Publications

The second volume of the final excavation report, Aphek-Antipatris II, deals with the remains of the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron Ages excavated between the years 1972 and 1984. It includes discoveries on the acropolis as well as a Late Bronze Age stone-built tomb, obviously related to the elite faction. The excavation of the acropolis of Tel Aphek revealed a series of six 'palaces' starting in the Middle Bronze Age IIA. This was followed by a larger structure dated to the Middle Bronze Age IIB which is one of the few palaces known from this period in teh southern Levant. The importance of Tel Aphek's guardianship of one of the main crossroads in Canaan is evident from its last palace, the free-standing Late Bronze Age Egyptian Governor's Residence. The plethora of well-dated finds found buried under its collapsed and burnt second storey, made their exposure the highlight of the excavation on the acropolis. The unique late 13th century BCE inscriptions shed light on the conduct of the Egyptian administration in Canaan while also revealing the existence of Canaanite language lexica. The pottery assemblage of Palace VI should be taken as an absolute chronological peg for the problematic transition period between the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. In the latter period several different groups of peoples settled successively on the levelled acropolis. The frequent change in the nature of these settlements well reflects the turbulent years that passed between the end of Egyptian rule over Canaanite city-states and the establishment of a new order of early states.

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This study attempts a global consideration of the Archaic cemetery that was excavated in 2000 and 2002 near the village of Asomata, 4km south of Beroia, using burial archaeology methods to study and assess such elements as the spatial distribution, typology and size of the graves, the demographic data and pathology of the population (study of skeletal remains), the grave goods and other traces of funeral ritual, and, finally, the relationship of this cemetery to others in the region and Macedonia in general.

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This volume is the third in the series of final reports on the Beth-Shean Valley Archaeological Project, directed by Amihai Mazar on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 1989. The current volume presents the results of the excavations in Areas N and S at Tel Beth-Shean, which relate to the heyday of the Egyptian garrison town of the 19th and 20th Dynasties and its aftermath, corresponding with Levels VII, VI and Late VI of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania Expedition (13th-11th centuries BCE). The volume starts with an overview of the main results (including those in Area Q, previously published), followed by a detailed analysis of the stratigraphy and architecture of Areas N and S, extensive discussions accompanied by detailed illustrations of the local Canaanite and Egyptian-style pottery, as well as the imported pottery, and a wide variety of artifacts, many of them related to the Egyptian presence. Thirty authors contributed to this volume, which includes 215 line drawings and graphs, 74 pottery plates and 435 photographs.

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Mochlos is an important, multi-period island settlement in eastern Crete (just east of the Bay of Mirabello) famous primarily for its remarkable Pre-palatial tombs excavated in 1908 by Richard Seager. Since 1989, the joint Greek-American project of renewed excavations under Jeffrey Soles and Costis Davaras has not only reinvestigated and re-evaluated those tombs, but paid far greater attention to the hitherto largely neglected, but very informative, later life of the settlement. Some volumes, dealing with the Neopalatial settlement, have already appeared as part of the projected multi-volume publication of the site. The subject of the latest volume in the Mochlos monograph series is the sites of the LM III periods, which consist of houses within the settlement and two cemeteries—the main one at Limenaria across from the modern village of Mochlos and a smaller cemetery near the earlier Artisans' Quarter. As with the preceding Mochlos publications, this volume will be accompanied by two others covering the LM III pottery and small finds, respectively, which will help flesh out the framework of sites presented here.

Beginning in 1989 (as a result of the discovery of the later burials) ten houses were excavated in the settlement, which were re-occupied between the LM III/LM IIIA1 and LM IIIB periods. These dwellings occupy a broad band approximately 100 m wide across the site, which was much further back from the coastline than the Neopalatial settlement. The houses range from one- to two-room structures, some with cook sheds and some with yards, to the sizable House A (8.11 m by 13.70 m on the exterior, with eight rooms and two exterior areas).

The LM III occupation differed from that of the preceding Neopalatial period (when the site was at its acme) in a number of important ways: there was a much smaller population that occupied a much smaller area of the site; the placement of the dwellings was haphazard and governed by previous architecture, which was re-used by all the LM III occupants; all the buildings were only one storey; and, to judge from the finds, there seems to have been a gradual abandonment of the site (7–9).

