Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T19:03:14.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Israel, in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: High-Resolution Radiocarbon Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

Michael B Toffolo ,
Eran Arie ,
Mario A S Martin ,
Elisabetta Boaretto  and
Israel Finkelstein
Michael B Toffolo*
Affiliation:
Weizmann Institute-Max Planck Center for Integrative Archaeology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Eran Arie
Affiliation:
Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archaeology Wing, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Mario A S Martin
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Weizmann Institute-Max Planck Center for Integrative Archaeology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Israel Finkelstein
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel Michael B Toffolo is a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University, working on the theme of Levantine and Aegean chronology in the Iron Age under the supervision of Israel Finkelstein and Elisabetta Boaretto; Mario A S Martin and Eran Arie are senior staff members of the Megiddo Expedition, the supervisors of Areas K and H and experts of Late Bronze and Iron Age pottery; Elisabetta Boaretto is the Director of the D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science and track leader of the European Research Council project (below); Israel Finkelstein is the Director of the Megiddo Expedition and P.I. of the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC project, grant agreement n°229418
*
3. Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Megiddo (Israel) is a key site for the study of the stratigraphy, chronology, and history of the Bronze and Iron ages in the Levant. The article presents a Bayesian chronological model for seven ceramic typology phases and 10 stratigraphic horizons at this site, covering the Late Bronze and much of the Iron Age. The model is based on 78 samples, which provided 190 determinations—the most thorough set of radiocarbon determinations known so far in a single site in the Levant. This set of data provides a reliable skeleton for the discussion of cultural processes and historical events in the region and beyond, including the periods of the Egyptian Empire in Canaan and the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , 2014 , pp. 221 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arie, E. 2006. The Iron Age I pottery: Levels K-5 and K-4 and an intra-site spatial analysis of the pottery from Stratum VIA. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B, editors. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Season. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 191–298.Google Scholar
Arie, E. 2011. “In the land of the valley”: settlement, social and cultural processes in the Jezreel Valley from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the formation of the monarchy [PhD dissertation]. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Arie, E. 2013a. Area H: Levels H-9 to H-5. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 247–74.Google Scholar
Arie, E. 2013b. The Late Bronze III and Iron I pottery: Levels K-6, M-6, M-5, M-4 and H-9. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 475–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arie, E. 2013c. The Iron IIA pottery. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 668–800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arie, E, Nativ, A. 2013. Area K, Part II: Level K-6. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V. The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 165–77.Google Scholar
Bietak, M. 1991. Egypt and Canaan during the Middle Bronze Age. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 281:27–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaretto, E. 2009. Dating materials in good archaeological contexts: the next challenge for radiocarbon analysis. Radiocarbon 51(1):275–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaretto, E, Jull, AJT, Gilboa, A, Sharon, I. 2005. Dating the Iron Age I/II transition in Israel: first intercomparison results. Radiocarbon 47(1):39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaretto, E, Gilboa, A, Sharon, I. 2009. Radiocarbon dating. In: Gadot, Y, Yadin, E, editors. Aphek-Antipatris II: The Remains on the Acropolis. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 575–8.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, AA. 2010. Canaan under siege. The history and archaeology of Egypt's war in Canaan during the early Eighteenth Dynasty. In: Vidal, J, editor. Studies on War in the Ancient Near East. Collected Essays on Military History. Münster: Alter Orient und Altes Testament. p 43–66.Google Scholar
Carmi, I, Ussishkin, D. 2004. 14C dates. In: Ussishkin, D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 2508–13.Google Scholar
Davies, GI. 1986. Megiddo. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press.Google Scholar
Dever, WG. 1987. The Middle Bronze Age: the zenith of the urban Canaanite era. Biblical Archaeologist 50:149–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2013. Area M, Part III: another interpretation of the remains - the Nordburg and Chamber F. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 228–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2007. Radiocarbon dating and Philistine chronology with an addendum on el-Ahwat. Egypt and the Levant XVII:73–82.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2010a. Radiocarbon dating the Iron Age in the Levant: a Bayesian model for six ceramic phases and six transitions. Antiquity 84(324):374–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2010b. The Iron I/IIA transition in the Levant: a reply to Mazar and Bronk Ramsey and a new perspective. Radiocarbon 52(4):1667–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2011. The Iron Age chronology debate: Is the gap narrowing? Near Eastern Archaeology 74(2):50–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B. 2006. Megiddo IV. The 1998–2002 Seasons. II. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Franklin, N. 2006. Area F (the 1998–2000 seasons). In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B, editors. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Season. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 54–65.Google Scholar
Franklin, N. 2013. Area M, Part I: The excavation. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 178–214.Google Scholar
Gadot, Y. 2009. Late Bronze and Iron Age pottery. In: Gadot, Y, Yadin, E, editors. Aphek-Antipatris II. The Remains of the Acropolis. The Moshe Kochavi and Pirhiya Beck Excavations. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 182–341.Google Scholar
Gadot, Y, Martin, MAS, Blockman, N, Arie, E. 2006a. Area K: Levels K-5 and K-4, the 1998–2002 seasons. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B, editors. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Season. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 87–103.Google Scholar
