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Iron Age Chronology in Israel: Results from Modeling with a Trapezoidal Bayesian Framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Sharen Lee ,
Christopher Bronk Ramsey  and
Amihai Mazar
Sharen Lee*
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom
Amihai Mazar
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
*
2Corresponding author. Email: sharen.lee@oxfordalumni.org.
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Abstract

Bayesian methods have been widely used to address the Iron Age chronological debate in Israel, which has implications for the entire eastern Mediterranean Iron Age chronology. However, a consensus has not been reached. This is largely because radiocarbon dates of materials in this period lie on an oscillation in the calibration curve. This study focuses on the modeling of 14C dates from the Iron I and Iron II periods, discusses the underlying assumptions and limitations of existing Bayesian chronologies, and proposes the use of a more appropriate model that allows for the phase transitions not being instantaneous. The new trapezoidal model sheds light on the probable duration of the transitions between the Iron Age phases.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 731 - 740
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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