Publications by Year: 2014

2014
Sha'ar Hagolan Vol. 4.. The Ground-stone Industry : Stone Working at the Dawn of Pottery Production in the Southern Levant
Garfinkel, Yosef, and Danny Rosenberg, Sha'ar Hagolan Vol. 4. The Ground-stone Industry : Stone Working at the Dawn of Pottery Production in the Southern Levant (Israel Exploration Society, 2014), pp. 306.Abstract

Contributions by A. Vered and D. Bar-Yosef Mayer

Sha‛ar Hagolan is a major Pottery Neolithic site (dated to ca. 8400–8000 cal BP) that spreads over ca. 20 hectares near the Yarmuk River, Israel. Eleven excavation seasons (in 1989–1990 and 1996–2004) had been conducted at the site by Prof. Yosef Garfinkel on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The excavations exposed ca. 3,000 sq.m. of the Yarmukian village. The site is well known for the planning of the settlement, specifically its courtyard buildings, each occupying several hundred meters and separated by systems of streets or alleys and passageways, and a well. The excavations yielded a wealth of archaeological material including pottery, flint, ground stone, very rich art objects and figurative items, as well as faunal and floral remains. These data supply a wealth of information on the Yarmukian economy and social life.

The 1331 ground-stone implements, which are the focus of this volume in the Sha‛ar Hagolan publication series, were retrieved from the large courtyard buildings. The main contributions of this report are threefold. Firstly, it gives a full and comprehensive descriptive account of the entire ground-stone assemblage of Sha‛ar Hagolan and thus enables comparison to other ground-stone assemblages and databases. Secondly, the structure of this book, divided into chapters each dealing with a specific tool type or group of types, allows us to focus on the specific characteristics and distinctive traits of the tools, including their typology, morphology, technology of production and other aspects. Finally, we offer a comprehensive discussion of the assemblage and the Yarmukian ground-stone industry.

Please visit the publication page for volumes 3 and 5.

 

Bet Yeraḥ, The Early Bronze Age Mound. Volume II: Urban Structure and Material Culture, 1933-1986 Excavations
Greenberg, Raphael, Bet Yeraḥ, The Early Bronze Age Mound. Volume II: Urban Structure and Material Culture, 1933-1986 Excavations (Jerusalem, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2014), pp. 308+vii.Abstract

Vol. II complements the stratigraphic and contextual presentation of Vol. I with synthetic overviews of site formation, the evolution of urban architecture, and Early Bronze Age ceramic industries, technology (including petrography) and typology. These studies are based on research conducted on the site and its materials since 2007. Further chapters are devoted to the lithic industries and the rich and diverse collection of stone artifacts and small finds. Highlights of this volume include the presentation of several household inventories, a corpus of more than 350 complete ceramic forms, and fine examples of Early Bronze Age art – figurines and zoomorphs, seal impressions and painted plaques.

View Bet Yeraḥ Vol. III. Hellenistic Philoteria and Islamic al-Sinnabra. The 1933-1986 and 2007-2013 Excavations

Necropoleis at Palaepaphos from the End of the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic Period
Karageorghis, Vassos, and Efstathios Raptou, Necropoleis at Palaepaphos from the End of the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic Period (Nicosia, The Cyprus Institute, 2014), pp. pages xiv+173 +102 plates.Abstract

The Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications presents the following book by Professor Vassos Karageorghis, former Director of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities and Dr Efstathios Raptou, Archaeological Officer of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities.

The book covers the period from the 11th cent. B.C. to ca 600 B.C. It includes ceramics, bronze and iron weapons and tools, bronze vases and armour, gold jewellery, scarabs, etc. In the chapter on historical conclusions V. Karageorghis places this material within the parameters of the Homeric world and the social and political conditions in Cyprus during the first part of the first millennium B.C.

Specialist scholars deal with topics like the scarabs, the weights, the bronzes, the skeletal remains, etc.