Gadot, Y, Yasur-Landau, A, Ilan, D. 2006b. The Middle Bronze III and Late Bronze I pottery from Areas F and N. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B, editors. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Season. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 171–90.Google Scholar
Gilboa, A, Sharon, I, Boaretto, E. 2013. Radiocarbon dating of the Iron Age levels. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 1117–27.Google Scholar
Herzog, Z, Singer-Avitz, L. 2004. Redefining the centre: the emergence of state in Judah. Tel Aviv 31:209–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herzog, Z, Singer-Avitz, L. 2006. Sub-dividing the Iron IIA in northern Israel: a suggested solution to the chronological debate. Tel Aviv 33:163–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempinski, A. 1989. Megiddo. A City State and Royal Center in North Israel. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck.Google Scholar
Kenyon, K. 1960. Archaeology in the Holy Land. London: E. Benn.Google Scholar
Levy, TE, Najjar, M, Higham, T. 2010. Ancient texts and archaeology revisited - radiocarbon and biblical dating in the southern Levant. Antiquity 84(325):834–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, MAS. 2009. Egyptian-type Eighteenth Dynasty pots at Megiddo. Egypt and the Levant XIX:211–8.Google Scholar
Martin, MAS. 2011. Egyptian-Type Pottery in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, MAS. 2013. The Late Bronze IIB pottery from Levels K-8 and K-7. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 343–457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, MAS, Blockman, N, Bidmead, J. 2013. Area K, Part I: Levels K-8 and K-7. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 153–64.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1997. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000–586 BCE. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2007. Interpretation of the Radiocarbon dates from Area R. In: Mazar, A, Mullins, RA, editors. Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996, Volume II: The Middle and Late Bronze Age Strata in Area R. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 718–21.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2009. Introduction and overview. In: Panitz-Cohen, N, Mazar, A, editors. Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996, Volume III: The 13th-11th century BCE strata in Areas N and S. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 1–32.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2011. The Iron Age chronology debate: Is the gap narrowing? Another viewpoint. Near Eastern Archaeology 74(2):105–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A, Bronk Ramsey, C. 2008. 14C dates and the Iron Age chronology of Israel: a response. Radiocarbon 50(2):159–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A, Bruins, H, Panitz-Cohen, N, van der Plicht, H. 2005. Ladder of time at Tel Rehov: stratigraphy, archaeological context, pottery and radiocarbon dates. In: Levy, TE, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 193–255.Google Scholar
Mullins, RA. 2007. The Late Bronze Age pottery. In: Mazar, A, Mullins, RA, editors. Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996, Volume II: The Middle and Late Bronze Age Strata in Area R. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 390–547.Google Scholar
Panitz-Cohen, N. 2006. The pottery of strata XII-V. In: Panitz-Cohen, N, Mazar, A, editors. Timnah (Tel Batash) III. The Finds from the Second Millennium BCE. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 9–150.Google Scholar
Pechuro, A. 2013. Area M, Part II: an architectural study of Chamber F. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Cline, EH, editors. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 215–27.Google Scholar
Rebollo, NR, Cohen-Ofri, I, Popovitz-Biro, R, Bar-Yosef, O, Meignen, L, Goldberg, P, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2008. Structural characterization of charcoal exposed to high and low pH: implications for 14C sample preparation and charcoal preservation. Radiocarbon 50(2):289–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redford, DB. 1979. A gate inscription from Karnak and Egyptian involvement in Western Asia during the early 18th Dynasty. Journal of the American Oriental Society 99(2):270–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Hajdas, I, Heaton, TJ, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, McCormac, FG, Manning, SW, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Southon, JR, Talamo, S, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2009. IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 51(4):1111–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seger, JD. 1975. The MB II fortifications at Shechem and Gezer: a Hyksos retrospective. Eretz-Israel 12:34–45.Google Scholar
Sharon, I. 2001. ‘Transition dating’ – a heuristic mathematical approach to the collation of radiocarbon dates from stratified sequences. Radiocarbon 43(2A):345–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharon, I, Gilboa, A, Jull, AJT, Boaretto, E. 2007. Report on the first stage of the Iron Age dating project in Israel: supporting a Low Chronology. Radiocarbon 49(1):1–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockhammer, P. 2011. An Aegean glance at Megiddo. In: Gauss, W, Lindblom, M, Smith, RAK, Wright, JC, editors. Our Cups are Full: Pottery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age. Papers Presented to Jeremy B. Rutter on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. Oxford: Archaeopress. p 282–96.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, HA. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toffolo, MB, Maeir, AM, Chadwick, JR, Boaretto, E. 2012. Characterization of contexts for radiocarbon dating: results from the early Iron Age at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Radiocarbon 54(3–4):371–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Plicht, H, Bruins, HJ, Nijboer, AJ. 2009. The Iron Age around the Mediterranean: a High Chronology perspective from the Groningen radiocarbon database. Radiocarbon 51(1):213–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinstein, J. 1981. The Egyptian Empire in Palestine: a reassessment. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 241:1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yizhaq, M, Mintz, G, Cohen, I, Khalaily, H, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2005. Quality controlled radiocarbon dating of bones and charcoal from the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) of Motza (Israel). Radiocarbon 47(2):193–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimhoni, O. 2004. The pottery of Levels III and II. In: Ussishkin, D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 1789–899.Google Scholar