Thirty-one tombs in total were excavated in the two cemeteries, producing finds that are contemporary with the two settlement phases. The twenty-six chamber tombs, two deep pit-tombs and three smaller pit-tombs varied widely in size, construction type, and location, but also regarding the type of burial container, manner of burial, and grave goods. These burials, although remarkably diverse, are grouped into three sets that roughly correspond to the house size groupings, reinforcing the evidence for social ranking from the settlement and providing more detailed information about individual status and identity. Correlating the osteological information with the other burial evidence, the excavators are able to suggest further some hypotheses about the ritual practices and beliefs of the population who lived at Mochlos in LM III. For example, the authors give a fairly detailed account of burial ritual, and how it may have differed based on the individual, burial container, and tomb type. Moreover, the portable objects have led the excavators to suggest that the inhabitants believed that the deceased experienced three different stages of existence in the afterlife (196).

Presenting evidence from both the settlement and its corresponding cemeteries allows the excavators to posit a hypothetical reconstruction of social structure, individual status and identity, and even ethnicity. The settlement remains provide clear evidence for a hierarchical social ranking system, in particular the distinction between House A and the dwellings in the rest of the settlement. House A was more elaborate with respect to location, size, architecture, construction material and technique, and the portable finds suggest connections with Palaikastro, Gournia, Knossos, and even the Levant. The other houses had differences among them, but for the most part only with respect to their size and layout...

The present volume publishes some of the finds and results of the excavations conducted by Professor N. Stampolidis of the University of Crete in the Early Iron Age necropolis of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna, Crete. The necropolis, which is a palimpsest of intensive human activity, the denser and most legible lines of which pertain to the 9th – 6th centuries BC, lies on the originally rather steep, but now terraced, west slopes of the hill of Prines, 20-40m above the Chalopota stream. Its layout, including the monuments and their date, as well as the rites performed have been discussed by Stampolidis on several occasions. Although the necropolis has produced rich and varied remains, pottery is by far the most copiously represented class. This is, however, hardly surprising, given the well-known, relentless indestructibility of ceramics, which sharply contrasts with the ephemeral nature of their primary function.

The present volume is an analysis of a large corpus of ceramic material recovered from the neighbouring trenches A1 and K1, which are located in the central part of the excavated section of the necropolis. The material in question was found in the interior and immediate exterior of a chamber tomb called tomb A1K1, which housed cremation urns and burial offerings. Very few vases were also found inside or directly next to monument A1K1, which was partly overlying the tomb. Because of the scale and variety of the ceramic and other material it yielded and its importance for the archaeology of Early Iron Age Crete, the Aegean and the Mediterranean, a series of publication were planned for this particular context.

The demands of this work, however, and the various other commitments of the contributors led the editor to the decision to issue the publications in question individually. The present study of the pottery is the second of the volumes in this series, whereas the first volume, which is currently in preparation, includes a detailed catalogue of the rich and varied finds recovered - including the ceramic vessels discussed here – and studies the location of the tomb and monument within the necropolis, as well as their excavation and architecture. Furthermore, it offers an account of the conservation of the two structures following the excavation. A third volume based on the other classes of finds and the burial customs has also been planned, whereas a fourth volume regarding the physical anthropological material recovered has already appeared.

Link to a review of the work in the American Journal of Archaeology

Link to a review of the work in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Exceptional stratigraphical data inside the cave and dozens of C14 dates have led to the succession of distinct cultural phases, dated from the Middle/ Early Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Helladic (2nd mill B.C.), when the cave was abandoned. The cave is of crucial importance for the study of the Mesolithic/ Early Neolithic interface. The Middle and Late Neolithic occupations are represented by numerous symbolic objects such as hundreds of figurines indicating the important role of the cave in ritual activities.

Τhe first volume comprises the stratigraphy, analysis of the pottery of Neolithic and Bronze Age, (research period 1994-2000), as well as geomorphology of Kopais area, archaeobotanical remains, obsidian artefacts and pottery chemical analysis.