This is the first volume of this project, the authors are already preparing the second volume which will contain material from tombs of the 11th-9th centuries B.C., including some extraordinary bronze objects.

Troia 1987 - 2012: Grabungen und Forschungen I
Pernicka, Ernst, Charles Brian Rose, and Peter Jablonka, Troia 1987 - 2012: Grabungen und Forschungen I (Dr. Rudolf Hablet GmbH, 2014), pp. 535.Abstract

From the beginning of the new excavations at Troia the concept was to have two teams working side by side but with close interactions. The German team led by Manfred Korfmann concentrated on the Bronze Age and the American team led by Ch. Brian Rose on the Classical to Medieval periods. Originally the dividing line was easy to define, because then it was a common believe that after the end of the Bronze Age at Troia there was a hiatus in the sequence of the settlements. In addition it seemed that the ceramic inventory of the Bronze Age was dominated by gray wares while the later periods were characterized by red and buff wares. In the course of the project it became clear that this strict division was not possible and that there was a gradual transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age when there may have been a hiatus in the architecture but certainly not in the ceramic spectrum. Thus, also the division between the two teams merged into a joint endeavour and the new discoveries of this period are certainly one of the major achievements of the project. Accordingly, there are three volumes each planned for the Bronze Age and the Classical periods.

The first volume of the Bronze Age results summarizes the history of (more recent) research and the formation of the new excavation team. Then the applied techniques are explained in some detail and the concept for the preservation and presentation of this World Cultural heritage site. Chapter two begins with a detailed description of the site and the intensive survey that was performed in the area of the Lower City of Troia and is followed by descriptions of the archaeological and scientific methods used. The third chapter is devoted to cultural and natural environment of Troia and the reconstruction of its cultural history until the end of the Bronze Age. The second volume on the Bronze Age periods will present the results of the investigations based on stratigraphy, pottery and small finds from periods Troia I to Troia V that is the Early and the earlier Middle Bronze Age. It is in this period that Troia has always been and still is a crucial site for the chronology of the Aegean and the southern Balkans. During the excavations it became clear that there was a difference in the numbering of the major settlement units between Dörpfeld and Carl Blegen, which we will try to resolve. The third volume will be devoted to the Late Bronze Age periods Troia VI and VII and it will be shown that Troia continued to exist into the Early Iron Age or at least was not forgotten.

The Phoenician Period Necropolis of Kition, Volume II
Hadjisavvas, Sophocles, The Phoenician Period Necropolis of Kition, Volume II (Cyprus Department of Antiquities, 2014), pp. 220.Abstract
Link to a review of the work from Sardinia, Corsica et Baleares antiqvae : An International Journal of Archaeology (xv · 2017)
Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Vol. VI
Geva, Hillel, Jewish Quarter Excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem Vol. VI (Israel Exploration Society: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2014), pp. 444.Abstract

From 1969 to 1982 extensive archaeological excavations were conducted in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem under the direction of the late Professor Nahman Avigad on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Israel Exploration Society, and the Department of Antiquities (now the Israel Antiquities Authority). During these excavations remains of fortifications, public buildings, and domestic dwellings were found, as well as numerous artifacts from all periods of the continuous settlement of this area, dated from the end of the Iron Age through the Ottoman period.

Among the major discoveries made during the Jewish Quarter Excavations are fortifications, including the city wall dated to the reign of Hezekiah and a northern portion of the First Wall that protected the Southwestern Hill of Jerusalem during the First and Second Temple periods; luxurious residences of the Upper City of Jerusalem dated to the late Second Temple period, including the Palatial Mansion; the Cardo and the Nea Church of the Byzantine period; a bazaar and a public architectural complex including a large hall dated to the Crusader period; and portions of the southern fortifications of the Islamic period city. These and other finds from the excavations in the Jewish Quarter have changed many long-accepted ideas regarding the size and topography of ancient Jerusalem.

