Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-wlg5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-27T15:35:34.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

14C Dates and the Iron Age Chronology of Israel: A Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Amihai Mazar  and
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Amihai Mazar*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
*
Corresponding author. Email: mazar@huji.ac.il
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Boaretto et al. (2005) published 68 radiocarbon dates relating to 30 samples from 10 Iron Age sites in Israel as part of their Early Iron Age Dating Project. Though the main goal of their paper was an interlaboratory comparison, they also presented results of Bayesian models, calculating the transition from Iron Age I to Iron Age II in Israel to be about 900 BCE instead of the conventional date of about 1000 BCE. Since this date has great importance for all of Eastern Mediterranean archaeology, in this paper we examine the results in light of the dates published in the above-mentioned article. Our paper was revised in light of new data and interpretations published by Sharon et al. (2007).

Following a survey of the contexts and specific results at each site, we present several Bayesian models. Model C2 suggests the date range of 961–942 BCE (68% probability) for the transition from Iron Age I to Iron Age II, while Model C3 indicates a somewhat later date of 948–919 BCE (compare the date 992–961 BCE calculated at Tel Rehov for the same transition). In our Model D, we calculated this transition date at Megiddo as taking place between 967–943 BCE. Finally, we calculated the range of dates of major destruction levels marking the end of the Iron Age I, with the following results: Megiddo VIA: 1010–943 BCE; Yoqne'am XVII: 1045–997 BCE; Tell Qasile X: 1039–979 BCE; Tel Hadar: 1043–979 BCE (all in the 68.2% probability range). Figure 4 indicates that the transition between Iron I and II probably occurred between these above-mentioned destruction events and the dates achieved in our Models C2 or C3, namely during the first half of the 10th century BCE.

