Showing papers in "Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research in 1981"
TL;DR: In this paper, Albright expressed this viewpoint clearly in his classic work, The Archaeology of Palestine: the beginning of the Late Bronze Age witnessed the rise of the Egyptian empire in Western Asia.
Abstract: The beginning of the Late Bronze Age witnessed the rise of the Egyptian empire in Western Asia. Much has been written about the Palestinian segment of this empire, with Egyptian control in this area often being seen as a more or less continuous military, political, and economic domination throughout the Late Bronze Age. W. F. Albright expressed this viewpoint clearly in his classic work, The Archaeology of Palestine:
125 citations
TL;DR: The product of the Late Bronze Age Greek ceramic workshops is a technically excellent fabric that enjoyed considerable popularity from Sicily to Syria and from Anatolia to the Nile Valley as mentioned in this paper, and the primary study of this pottery was made by A. Furumark, who divided the then-known material into 336 vessel shapes and the painted decoration into 78 motifs.
Abstract: The product of the Late Bronze Age Greek ceramic workshops is a technically excellent fabric that enjoyed considerable popularity from Sicily to Syria and from Anatolia to the Nile Valley.' The primary study of this pottery was made by A. Furumark, who divided the then-known material into 336 vessel shapes (FS = Furumark Shape) and the painted decoration into 78 motifs (FM Furumark Motif).2 These typological and decorative elements, and their variations, were each assigned a place within a framework of relative chronology, which, in one of its simplest forms, produced the following sub-divisions:
29 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reported a remarkable discovery recently made in the sacred precinct of Tel Dan (Area T, on the north side of the mound). Just south and west of the Iron II "High Place", the 1978-1979 excavations revealed an installation that once held some kind of liquid (Biran 1978: 270, pl. 53D; 1980a: 175, 180).
Abstract: Avraham Biran (1980b: 91-98, pl. 8) has promptly published another remarkable discovery recently made in the sacred precinct of Tel Dan (Area T, on the north side of the mound). Just south and west of the Iron II "High Place," the 1978-1979 excavations revealed an installation that once held some kind of liquid (Biran 1978: 270, pl. 53D; 1980a: 175, 180). Biran recognized its cultic context immediately, then later interpreted the installation as a place for water libation rites. Its main features include a sunken plastered basin with slab-lined bottom, having a maximum capacity of ca. 1.50 m3, flanked on two opposite sides by flat basalt slabs that slope gently towards underground storejars (fig. 1). The installation, framed by walls on three sides, was situated in the far end of a room or courtyard. At least ten perforated stones were found immediately to the east of the northern slab and jar. Biran did not attempt to explain the presence of these perforated stones in terms of water libations
27 citations
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the sequence of the arrival of the Late Cypriot Bronze Age pottery in Palestine, with the result that the date and sequence of these Cyprus imports are found to differ significantly from previously held positions.
Abstract: Recent analyses of trade in the Levant during the Late Bronze Age have explored the commercial contacts between Egypt, Cyprus, and the Mycenaean world. Descriptions of the Mycenaean trade with Syria-Palestine have expanded the picture of commercial interconnections within the Levant (Leonard, above in this issue). Despite abundant evidence, however, analysis of the CyproPalestinian trade has been neglected. This neglect has resulted in a gap in our overall knowledge of commerce in the Levant during the Late Bronze Age.' In order to begin to fill the present void in the treatment of Cypro-Palestinian commercial relations, this paper briefly treats both chronological and cultural issues. First, the sequence of the arrival of the Late Cypriot Bronze Age pottery in Palestine is described, with the result that the date and sequence of these Cypriot imports are found to differ significantly from previously held positions. Moreover, analysis of the findspots of the Cypriot imports has revealed patterns of distribution and deposition that differ from those of the local pottery in at least one important aspect. Finally, the evidence clearly demonstrates that the trade represented by the Late Cypriot pottery catered to a known Palestinian market, a market that was not only different from that on Cyprus but was also more diversified than the restricted Egyptian market.2
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the "nouvelle archeologie", a with son approche anthropologique and son but d'explication holistique, a commence a inspirer les archeologues de Syrie-Palestine.
