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Dead Sea Levels during the Bronze and Iron Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Elisa Joy Kagan ,
Dafna Langgut ,
Elisabetta Boaretto ,
Frank Herald Neumann  and
Mordechai Stein
Elisa Joy Kagan*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel.
Dafna Langgut
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Weizmann Institute-Max Planck Center for Integrative Archaeology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Frank Herald Neumann
Affiliation:
Forschungsstelle für Paläobotanik, Heisenbergstrasse 2, 48149 Münster, Germany.
Mordechai Stein
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Givat Ram 91904, Jerusalem, Israel; Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel.
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

The history of lake-level changes at the Dead Sea during the Holocene was determined mainly by radiocarbon dating of terrestrial organic debris. This article reviews the various studies that have been devoted over the past 2 decades to defining the Dead Sea levels during the Bronze and Iron Ages (≃5.5 to 2.5 ka cal BP) and adds new data and interpretation. In particular, we focus on research efforts devoted to refining the chronology of the sedimentary sequence in the Ze'elim Gully, a key site of paleoclimate investigation in the European Research Council project titled Reconstructing Ancient Israel. The Bronze and Iron Ages are characterized by significant changes in human culture, reflected in archaeological records in which sharp settlement oscillations over relatively short periods of time are evident. During the Early Bronze, Intermediate Bronze, Middle Bronze, and Late Bronze Ages, the Dead Sea saw significant level fluctuations, reaching in the Middle Bronze an elevation of ≃370 m below mean sea level (bmsl), and declining in the Late Bronze to below 414 m bmsl. At the end of the Late Bronze Age and upon the transition to the Iron Age, the lake recovered slightly and rose to ≃408 m bmsl. This recovery reflected the resumption of freshwater activity in the Judean Hills, which was likely accompanied by more favorable hydrological-environmental conditions that seem to have facilitated the wave of Iron Age settlement in the region.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , 2015 , pp. 237 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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References

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