Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T22:15:21.013Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Israel Finkelstein ,
Steve Weiner  and
Elisabetta Boaretto
Israel Finkelstein
Affiliation:
The Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Steve Weiner
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In the original proposal entitled Reconstructing Ancient Israel – The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective, two of us (Israel Finkelstein and Steve Weiner) wrote, “If the microscopic data are well integrated into the macroscopic (archaeological) record, they will undoubtedly provide new insights into the study of Ancient Israel.” And this was what this 5-year (2009–2014) European Research Council (ERC) sponsored program (details below) was all about. New ground was broken on three fronts: conceptual, methodological, and in the generation of new data that indeed provide novel insights into the history and material culture of Ancient Israel in particular and the Iron Age Levant in general. The reviews presented in this special volume synthesize some of these new insights. The findings have been published in about 70 papers (see Appendix).

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , 2015 , pp. 197 - 206
Copyright
Copyright © 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

APPENDIX: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Published and accepted for publication

Asscher, Y, Lehmann, G, Rosen, SA, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015. Absolute dating of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition and the appearance of Philistine culture in Qubur el-Walaydah, southern Levant. Radiocarbon 57(1):77–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asscher, Y, Regev, L, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2012. Atomic disorder in fossil tooth and bone mineral: an FTIR study using the grinding curve method. ArcheoSciences 1:135–41.Google Scholar
Asscher, Y, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2011. Variations in atomic disorder in biogenic carbonate hydroxyapatite using the infrared spectrum grinding curve method. Advanced Functional Materials 21:3308–13.Google Scholar
Boaretto, E. 2015. Radiocarbon and the archaeological record: an integrative approach for building an absolute chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Israel. Radiocarbon 57(2):207–16. (this issue) Google Scholar
Cabanes, D, Gadot, Y, Cabanes, M, Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S, Shahack-Gross, R. 2012. Human impact around settlement sites: a phytolith and mineralogical study for assessing site boundaries, phytolith preservation, and implications for spatial reconstructions using plant remains. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(8):2697–705.Google Scholar
Cabanes, D, Weiner, S, Shahack-Gross, R. 2011. Stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record: a dissolution study of modern and fossil phytoliths. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(9):2480–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eliyahu-Behar, A, Yahalom-Mack, N, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Iron smelting and smithing in major urban centers in Israel during the Iron Age. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(12):4319–30.Google Scholar
Eliyahu-Behar, A, Yahalom-Mack, N, Shilstein, S, Zukerman, A, Shafer-Elliott, C, Maeir, AM, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S. 2012. Iron and bronze production in Iron Age IIA Philistia: new evidence from Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(2):255–67.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Finkelstein, I, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Shaus, A, Cordonsky, M. 2015. Multispectral imaging of two hieratic inscriptions from Qubur el-Walaiydah. Egypt and the Levant 24:349–54.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Bearman, G. In press. Multispectral imaging of Tel Malhata ostraca. In: Beit-Arieh, I, editor. Tel Malhata: A Central City in the Biblical Negev. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Shaus, A, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Bearman, G, Cordonsky, M, Finkelstein, I. 2012. Multispectral images of ostraca: acquisition and analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(12):3581–90.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum-Golovin, S, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Finkelstein, I, Levin, D, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Turkel, E. 2015. Computerized paleographic investigation of Hebrew Iron Age ostraca. Radiocarbon 57(2):317–25. (this issue) Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Turkel, E, Piasetzky, E. 2013. Evaluating glyph binarizations based on their properties. In: DocEng '13 Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Symposium on Document Engineering. New York: Association for Computer Machinery. p 127–30.