A Note on Iron Age Figural Artefacts from Tell Dothan

ABSTRACT

Tell Dothan, located just 10 kilometers from modern-day Jenin, was excavated by Joseph P. Free for 10 seasons between 1953–1964 (Figure 1). During the course of these excavations, Free recovered numerous figurines and figural artefacts. The study of figural artefacts in the southern Levant in the last two decades has received renewed interest with re-examinations of well-known traditions (for a recent and interesting reinvestigation of the Iron Age Judean Pillar Figurines, see Darby 2014), closer attention to the production processes (e.g., Ben Shlomo 2010; Darby 2014; Kletter, et al. 2010), and discussions about the uses and functions of these curious objects. The present article presents only those from the Iron Age with attention to their spatial distribution in order to contribute to the understanding of the archaeological remains at the site. At the same time, the Iron Age collection from Dothan is important not only because it supplements the growing number of published figural artefacts from the southern Levant, in particular from the lesser-explored regions of the modern-day West Bank, but because it textures the interpretation of the architecture at tell Dothan, itself.