This study emphasizes the sensitivity of Bayesian models to outliers, and for reducing or adding dates from the models. This sensitivity should be taken into account when using Bayesian models for interpreting radiometric dates in relation to subtle chronological questions in historical periods.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , 2008 , pp. 159 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Ben-Ami, D. 2001. The Iron Age I at Tel Hazor in light of the renewed excavations. Israel Exploration Journal 51:148–70.Google Scholar
Ben-Tor, A, Zarzecki-Peleg, A, Cohen-Anidjar, S. 2005. Yoqne'am II, the Iron Age and the Persian Period (Qedem Reports No. 6). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University. 421 p.Google Scholar
Boaretto, E. 2006. Radiocarbon dates. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. p 552–7.Google Scholar
Boaretto, E, Jull, AJT, Gilboa, A, Sharon, I. 2005. Dating the Iron Age I/II transition in Israel: first intercomparison results. Radiocarbon 47(1):39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruins, HJ, van der Plicht, J. 2005. Desert settlement through the Iron Age: radiocarbon dates from Sinai and the Negev Highlands. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 349–66.Google Scholar
Bruins, HJ, van der Plicht, J, Mazar, A, Bronk Ramsey, C, Manning, SW. 2005a. The Groningen radiocarbon series from Tel Rehov: OxCal Bayesian computations for the Iron IB–IIA boundary and Iron IIA destruction events. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 271–93.Google Scholar
Bruins, HJ, van der Plicht, J, Ilan, D, Werker, E. 2005b. Iron Age 14C dates from Tel Dan: a High Chronology. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 323–36.Google Scholar
Bruins, HJ, Mazar, A, van der Plicht, J. 2007. The end of the 2nd millennium BCE and the transition from Iron I to Iron IIA: radiocarbon dates from Tel Rehov, Israel. In: Bietak, M, Czerny, E, editors. The Synchronisation of Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. III. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p 79–100.Google Scholar
Cahill, JM. 2006. The excavations at Tell el-Hammah: a prelude to Amihai Mazar's Beth-Shean Valley Regional Project. In: Maeir, AM, de Miroschedji, P, editors. “I Will Speak the Riddles of Ancient Times,” Archaeological and Historical Essays in Honor of Amihai Mazar on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. p 429–60.Google Scholar
Carmi, I, Segal, D. 2000. Radiocarbon dates. In: Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B. Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. p 502–3.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1993. Conclusions. In: Finkelstein, I, Bunimovitz, S, Lederman, Z. Shiloh, The Archaeology of a Biblical Site. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. p 371–93.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1996. The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view. Levant 28:177–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2002. The campaign of Shoshenq I to Palestine: a guide to the 10th century BCE polity. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina - Vereins 118:109–35.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2005. A Low Chronology update: archaeology, history and the Bible. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 31–42.Google Scholar
Finklestein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2003. Recent radiocarbon results and King Solomon. Antiquity 77(298):771–9.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2005. 14C results from Megiddo, Tel Dor, Tel Rehov and Tel Hadar. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 294–301.Google Scholar
Finklestein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2006a. The Iron Age I–IIA in the Highlands and beyond: 14C anchors, pottery phases and the Shoshenq I campaign. Levant 38:45–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finklestein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2006b. 14C and the Iron Age chronology debate: Rehov, Khirbet en-Nahas, Dan and Megiddo. Radiocarbon 48(3):373–86.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Ussishkin, D, Halpern, B. 2006. Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University. 860 p.Google Scholar
Gal, A, Alexandre, Y. 2000. Horbat Rosh Zayit: An Iron Age Storage Fort and Village. IAA Report No. 8. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority. 247 p.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilboa, A, Sharon, I. 2001. Early Iron Age radiometric dates from Tel Dor: preliminary implications for Phoenicia and beyond. Radiocarbon 43(3):1343–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilboa, A, Sharon, I. 2003. An archaeological contribution to the Early Iron Age chronological debate: alternative chronologies for Phoenicia and their effects on the Levant, Cyprus and Greece. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 332:7–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herzog, Z, Singer-Avitz, L. 2006. Sub-dividing the Iron Age IIA in northern Israel: a suggested solution to the chronological debate. Tel Aviv 33(2):163–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higham, T, Najjar, M, van der Plicht, J, Bronk Ramsey, C, Bruins, HJ, Robinson, M, Levy, TE. 2005. Lowland Edom and the High and Low chronologies: Edomite state formation, the Bible and recent archaeological research. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 129–63.Google Scholar
Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. 2005. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. 448 p.Google Scholar
Maeir, AM, Ehrlich, C. 2001. Excavating Philistine Gath: Have we found Goliath's hometown? Biblical Archaeology Review 27(6):22–31.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1980. Excavations at Tell Qasile, Part One. The Philistine Sanctuary: Architecture and Cult Objects (Qedem Reports No. 12). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 153 p.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1990. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000–586 BCE. New York: Doubleday. 572 p.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2004. Greek and Levantine Iron Age chronology: a rejoinder. Israel Exploration Journal 54:24–36.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2005. The debate over the chronology of the Iron Age in the southern Levant: its history, the current situation and a suggested resolution. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 15–30.Google Scholar
Mazar, A, Carmi, I. 2001. Radiocarbon dates from Iron Age strata at Tel Beth Shean and Tel Rehov. Radiocarbon 43(3):1333–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A, Harpazi-Ofer, S. 1994. The excavations at Tell Qasile from 1988 to 1991. Israel – People and Land 1990–1993 (Eretz Israel Museum Year Book) 7–8:9–34. In Hebrew.Google Scholar
Mazar, A, Bruins, HJ, Panitz-Cohen, N, van der Plicht, J. 2005. Ladder of time at Tel Rehov: stratigraphy, archaeological context, pottery and radiocarbon dates. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 195–255.Google Scholar
Sharon, I, Gilboa, A, Boaretto, E, Jull, T. 2005. The Early Iron Age Dating project: introduction, methodology, progress report and an update on the Tel Dor radiometric dates. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 65–94.Google Scholar
Sharon, I, Gilboa, A, Jull, T, Boaretto, E. 2007. Report on the first stage of the Iron Age Dating Project in Israel: supporting the Low Chronology. Radiocarbon 49(1): 1–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, E, editor. 1993. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1552 p.Google Scholar
van der Plicht, J, Bruins, H. 2005. Quality control of Groningen 14C results from Tel Rehov. In: Levy, T, Higham, T, editors. The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science. London: Equinox. p 256–70.Google Scholar