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. Forthcoming. The Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean in the Early Phases of the Iron Age: the view from micro-archaeology. In: Aruz, J, editor. From Assyria to Iberia. New York: The Metropolitan Museum.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Ben-Dor Evian, S, Boaretto, E, Cabanes, D, Cabanes, M-T, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Faigenbaum, S, Gadot, Y, Langgut, D, Martin, M, Meiri, M, Namdar, D, Sapir-Hen, L, Shahack-Gross, R, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Toffolo, M, Yahalom-Mack, N, Zapassky, L, Weiner, S. 2012. Reconstructing ancient Israel: integrating macro- and micro-archaeology. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1:133–50.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Langgut, D. 2014. Dry climate in the Middle Bronze I and its impact on settlement patterns in the Levant and beyond: new pollen evidence. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 73(2):219–34.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015. Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives. Radiocarbon 57(2):197–206. (this issue) Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Zapassky, L, Gadot, Y, Master, DM, Stager, LE, Benenson, I. 2011. Phoenician “torpedo” amphoras and Egypt: standardization of volume based on linear dimensions. Egypt and the Levant 21:249–59.Google Scholar
Forget, M, Regev, L, Friesem, D, Shahack-Gross, R. 2015. Physical and mineralogical properties of experimentally heated sundried mud bricks: implications for reconstruction of environmental factors influencing the appearance of mud bricks in archaeological conflagration events. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2:80–93.Google Scholar
Friesem, D, Boaretto, E, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Shahack-Gross, R. 2011. Degradation of mud brick houses in an arid environment: a geoarchaeological model. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(5):1135–47.Google Scholar
Friesem, DE, Tsartsidou, G, Karkanas, P, Shahack-Gross, R. 2014. Where are the roofs? A geo-ethnoarchaeological study of mud brick structures and their collapse processes, focusing on the identification of roofs. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 6(1):73–92.Google Scholar
Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I, Iserlis, M, Maeir, AM, Nahshoni, P, Namdar, D. 2014. Tracking down cult: production, function and content of chalices in Iron Age Philistia. Tel Aviv 41(1):54–75.Google Scholar
Gilboa, A, Namdar, D. 2015. On the beginnings of South Asian spice trade with the Mediterranean region: a review. Radiocarbon 57(2):265–83. (this issue) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldenberg, L, Neumann, R, Weiner, S. 2014. Microscale distribution and concentration of preserved organic molecules with carbon-carbon double bonds in archaeological ceramics: relevance to the field of residue analysis. Journal Archaeological Science 42:509–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gur-Arieh, S, Boaretto, E, Maeir, A, Shahack-Gross, R. 2012. Formation processes in Philistine hearths from Tell es-Safi/Gath (Israel): an experimental approach. Journal of Field Archaeology 37(2):121–31.Google Scholar
Kagan, EJ, Langgut, D, Boaretto, E, Neumann, FH, Stein, M. 2015. Dead Sea levels during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Radiocarbon 57(2):237–52. (this issue) Google Scholar
Kagan, E, Stein, M, Agnon, A, Neumann, F. 2011. Intrabasin paleoearthquake and quiescence correlation of the Late Holocene Dead Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research 116:BO4311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langgut, D. 2013. The role of pollen analysis in archaeology: an example from the Royal Persian Garden at Ramat Rahel (Jerusalem). Cathedra 150:37–50. In Hebrew.Google Scholar
Langgut, D. 2014a. Southern Levant pollen record, palaeo-climate and human impact from the Late Bronze Age to the Persian Period. In: Bieliński, P, Gawlikowski, M, Koliński, R, Ławecka, D, Sołtysiak, A, Wygnańska, Z, editors. Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE 2012), Warsaw. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. p 541–58.Google Scholar
Langgut, D. 2014b. Prestigious fruit trees in ancient Israel: first palynological evidence for growing Juglans regia and Citrus medica. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. doi:10.1080/07929978.2014.950067.Google Scholar
Langgut, D, Finkelstein, I, Litt, T. 2013. Climate and the Late Bronze collapse: new evidence from the southern Levant. Tel Aviv 40(2):149–75.Google Scholar
