves and in prehistoric settlement, has well-dated evidence from the Middle Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods. Visitors to the cave in the Middle Neolithic ca. 5500–5000 in calibrated years B.C (cal B.C.) left typical Danilo/Vla?ka pottery and kept herds of sheep and goats during the spring. Mortality profiles suggest that herds were managed for milk production. During the Late Neolithic (ca. 4550–4150 cal B.C.) Hvar pottery appears along with lithic artifacts from great distances (e.g.,Lipari). Herds of sheep and goats were managed for meat as were cattle and pigs. There was a major hiatus in occupation between the Late Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1775–1400 cal B.C.) deposits are found only in one large pit. Pottery is dominated by drinking vessels, and faunal use is the same as in the Late Neolithic. The cave was used primarily as an animal pen during the Iron Age (1st millennium B.C.).     

SHIFTING SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE SOUTHERN JORDAN VALLEY AND DESERT FRINGES OF SAMARIA DURING THE EARLY BRONZE AGE I PERIOD

Abstract

This study deals with the unprecedented settlement activity during the Early Bronze Age I that has been recently recorded in the Jordan Valley and the desert fringes of Samaria. The increase in the number of sites primarily characterises the latter part of the period (Early Bronze Age IB), and is accompanied by two other important phenomena: population inroads into new regions, and the first appearance of fortified sites. A profound crisis at the end of the period resulted in the almost complete abandonment of the valley sites and the concentration of settlement along the eastern foothills of Samaria.     

Bronze Age Field Systems in the Thames Valley

In the last two decades excavation along the River Thames has shown the remarkable survival of Bronze Age field systems. A managed farming landscape emerged in this lowland area during the Middle Bronze Age and continued to develop until the end of the Late Bronze Age. In the latter period the field systems were divided into several regional groups in each of which there was a high status settlement and a concentration of river metalwork. They provide evidence for a predominantly pastoral economy in the Thames Valley on a scale which may have supported an increasingly hierarchical society. Settlements and field systems were abandoned during the Late Bronze Age, and by the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition new sites were largely confined to the extreme upper reaches of the Thames, an area which had been peripheral to the alliance and exchange system that had operated downstream.