Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Israel, in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: High-Resolution Radiocarbon Dating
Summary (2 min read)
INTRODUCTION
- The relative chronology of the Levant in the Late Bronze and Iron ages is well studied.
- This is so because of the lack of well-dated finds, such as monuments and royal-name items of Egyptian monarchs, in Levantine strata representing much of this sequence.
Sampling Strategy
- The strategy employed in sampling materials for dating follows the guidelines given in recent studies on the absolute chronology of the Iron Age in the eastern Mediterranean and southern Levant (Sharon 2001; Sharon et al. 2007; Boaretto 2009; van der Plicht et al. 2009).
- Two important concepts are added to this set of recommendations.
- Only F loci were chosen for 14C dating and thus for the Bayesian models presented here (they make 20–25% of the loci per excavation season).
- Destruction layers are especially important, as complete ceramic vessels and clusters of charred olive pits or seeds are found buried under thick collapse debris that represents a short event at the very end of a given level.
Bayesian Modeling
- 14C dates were analyzed with Bayesian statistics using OxCal v 4.1.7 (Bronk Ramsey 2009) in order to build an absolute chronological sequence.
- Modeling was first done for each excavation area separately following the same methodology with adaptations to the area’s stratigraphy, relation between the loci, relation between samples, and absence of data for certain levels.
- Dates from the same level were grouped as contiguous phases organized in a sequence, according to the stratigraphic information.
- If a level had not provided material for 14C dating, gaps in the main sequence were added to indicate this lack of data.
- All calibrated ranges within probability distributions are given with ±1σ ranges (i.e. 68.2% probability), unless otherwise specified.
RESULTS
- 14C measurements with related calibrated ranges and context information are presented in Table 3.
- Thus far, unpublished, new measurements (marked with bold text) were grouped with dates from previous studies (Boaretto et al.
- All the combined dates passed the χ2 test.
- This distinction defines also the nature of the outlier (stratigraphic vs. typological).
Model H: Area H
- Model H shows the absolute dates for Area H.
- The dates are grouped in a sequence of contiguous phases (i.e. one starts as the previous one ends) except for Level H-7, which is surrounded by “gaps” left for levels H-8 and H-6, for which no 14C determinations are available.
- The agreement of the two samples from Level H-13 with Model H should be considered cautiously since they are not limited by dates from an earlier level.
- Considering the end boundary for Level H-9, the transition Iron I/II could fall anywhere between 985 and 935 BCE.
Model K: Area K
- The absolute sequence for Area K is shown in Model K .
- For levels K-6 and K-4, the samples are further subdivided between those representing the history of occupation and those standing for the end event, that is, the destruction.
- Sample RTK-6398 comprised a few charred olive pits found in the same location but not in a cluster; hence, measurements were not averaged.
- Three samples show low agreement with the model: RTK-6749 and RTK-6400 from Level K-10 and RTT-4499 from Level K-6 are somewhat younger compared to other dates from these levels.
DISCUSSION
- Scholars debated the circumstances and date of the transition from the Middle Bronze to the Late Bronze in Canaan: according to some it occurred at the very beginning of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt, ~1530 BCE, as a result of Egyptian punitive campaigns after the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt, causing severe destructions throughout the southern Levant.
- The LB IIB/III transition falls during the 12th century BCE, which accords well with the historical changeover in Egypt from the 19th to the 20th dynasties.
- A transition in the first quarter of the 12th century BCE is well established by the rich, well-datable ceramic assemblages (Aegean, Cypriot, Egyptian, and Levantine type pottery) from Megiddo (Martin 2013) and nearby Beth-Shean (Martin 2011:140–2).
- The early/late Iron I transition provides slightly different results in the two Megiddo excavation areas.
CONCLUSIONS
- The detailed 14C data for the Late Bronze and Iron ages at Megiddo—unparalleled in any other site in the Levant—shed light on the cultural processes that took place at Megiddo and beyond in the critical centuries between roughly 1600/1500 and 800 BCE.
- They provide the first detailed, 14C-based chronological system for the Late Bronze Age in the Levant.
- The Megiddo model shows the advantage of working in a site of continuous habitation with good control over the pottery assemblages.
- It also shows the benefit of a site with more than one area of excavation, which enables rechecking delicate chronological issues and engaging in intrasite analysis.
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References
13,605 citations
"Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Isr..." refers background in this paper
...…certain regions of the Levant (including the Jezreel Valley), ended only with the first military campaign of Thutmose III to Canaan and the beginning of Egyptian direct rule there in ~1450 BCE (e.g. Kenyon 1960:194–8; Seger 1975; Redford 1979; Weinstein 1981; Dever 1987; Bietak 1991; Burke 2010)....
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6,323 citations
"Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Isr..." refers methods in this paper
...Calibrated ages in calendar years have been obtained from the calibration tables of Reimer et al. (2009) using OxCal v 4.1.7 (Bronk Ramsey 2009)....
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...14C dates were analyzed with Bayesian statistics using OxCal v 4.1.7 (Bronk Ramsey 2009) in order to build an absolute chronological sequence....
[...]
5,579 citations
"Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Isr..." refers background in this paper
...14C ages are reported in conventional 14C years before present (BP) following the international convention (Stuiver and Polach 1977)....
[...]
126 citations
"Absolute Chronology of Megiddo, Isr..." refers background in this paper
...Thus, scholars can now accurately identify five Late Bronze Age horizons (hereafter LB IA, IB, IIA, IIB, and III; e.g. Panitz-Cohen 2006; Mullins 2007; Gadot 2009; Martin 2013; Arie 2013b) and six Iron Age horizons (early and late Iron I, early and late IIA, IIB, and IIC—e.g. Zimhoni 2004; Herzog and Singer-Avitz 2004, 2006; Arie 2006, 2013c) for this timespan, which covers approximately a millennium....
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...…and III; e.g. Panitz-Cohen 2006; Mullins 2007; Gadot 2009; Martin 2013; Arie 2013b) and six Iron Age horizons (early and late Iron I, early and late IIA, IIB, and IIC—e.g. Zimhoni 2004; Herzog and Singer-Avitz 2004, 2006; Arie 2006, 2013c) for this timespan, which covers approximately a millennium....
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