Langgut, D, Finkelstein, I, Litt, T, Neumann, FH, Stein, M. 2015. Vegetation and climate changes during the Bronze and Iron Ages (≃3600–600 BCE) in the southern Levant based on palynological records. Radiocarbon 57(2):217–35. (this issue) CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langgut, D, Gadot, Y, Lipschits, O. 2014. “Fruit of goodly trees” – the beginning of citron cultivation in Israel and its penetration into Jewish tradition and culture. Beit Mikra 59:38–55. In Hebrew.Google Scholar
Langgut, D, Gadot, Y, Porat, N, Lipschits, O. 2013. Fossil pollen reveals the secrets of the Royal Persian Garden at Ramat Rahel, Jerusalem. Palynology 37(1):115–29.Google Scholar
Langgut, D, Lev-Yadun, S, Finkelstein, I. 2014. The impact of olive orchard abandonment and rehabilitation on pollen signature: an experimental approach to evaluating fossil pollen data. Ethnoarchaeology 6(2):121–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langgut, D, Neumann, FH, Stein, M, Wagner, A, Kagan, EJ, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Dead Sea pollen record and history of human activity in the Judean Highlands (Israel) from the Intermediate Bronze to the Iron Ages. Palynology 38(2):1–23.Google Scholar
Lipschits, O, Gadot, Y, Langgut, D. 2012. The riddle of Ramat Rahel: the archaeology of a royal Persian Period edifice. Transeuphraten 41:57–79.Google Scholar
Martin, MAS, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Anenburg, M, Goren, Y, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Iron IIA slag-tempered pottery in the Negev Highlands, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(10):3777–92.Google Scholar
Martin, MAS, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Iron IIA pottery from the Negev Highlands: petrographic investigation and historical implications. Tel Aviv 40(1):6–45.Google Scholar
Meiri, M, Huchon, D, Bar-Oz, G, Boaretto, E, Kolska Horwitz, L, Maeir, AM, Sapir-Hen, L, Larson, G, Weiner, S, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Ancient DNA and population turnover in Southern Levantine pigs: signature of the Sea Peoples migration? Scientific Reports 3:3035.Google Scholar
Namdar, D, Gadot, Y, Freud, L, Liphshits, O. In press. Content of YHD jars from Ramat Rahel. In: Lipschits, O, Gadot, Y, Oeming, M, editors. Ramat Rahel VI: Pottery Assemblage and Stamp Impressions from the Babylonian and Early Persian Periods. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Namdar, D, Gilboa, A, Neumann, R, Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S. 2013. Cinnamaldehyde in early Iron Age Phoenician flasks raises the possibility of Levantine trade with South East Asia. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 13(2):1–19.Google Scholar
Namdar, D, Zukerman, A, Maeir, AM, Katz, JC, Cabanes, D, Trueman, C, Shahack-Gross, R, Weiner, S. 2011. The 9th century BCE destruction layer at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: integrating macro- and microarchaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(12):3471–82.Google Scholar
Nir-El, Y, Goren, Y, Piasetzky, E, Moinester, M, Sober, B. In press. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements of red ink on a Tel Malhata ostracon. In: Beit Arieh, I, editor. Tel Malhata: A Central City in the Biblical Negev. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Regev, L, Cabanes, D, Homsher, R, Kleiman, A, Weiner, S, Finkelstein, I, Shahack-Gross, R. In press. Geoarchaeological investigation in a domestic Iron Age quarter, Tel Megiddo, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools for Oriental Research. Google Scholar
Regev, L, Eckmeier, E, Mintz, E, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2011. Radiocarbon concentrations of wood ash calcite: potential for dating. Radiocarbon 53(1):117–27.Google Scholar
Sapir-Hen, L. In press. The faunal remains from the Iron Age building complex. In: Weksler-Bdolah, S, Onn, A, editors. The Western Wall Plaza Excavations IV: The Iron Age. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.Google Scholar
Sapir-Hen, L, Bar-Oz, G, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Pig husbandry in Iron Age Israel and Judah: new insights regarding the origin of the “taboo.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 129:1–20.Google Scholar
Sapir-Hen, L, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Environmental and historical impacts on long term animal economy: the Southern Levant in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient 57(5):703–44.Google Scholar
Sapir-Hen, L, Meiri, M, Finkelstein, I. 2015. Iron Age pigs: new evidence on their origin and role in forming identity boundaries. Radiocarbon 57(2):307–15. (this issue) Google Scholar
Sapir-Hen, L, Sasson, A, Kleiman, A, Finkelstein, I. In press. Social stratification in the Late Bronze and early Iron Ages: an intra-site investigation at Megiddo. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 35(1).Google Scholar