Abstract: C'est seulement dans les annees 1970 que la "nouvelle archeologie", avec son approche anthropologique et son but d'explication holistique, a commence a inspirer les archeologues de Syrie-Palestine. Cela se voit par: 1 une orientation pluridisciplinaire| 2 une prise en compte plus grande des facteurs ecologiques| 3 la reconnaissance de la valeur des paralleles ethonographiques (ethnoarcheologie)| 4 l'emploi d'une theorie generale des systemes, avec sa methode quantitative| 5 la pratique d'une methode "explicitement scientifique", avec son test des hypotheses| 6 l'adoption du "proces de comportement" pour comprendre l'anthropologie culturelle. Mais bien des questions sont posees, notamment celle-ci: comment prendre en compte la specificite de l'archeologie orientale, avec ses tells stratigraphies et l'existence de documents historiques ecrits (les milliers de tablettes, etc.). Et il y a les obstacles economiques: les fouilles, et surtout le traitement des innombrables donnees recueillies par les differents specialistes qui reviennent de plus en plus chers| l'instabilite politique de la region, qui limite les possibilites de fouilles.
24 citations
TL;DR: The third and final season of the Central Negev Highlands Project was carried out 8 June10 July 1980, in Nahal Nissana as discussed by the authors, which was a joint American-Israeli, multidisciplinary project in archaeology and arid lands studies, concentrating on a complex of domestic settlements of the MB I period (ca. 2200-2000 B.c.).
Abstract: The third and final season of the \"Central Negev Highlands Project\" was carried out 8 June10 July 1980, in Nahal Nissana. This project was a joint American-Israeli, multidisciplinary project in archaeology and arid lands studies, concentrating on a complex of domestic settlements of the MB I period (ca. 2200-2000 B.c.) in the Central and Western Negev.' The third season was under the joint sponsorship of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, the Archaeological Survey of Israel, and the University of Arizona, with the authors as Co-
23 citations
TL;DR: The Early Iron Age settlement at Khirbet elMeshish (fig. 1) is undoubtedly the most significant in the entire iron age settlement history in the northern Negev as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Early Iron Age settlement at Khirbet elMeshish (fig. 1) is undoubtedly the most significant in the entire Iron Age settlement history in the northern Negev. Ancient settlement here was determined by the area's abundant water supply and the fertility of the region. The period of the Early Iron Age may well have enjoyed somewhat more rain than is the case today, thus providing comparatively good conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry. From the size of the village one may infer that it must have been an agricultural center and trading point for the entire region in the Early Iron Age. The ancient name of the village is unknown. The long gap in the history of the settlement from the middle of the 10th century until the second half of the 7th century is evidence against Y. Aharoni's identification of it with Hormah (Aharoni 1976: 7173). This also rules out F. Crtisemann's identification with Ziklag (Cruisemann 1973). The settlement history of the village shows a gradual development from occasional occupation to the construction of permanent dwellings in the critical transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron I period of Stratum III. Whereas Stratum IIIB contains only pits and beaten earth floors, Stratum IIIA-from about the middle of the 12th century on-consists of permanent houses erected on the standard plan characteristic of the \"Israelite house.\" The village reached its full extent in Stratum II and existed without interruption for about 100 years, from the end of the 12th century until the second half of the I Ith century. The exposed architecture of this stratum not only reveals the layout of the village but also provides insight into the various stages of its architectural
21 citations
TL;DR: The relationship between these two regions has been proven by petrographic analysis of cooking pots from Arad Strata III-I, which showed that their clay was of Sinaitic origin, while analysis of the fabric of the small red-slipped and burnished vessels unearthed in southern Sinai showed that they had been manufactured at Arad.