This volume is the sixth of the final reports of the excavations in the Jewish Quarter. It presents the finds from Areas J and N, including architectural remains and small finds. These range in date from the end of the First Temple period to the Late Roman period. The most significant of the remains are domestic dwellings, a Herodian stone street pavement and the remains of a public building that stood within the camp of the Roman Tenth Legion, which was garrisoned in the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina. These remains supplement and complete the findings from Area E (reported in Volume III of the Jewish Quarter publications). Volume six also presents the finds from Area Z, a small excavation area where an important assemblage of Hellenistic pottery vessels was uncovered.

 

Excavations at the Early Bronze IV Sites of Jebel Qa'aqir and Be'er Resisim
Dever, William G. Excavations at the Early Bronze IV Sites of Jebel Qa'aqir and Be'er Resisim (Eisenbrauns, 2014), pp. 378.Abstract

This volume is the final report of excavations carried out in the Hebron hills and the Negev desert in 1967-1980 on behalf of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and the University of Arizona. They were pioneering, multidisciplinary projects that helped to illuminate what was then a poorly known “Dark Age” in the cultural history of ancient Palestine, a nonurban interlude of pastoral nomadic movements over several centuries (ca. 2400–2000 B.C.E.) between the great urban civilizations of the early Bronze Ages. Eighteen appendixes by specialists in many disciplines analyze all aspects of material culture and human and animal remains. A history of previous scholarship and a synthesis of the EB IV period in both Israel and Jordan conclude the volume, which will be a landmark study for many years.

William G. Dever, who began EB IV studies with his Harvard doctoral dissertation in 1966, is Distinguished Professor of Archaeology at Lycoming College and Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology Emeritus at the University of Arizona. He is also an adjunct Professor of Archaeology at Pennsylvania State University.

 

Ancient Settlement Systems and Cultures in the Ram Hormuz Plain, Southwestern Iran: Excavations at Tall-e Geser and Regional Survey of the Ram Hormuz Area
Alizadeh, Abbas, Ancient Settlement Systems and Cultures in the Ram Hormuz Plain, Southwestern Iran: Excavations at Tall-e Geser and Regional Survey of the Ram Hormuz Area (Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications, 2014).Abstract

 With contributions by Loghman Ahmadzadeh and Mehdi Omidfar, and appendices by John R. Alden, Leah Minc, Jacques Connan, John Zumberge,  and Kendra Imbus

After a decade-long hiatus in the years of World War II, archaeological fieldwork was resumed in Iran in 1948. In that year, the Oriental Institute returned to its long tradition of archaeological research by sending Donald McCown to the lowlands of southwestern Iran to conduct a series of surface surveys to find a multi-period site for excavation. For his survey, McCown chose the Ram Hormuz region, southeast of lowland Susiana and the region south and east of the provincial town of Ahvaz down to the Persian Gulf. McCown recorded 118 sites in the Ram Hormuz and Ahvaz areas and eventually chose for excavation the large prehistoric mound complex Tall-e Geser. Three months of excavation in 1948 and 1949 yielded materials that were kept in Chicago for many years. Apart from short articles, the site was never fully published.

In Part 1 of this two-part volume, Abbas Alizadeh and colleagues have undertaken a final publication of the site. This task was undertaken because of a number of important considerations. First, the excavations at Geser have been cited as justifying the division of the Uruk period in southwestern Iran into Early, Middle, and Late phases. Second, Geser remains the only systematically excavated site in the Ram Hormuz region — a strategic location between the Susiana and Mesopotamian alluvium and the Zagros highlands of southwestern Iran. Third, Geser has produced a very extensive body of archaeological materials dating to the comparatively less understood proto-Elamite period, roughly the first few centuries of the third millennium bc. And finally, with the exception of a 700-800-year gap following the proto-Elamite phase, Geser remains one of the only sites in the Near East to have a very long and generally uninterrupted depositional sequence, in this case spanning from the fifth millennium BC to the Safavid period. The site’s crucial location, its importance in the archaeological literature, and its long stratigraphic sequence made it imperative that the original excavation results from Geser be published in anticipation of a time when the site can be re-excavated.