Shahack-Gross, R, Boaretto, E, Cabanes, D, Katz, O, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Subsistence economy in the Negev Highlands: the Iron Age and the Byzantine/Early Islamic period. Levant 46(1):98–117.Google Scholar
Shahack-Gross, R, Finkelstein, I. 2015. Settlement oscillations in the Negev Highlands revisited: the impact of microarchaeological methods. Radiocarbon 57(2):253–64. (this issue) Google Scholar
Shaus, A, Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2010. Bypassing the eye of the beholder: automated ostraca facsimile evaluation. MAARAV 17(1):7–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaus, A, Sober, B, Turkel, E, Piasetzky, E. 2013. Improving binarization via sparse methods. In: Nakagawa, M, Liwicki, M, Zhu, B, editors. Recent Progress in Graphonomics: Learn from the Past. Proceedings of IGS 2013. Tokyo: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Press. p 163–6.Google Scholar
Shaus, A, Turkel, E, Piasetzky, E. 2012a. Quality evaluation of facsimiles of Hebrew First Temple period inscriptions. In: Proceedings of the 10th IAPR International Workshop on Document Analysis Systems. Gold Coast, Australia: IEEE. p 170–4.Google Scholar
Shaus, A, Turkel, E, Piasetzky, E. 2012b. Binarization of First Temple period inscriptions – performance of existing algorithms and a new registration based scheme. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition. Bari, Italy: IEEE. p 641–6.Google Scholar
Sober, B, Faigenbaum, S, Beit-Arieh, I, Finkelstein, I, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Shaus, A. 2014. Multispectral imaging as a tool to enhance the reading of ostraca. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 146:185–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toffolo, MB, Arie, E, Martin, MAS, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Absolute chronology of Megiddo, Israel, in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: high-resolution radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 56(1):221–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toffolo, MB, Fantalkin, A, Lemos, IS, Felsch, RCS, Niemeier, WD, Sanders, GDR, Finkelstein, I, Boaretto, E. 2013. Towards an absolute chronology for the Aegean Iron Age: new radiocarbon dates from Lefkandi, Kalapodi and Corinth. PLoS ONE 8:e83117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toffolo, MB, Klein, E, Elbaum, R, Aja, AJ, Master, DM, Boaretto, E. 2013. An Early Iron Age assemblage of faience beads from Ashkelon, Israel: chemical composition and manufacturing process. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(10):3626–35.Google 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.Google Scholar
Weissbrod, L, Bar-Oz, G, Cucchi, T, Finkelstein, I. 2013. The urban ecology of Iron Age Tel Megiddo: using microvertebrate remains as ancient bio-indicators. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(1):257–67.Google Scholar
Weissbrod, L, Malkinson, D, Cucchi, T, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I, Bar-Oz, G. 2014. Ancient urban ecology reconstructed from archaeozoological remains of small mammals in the Near East. PLoS ONE 9:e91795.Google Scholar
Yahalom-Mack, N, Eliyahu-Behar, A. 2015. The transition from bronze to iron in Canaan: chronology, technology, and context. Radiocarbon 57(2):285–305. (this issue) Google Scholar
Yahalom-Mack, N, Gadot, Y, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Bechar, S, Shilstein, S, Finkelstein, I. 2014a. Metalworking at Hazor: a long-term perspective. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33(1):19–45.Google Scholar
Yahalom-Mack, N, Galili, E, Segal, I, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Boaretto, E, Shilstein, S, Finkelstein, I. 2014b. New insights into Levantine copper trade: ingots from the Bronze and Iron Ages in Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 45:159–77.Google Scholar
Zapassky, E, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I, Benenson, I. 2012. An ancient relation between units of length and volume based on a sphere. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33895. Submitted Google Scholar

Submitted

Kagan, E, Langgut, D, Boaretto, E, Neumann, HF, Stein, M. Chronology, sedimentology, and lake levels of the Dead Sea during the Bronze-Iron Age transition. Quaternary Science Reviews. Google Scholar
Shaus, A, Sober, B, Tzang, O, Ioffe, Z, Cheshnovsky, O, Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. Raman mapping of Biblical Period ostraca: bypassing the ink composition analysis. Raman Spectroscopy. Google Scholar
Yahalom-Mack, N, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Martin, MAS, Kleiman, A, Shahak-Gross, R, Homsher, RS, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. Metalworking at Megiddo during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Tel Aviv. Google Scholar