Abstract: B.C.). Between 1971 and 1979 a number of sites of this period were discovered and investigated by the author in and around the granite mountains of southern Sinai. Excavation of six of these sites proved that they had strong cultural affinity and regular contact with southern Palestine, mainly Canaanite Arad (Amiran, Beit-Arieh, and Glass 1973; Beit-Arieh 1974). The material identity of these settlements with Arad Strata III-I is so striking that it would seem that both regions were populated by the same ethnic group, part of which migrated southward. The excavated sites are located near: (1) Nabi Salah (Site 1049); (2) Sheikh Muhsen (Site 1046-7); (3) the opening of Wadi 'Umm Tumur (Site 1014); (4) the entrance to Watia pass (Site 1042); (5) Sheikh cAwad (Site 1118); and (6) the eastern approach to the Feiran oasis (Site 1150); on all, see fig. 1. All of these sites lie high on the banks of broad wadis, where they are protected from the ravages of floods and winds.' Almost all of the pottery from these sites (except for about 1% that originated in First Dynasty Egypt) came from southern Canaan. The reciprocal relations between these two regions have been proven by petrographic analysis of cooking pots from Arad Strata III-I, which showed that their clay was of Sinaitic origin, while analysis of the fabric of the small red-slipped and burnished vessels unearthed in southern Sinai showed that they had been manufactured at Arad (Amiran, BeitArieh, and Glass 1973). Other objects common to the cultures of both areas are the flint fan scrapers, stone beads, and copper implements (fig. 2). The historical and ethnographical conclusions emanating from our investigations indicate extensive expansion of settlement in southern Canaan during the first half of the 3rd millennium. We shall not deal here with all aspects of this phenomenon, although we may note that some of the people who migrated to southern Sinai engaged in copper mining and the transport of copper products to the Canaanite population centers in the north. Important evidence for the cultural identity of the Sinai settlements and Arad is to be found in the domestic architecture, and although this article is devoted mainly to the wider aspects of the settlement pattern in the deserts of these regions, we must first examine the dwelling room as the principal component of the dwelling complex. We shall begin with Arad.
17 citations
TL;DR: The work of the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and its Jerusalem affiliate, the National Geographic Society, was carried out in cooperation with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University and under the auspices of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Abstract: logical field school of the Duke University Summer School. Excavations were carried out in cooperation with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University and under the auspices of the American Schools of Oriental Research and its Jerusalem affiliate, the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, and the National Geographic Society. Expedition senior staff included Eric M. Meyers of Duke University, Director; James F. Strange of the University of South Florida, Associate Director; Carol L. Meyers of Duke University, Associate Director; and Dennis E. Groh of GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary, Fine Wares Specialist; Chief Architect was Larry Belkin of Chapel Hill, NC.'
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the pottery inventory of the area H at Tell Hadidi in the Late Bronze Age and discuss the loci involved in the excavation of this area.
Abstract: Since the completion of the salvage excavations at Tell Hadidi in 1978 work has continued on the reconstruction and study of the excavated materials as preparation for the final publication. Some of the most significant evidence for the Late Bronze Age comes from our Area H.' We are making this material available here in preliminary form but c nnot go into detailed descriptions of objects or extensive discussions of the loci involved. Our discussion is in two parts, the pottery inventory of
TL;DR: In this paper, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) occupation of the Western Negev desert of the southern Levant is investigated and an economic model based on several lines of evidence is presented.
Abstract: gions where Neolithic technologies can be documented without a concomitant food production subsistence base. Indeed, the concept of a nonfood-producing Neolithic society appears antithetical to the very notion of the term "Neolithic." Yet is is rapidly becoming evident that our conception of the "Neolithic" oftentimes has been simplistic and is in need of modification. Evidence is accumulating to suggest that in some instances prehistoric groups possessing Neolithic technologies did not participate in an economic network based on food production. This paper will investigate one such instance: the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) occupation of the Western Negev desert of the southern Levant. After briefly discussing the data base, attention will be turned to one technique of assessing paleosubsistence patterns. Following this, an economic model based on several lines of evidence will be presented. The purpose of this work is not to present a definitive answer to one aspect of early Neolithic economy in the Near East. Indeed, many of the conclusions and assumptions presented herein may be challenged. The data base is weak, having been long neglected, and is susceptible to several interpretations. A major objective of this paper is to present an alternate view of early Neolithic adaptations in one area. If this perspective stimulates discussion and debate about the nature of early Neolithic societies on the threshold of food production, it will have served a purpose.
TL;DR: The second season of the Sydney/Wooster Joint Expedition to Pella was conducted in 1980 as discussed by the authors, where a Sydney contingent, under the direction of J. B. Hennessy and Anthony McNicoll, was in the field; from late March through late May, a Wooster-led group moved into the field headquarters atop the mound of Pella for a spring session.