Part 2 of this volume presents the results of regional surveys conducted in the Ram Hormuz plain from 2005 to 2008, which were undertaken by Alizadeh and colleagues with the goal of understanding the semi-nomadic, mobile component of lowland Susiana and its hinterlands through time.

View this publication in its entirety at the Oriental Institute website

The Smithsonian Institution Excavation at Tell Jemmeh, Israel, 1970 - 1990
Ben-Shlomo, David, and Gus W. Van Beek, The Smithsonian Institution Excavation at Tell Jemmeh, Israel, 1970 - 1990 (Smithsonian Institute Scholarly Press, 2014), pp. 1120.Abstract

This monograph describes the results of the archaeological excavation at the site of Tell Jemmeh, Israel, undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution and directed by Gus W. Van Beek during the years 1970–1990. All the artifacts from the excavations were shipped from Israel to Washington, D.C., and have been restored, studied, and analyzed in the National Museum of Natural History for the past four decades. The site is a strategic and large mound located near Gaza and the Mediterranean coast. It was inhabited continuously for at least 1,400 years during the Middle and Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Persian period. The highlights of this excavation are the findings of a large and affluent courtyard house from the Late Bronze Age, a sophisticated well-preserved pottery kiln from the early Iron Age, a complex of Assyrian-related administrative buildings during the late Iron Age, and a complete granary of the Persian period. This is a detailed and final report on all of the excavation results, including the architectural remains, stratigraphy, pottery, and other finds. In addition, several more detailed and focused studies of certain aspects of the site’s material include (among others) chapters on imported, decorated, Philistine, Assyrian-style and Greek pottery and chapters on figurines, sealings, jewelry, amulets, scarabs, cylinder seals, flint, coins, ostraca, and fauna. The volume is richly illustrated with nearly 1,000 figures showing field photographs, plans, sections, and drawings and photographs of artifacts. The significance of the results is summarized and discussed in the final chapter.

For more information, and a PDF download of the publication, visit the Smithsonian website

Excavations in the Western Negev Highlands: Results of the Negev Emergency Survey 1978-89
Saidel, Benjamin A., and Mordechai Haiman, ed. Excavations in the Western Negev Highlands: Results of the Negev Emergency Survey 1978-89 (Oxford, Archaeopress, 2014), pp. 184.Abstract

The Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel initiated an archaeological salvage project in portions of the central and southern Negev (Israel). As a participant in the Negev Emergency Survey, Mordechai Haiman’s field crew surveyed, from 1979-1989, 450 kilometers in the western Negev Highlands, and identified 1,500 sites. He also directed excavations at 33 sites. Funded by a grant from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications, this fieldwork was reanalyzed for publication. The contents of this final report touch upon various aspects of Haiman’s excavations and surveys including methodologies, lithic material, pottery, fauna remains, petrographic analysis and more.

View the publisher's webpage to order.

The Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. The Bronze Age. Volumes I & II
Cosmopolous, Michael B. The Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. The Bronze Age. Volumes I & II (Athens, GR, Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens, 2014), pp. 295 (Vol. I), 296 (Vol. II).Abstract

     Over a century of excavations by the Athens Archaeological Society at Eleusis have brought to light an extensive settlement spanning the third and the second millennia B.C. Besides being one of the most important commercial hubs and economic centers of the Bronze Age Aegean, that settlement is important because it is the predecessor of the later Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore.
These two volumes constitute the systematic publication of the prehistoric settlement at Eleusis. They include a detailed analysis of the stratigraphy, architecture, pottery, and small finds, which is used to reconstruct the formation and early history of one of the most important ancient Greek religious sites.

View this publication and others at the author's website:
http://michaelcosmopoulos.org/research/books-2/