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Utilizing Mole-Rat Activity for Archaeological Survey

A Case Study and a Proposal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Yair Sapir  and
Avraham Faust
Yair Sapir
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel (yairsap@gmail.com)
Avraham Faust
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, The Martin (Szusz) department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel (avraham.faust@biu.ac.il)
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Abstract

Identifying previously unknown sites is a fundamental goal of the archaeological inquiry. In this article, after reporting the results of our work at Tel ‘Eton (Israel), we propose a new method that can increase the effectiveness of surveys. As part of a study of site formation processes, molehills (mole-rat back-dirt hills) were systematically sifted at Tel ‘Eton and its surroundings. It was apparent that the number and size of sherds in molehills on the mound greatly exceeded those found in its surroundings. The incidental identification of many sherds in molehills northwest of the mound, therefore, led us to suspect that this area was settled. This was tested by transecting the area. The finds, along with discoveries in the wadis cutting the plain, support this suggestion and allowed us to detect the lower city’s boundary. An examination of the site’s environments, moreover, enabled us to identify additional anomalies, like the co-occurrence of concentrations of sherds, red-soiled molehills, and slags, which might indicate an extra-mural workshop. Consequently, we suggest that a systematic examination of rodents’ back-dirt mounds can be an effective method—faster, cheaper, and more efficient than pedestrian surveys or shovel tests—of discovering unknown sites even in regions with good visibility.

Identificar los sitios previamente desconocidos es un objetivo fundamental de la investigación arqueológica. Eneste artículo, después de informar de los resultados de nuestro trabajo en Tel ‘Eton (Israel), proponemos un nuevo método que puede aumentar la eficacia de los peritajes. Como parte de un estudio de los procesos de formación de sitio, unas toperas (montículos formados por la rata topo con la tierra extraída) fueron sistemáticamente tamizadas en Tel ‘Eton y sus alrededores. Aparentemente el número y tamaño de fragmentos de ceramica en las toperas sobre el montículo superaba al de los de alrededor. La identificación incidental un gran numero de fragmentos en toperas al noroeste del montículo, nos llevó a sospechar que esta zona también fue habitada. Esto fue probado transectando la zona. Los hallazgos, junto con descubrimientos en los wadies que cortan la llanura, apoyan esta sugerencia, y nos permitió detectar los límites de la ciudad inferior. Un examen del entorno del sitio, además, nos permitió identificar anomalías adicionales, como la coocurrencia de las concentraciones de fragmentos, montículos de tierra rojiza y escorias, lo que podría la presencia de taller extramural. En consecuencia, se sugiere que un examen sistemático de los montículos de desechos de roedores puede ser un método efectivo—más rápido, más barato y más eficiente que los peritajes pedestres o pruebas de pala - de descubrir sitios desconocidos, incluso en regiones con buena visibilidad.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 55 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016

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