Abstract: The second season of The Sydney/ Wooster Joint Expedition to Pella was conducted in 1980. As had been the case during the previous season, differences in academic calendars required that the two institutions field teams sequentially. In January and February a Sydney contingent, under the direction of J. B. Hennessy and Anthony McNicoll, was in the field; from late March through late May a Wooster-led group, under the direction of Robert H. Smith, moved into the field headquarters atop the mound of Pella for a spring session (fig. 1).1 On the basis of the results of the 1979 season (McNicoll, Hennessy, and Smith 1980), the directors agreed that field operations during the 1980 season should focus primarily upon those areas in which excavation had already commenced. The areas had initially been selected as among the most promising at the site and had been assigned to one or the other of the two teams for long-range excavational work (see fig. 2). These are: the West Church (Wooster), the East Deep Cut (Sydney), the East Area Excavations (Sydney), the Jebel Abu el-Khas Complex (Sydney), the West Cut (Wooster), the Wadi Jirm Civic Complex (Wooster), and various cemetery areas (both teams). In order that they might share their findings more easily with one another and facilitate the publication of joint reports, the teams employ some common field procedures. As an essential adjunct to excavation, the Expedition is carrying out various geological, zoological, botanical, and anthropological investigations, both in the field and afterward.2
TL;DR: Feedback loops can be viewed as channels that carry information between the parts of the system and the environment and its environment as mentioned in this paper, and are generated by perception of changes in the external environment and are initiated to maintain a steady state.
Abstract: Over the past few decades archaeology has developed a body of concepts, including applications of systems theory, for analysis of resource management and changes in adaptations. Early models advocating the use of systems theory by Clarke (1968) and Watson, LeBlanc, and Redman (1971) defined diachronic processes as a succession of steady states (a trajectory), each derived from the immediately preceding state. The concepts used were derived from general systems theory, which distinguishes between closed systems that are selfcontained, and open systems that require a continuous supply of energy (input) that undergoes changes before it is discharged (output) for maintenance. Feedback occurs when some of the output of the system is returned as input. Feedback loops are generated by perception of changes in the external environment and are initiated to maintain a steady state. Feedback loops can be viewed as channels that carry information between the parts of the system and the system and its environment. Deviance-amplifying messages produce positive feedback, which moves the system to a new state. Deviance-reducing messages produce negative feedback, which maintains a steady state (von Bertalanffy 1968a, b; Rapaport 1968a, b; Buckley 1968a, b). Systems theory approaches have also been applied to investigations of increase and depletion of populations (for example see Birdsell 1968; Clarke 1972; Leone 1972; Dunnell and Webley 1975; Swedlund 1975; Zubrow 1975; Wilkinson 1972). The model for these studies has usually been that of an ecosystem in which human population is a part of the biomass with symbiotic relations to other species in the same environment, but this model often fails to take into account cultural factors as regulatory mechanisms. The model usually generated is that of population and resources remaining in equilibrium until the population overshoots the carrying capacity of the environment, thus decreasing the resource/man ratio. The disequilibrium introduced by increased resource exploitation due to population increase results in a feedback mechanism that leads to
TL;DR: Sabloff's paper from the perspective of a classical archaeologist reacting to the "new archaeology" fantasized about a proper time and space frame, and the image of a telephone booth came to mind as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Sabloff's paper from the perspective of a classical archaeologist reacting to the "new archaeology," I fantasized about a proper time and space frame. The image of a telephone booth came to mind. You could probably fit most of the classical archaeologists really interested in the "new archaeology" into a booth without challenging the Guinness book of records, and talk about past interaction between the two groups could easily be accommodated within the length of a ten-cent call. Out of fear that I had not done my colleagues justice and, I admit, with a certain morbid curiosity, I decided to survey the book reviews in the American Journal of Archaeology for the time period during which what might be broadly and loosely called the "new archaeologists"-such as the Binfords, David Clarke, Kent Flannery, James Deetz, and various fellow-travelers-had put forth their thoughts in print to see how they had been received, if at all, by the venerable journal of the classical archaeology profession. Somewhat to my surprise, during the first years of the movement a number of the classics such as
TL;DR: In the last stage of the Late Bronze Age (14th-13th centuries B.C.) there were only a few fortified towns and some scattered unfortified hamlets on the ridge of the mountains where since earliest times the main north-south highway had run along the watershed.
