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Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Israel Finkelstein
Affiliation:
The Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Steve Weiner
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

Extract

In the original proposal entitled Reconstructing Ancient Israel – The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective, two of us (Israel Finkelstein and Steve Weiner) wrote, “If the microscopic data are well integrated into the macroscopic (archaeological) record, they will undoubtedly provide new insights into the study of Ancient Israel.” And this was what this 5-year (2009–2014) European Research Council (ERC) sponsored program (details below) was all about. New ground was broken on three fronts: conceptual, methodological, and in the generation of new data that indeed provide novel insights into the history and material culture of Ancient Israel in particular and the Iron Age Levant in general. The reviews presented in this special volume synthesize some of these new insights. The findings have been published in about 70 papers (see Appendix).

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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References

APPENDIX: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Published and accepted for publication

Asscher, Y, Lehmann, G, Rosen, SA, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015. Absolute dating of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition and the appearance of Philistine culture in Qubur el-Walaydah, southern Levant. Radiocarbon 57(1):7797.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Boaretto, E. 2015. Radiocarbon and the archaeological record: an integrative approach for building an absolute chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Israel. Radiocarbon 57(2):207–16. (this issue) Google Scholar
Cabanes, D, Gadot, Y, Cabanes, M, Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S, Shahack-Gross, R. 2012. Human impact around settlement sites: a phytolith and mineralogical study for assessing site boundaries, phytolith preservation, and implications for spatial reconstructions using plant remains. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(8):2697–705.Google Scholar
Cabanes, D, Weiner, S, Shahack-Gross, R. 2011. Stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record: a dissolution study of modern and fossil phytoliths. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(9):2480–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eliyahu-Behar, A, Yahalom-Mack, N, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. 2013. Iron smelting and smithing in major urban centers in Israel during the Iron Age. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(12):4319–30.Google Scholar
Eliyahu-Behar, A, Yahalom-Mack, N, Shilstein, S, Zukerman, A, Shafer-Elliott, C, Maeir, AM, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S. 2012. Iron and bronze production in Iron Age IIA Philistia: new evidence from Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(2):255–67.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Finkelstein, I, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Shaus, A, Cordonsky, M. 2015. Multispectral imaging of two hieratic inscriptions from Qubur el-Walaiydah. Egypt and the Levant 24:349–54.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Bearman, G. In press. Multispectral imaging of Tel Malhata ostraca. In: Beit-Arieh, I, editor. Tel Malhata: A Central City in the Biblical Negev. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum, S, Sober, B, Shaus, A, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Bearman, G, Cordonsky, M, Finkelstein, I. 2012. Multispectral images of ostraca: acquisition and analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 39(12):3581–90.Google Scholar
Faigenbaum-Golovin, S, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Finkelstein, I, Levin, D, Moinester, M, Piasetzky, E, Turkel, E. 2015. Computerized paleographic investigation of Hebrew Iron Age ostraca. Radiocarbon 57(2):317–25. (this issue) Google Scholar
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Finkelstein, I, Ben-Dor Evian, S, Boaretto, E, Cabanes, D, Cabanes, M-T, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Faigenbaum, S, Gadot, Y, Langgut, D, Martin, M, Meiri, M, Namdar, D, Sapir-Hen, L, Shahack-Gross, R, Shaus, A, Sober, B, Toffolo, M, Yahalom-Mack, N, Zapassky, L, Weiner, S. 2012. Reconstructing ancient Israel: integrating macro- and micro-archaeology. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel 1:133–50.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Langgut, D. 2014. Dry climate in the Middle Bronze I and its impact on settlement patterns in the Levant and beyond: new pollen evidence. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 73(2):219–34.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015. Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives. Radiocarbon 57(2):197206. (this issue) Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Zapassky, L, Gadot, Y, Master, DM, Stager, LE, Benenson, I. 2011. Phoenician “torpedo” amphoras and Egypt: standardization of volume based on linear dimensions. Egypt and the Levant 21:249–59.Google Scholar
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Langgut, D, Neumann, FH, Stein, M, Wagner, A, Kagan, EJ, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Dead Sea pollen record and history of human activity in the Judean Highlands (Israel) from the Intermediate Bronze to the Iron Ages. Palynology 38(2):123.Google Scholar
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Submitted

Kagan, E, Langgut, D, Boaretto, E, Neumann, HF, Stein, M. Chronology, sedimentology, and lake levels of the Dead Sea during the Bronze-Iron Age transition. Quaternary Science Reviews. Google Scholar
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Yahalom-Mack, N, Eliyahu-Behar, A, Martin, MAS, Kleiman, A, Shahak-Gross, R, Homsher, RS, Gadot, Y, Finkelstein, I. Metalworking at Megiddo during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Tel Aviv. Google Scholar