Abstract: When we come to examine the history of the settlement of the Israelite tribes in the mountainous region west of the Jordan, particular attention should be given to the implications of the few and limited excavations and archaeological surveys carried out in recent years. It now appears with a fair degree of certainty that in the last stage of the Late Bronze Age (14th-13th centuries B.C.) there were only a few fortified towns and some scattered unfortified hamlets on the ridge of the mountains, where since earliest times the main north-south highway had run along the watershed. The towns are mainly those familiar from biblical sources: Shechem, Luz-Bethel, Jerusalem, Hebron-Kiriatharba, and Debir-Kiriath-sefer (probably to be identified with Kh. Rabild, south of Hebron).' No doubt these towns served both as centers for
TL;DR: In this article, a tract of open farmland extends north-south, bounded on the east by a modern paved road and on the west by a series of dunes that rise along the sandy Mediterranean beach.
Abstract: Two monuments dominate the present-day landscape of ancient Caesarea Maritima: the fortifications that enclosed Crusader Caesarea in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and, some five hundred meters to the south, the reconstructed and revivified Roman theater. Between these two monuments a tract of open farmland extends north-south, bounded on the east by a modern paved road and on the west by a series of dunes that rise along the sandy Mediterranean beach. This open tract comprises a major portion of ancient Caesarea's southwest zone (fig. 1). Attracted by earlier discoveries in the vicinity1 and by the reasonable hypothesis that the dunes concealed remains of structures, the Joint Expedition conducted excavations in the northern portion of this tract in 1972-76 and again in 1978. The sector under investigation received the designation Field C. Exploration of Field C has proved exceptionally rewarding.2 Beneath the northernmost dune the Joint Expedition discovered a series of vaulted structures, founded perhaps by Herod the Great for use as warehouses (horrea). In the 3rd century one of them (Vault 1) housed a Mithraeum.3 Above these vaults the remains of a large, U-shaped Roman building emerged, with wings extending toward the sea (Structure 2). Its solid construction, deluxe marble floors, and especially its grand scale (20.95 X 19.10 m. external dimension) suggest a public function, perhaps connected with Caesarea's role as the seat of the Roman provincial administration.4 Byzantine structures in Field C, those from the period between the reign of Constantine (d. 337) and the Moslem sack of Caesarea (640), likewise served a public function. Byzantine remains include a small bath and a large apsidal room just north of Vault 1, and atop the vaults a number of as yet unidentified structures, some of them provided with opus sectile flooring and magnificent figured mosaic pavement. In the eastern sector of Field C lie remains of the so-called Archives Building (Structure 1), consisting of seven rooms arrayed about an entrance hall. A mosaic inscription set in the floor of one room identifies this structure as a skrinion (records office), presumably housing tax and/or judicial records of the Byzantine imperial administration.5 This skrinion probably formed part of a larger imperial complex, the praitorion (governor's palace) of Byzantine Caesarea mentioned in several literary sources.6 Other remains in Field C, among them (perhaps) the small bath, the apsidal room, and the deluxe structures above the vaults, may likewise be associated with this praitorion.
TL;DR: The Tel Yin'am archaeological site as discussed by the authors has yielded evidence for occupation during the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Early Bronze I, Late Bronze II, Iron I, IIC, Persian, and Late Roman/ Byzantine periods and also brought to light the only ancient Palestinian iron smelter known to date.
Abstract: Tel Yin'am (Tell en-Na'am; map ref. 198 X 235') is situated among the fields of Moshavah Yavneel, near the western edge of the floor of the Yavneel Valley,2 about 8 km. south of Tiberias in the Lower Galilee (fig.1). The site has thus far yielded evidence for occupation during the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Early Bronze I, Late Bronze II, Iron I, Iron IIC, Persian, and Late Roman/ Byzantine periods and has also brought to light the only ancient Palestinian iron smelter known to date.3
TL;DR: The authors pointed out that the archaeology of 1980 is quite different from that of 1960, and that the changes have been significant and that there is a new archaeology attempting to replace the traditional archaeology.
Abstract: ogy with the "new archaeology" attempting to replace the "traditional archaeology." Clearly, the past two decades have been a time of intellectual excitement and upheaval in American archaeology. No matter how one views the changes of the 1960s and 1970s, it cannot be denied that the changes have been significant and that the archaeology of 1980 is quite different from that of 1960. As Gordon R. Willey and I have pointed out in the second edition of A History of American Archaeology, there is