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In 1970 M. van Loon, who excavated in Mureybet during 1964-1965, offered J. Cauvin to continue this project before the Euphrates Valley flooded. His offer was accepted and the new series of excavations, conducted by J. Cauvin and his team, lasted from 1971 through 1974. The two volumes of Mureybet final site report, not to mention the numerous papers published in previous years, contain a plethora of information as regards these excavations. Indeed, the field operation saved for future generations a crucial archaeological record and provided a clear idea, if we consider the rather small excavation area relatively to the size of the mound, of what was lost under the rising waters of the Tabqa Dam.
The first volume opens with In Memoriam of J. Cauvin written by M. Molist who notes the historical role J. Cauvin and his team played in creating the Institut de Préhistoire Orientale, and is followed by a brief chapter placing the formative years of the project in their historical context.
The first volume records the essential aspects such as the radiocarbon chronology (J. Evin and D. Stordeur), followed by the stratigraphy and architecture (D. Stordeur and J.J. Ibáñez), the fireplaces (M. Molist), archaeobotanical and faunal remains (G. Willcox, L. Gourichon and D. Helmer), a suite of reports on the lithic industries (coordinated and partly written by M.-C. Cauvin with contributions by F. Abbès, J.E. Sanchez Priego, J.E. Gonzales Urquijo, J.J. Ibáñez and A. Rodriguez Rodriguez). The second volume provides chapters on the bone industry (D. Stordeur and R. Christidou), the ground stone industry, its typology and use (M.-C. Nierlé and M. Lebreton), body decorations (C. Maréchal and H. Alarashi), the figurines and other small objects (D. Stordeur and M. Lebreton), and closes with the conclusions that are an effective summary of the available evidence, by J.J. Ibáñez in French, English and Arabic. A detailed list of references closes this volume and supplies the readers with a full list of papers published in the past where various aspects of the Mureybet project were reported or discussed.

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This is the final report on the eleven seasons of excavations at Chogha Mish. In addition to the materials and records from Chogha Mish, Dr. Abbas Alizadeh uses the data available from the excavations of the neighboring sites of Chogha Bonut and Boneh Fazl Ali to augment his reconstruction of Susiana prehistoric development. Together, these three sites cover a long period from ca. 7200 to 500 B.C.

While most researchers see the fourth millennium as a pivotal period in the development of state organizations in southwestern Iran as a result of intra-regional competition between various local polities, Alizadeh traces the onset of the conflict of interest between the settled agricultural communities of the lowlands and mobile pastoralists of the highlands to the fifth millennium b.c. In doing so, Alizadeh considers a much more substantial role for the ancient mobile pastoralists of the region, placing Chogha Mish in a much wider regional context and arguing that at the beginning of the fifth millennium b.c, as the local elite were rapidly developing, lowland Susiana shifted its orientation from Mesopotamia to highland Iran, where most of the material resources are located. He attributes this shift to the development of mobile pastoralism in highland Iran and considers the ancient mobile pastoralists as the agents of contact between the highlands and the lowlands.

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Access through the Oriental Institute Press website

Fieldwork in the village of Phlamoudhi, Cyprus from 1970-1973 by the Columbia University Expedition to Phlamoudhi recorded the only systematically excavated evidence for Middle to Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement north of the Kyrenia Mountains. Halted by the war of 1974 that divided the island, most of the discoveries in Phlamoudhi remained unpublished until 2000 when the Phlamoudhi Archaeological Project began the systematic study, analysis, and publication of the material. This book's chapters cover the two main excavated sites, the hilltop site of Vounari and the larger settlement at Melissa; the region's patterns of settlement in the Bronze and Iron Ages and the Hellenistic through Medieval periods; and the geology and palaeobotany of the region. Chapters with perspectives on the excavations by original team members, the history of work in the area, and an overview of archaeology on Cyprus before and after the war place the fieldwork in historical perspective. This volume derives from papers at a symposium that was held together with an exhibition of the finds from Phlamoudhi in 2005.

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Lord William Taylour's excavations at Ayios Stephanos in 1959-77 investigated a port that relied on trade, fishing and metallurgy. It lay just north of the main Minoan east-west trade route via Kythera and exported the rare stone lapis lacedaemonius to Cretan workshops. As a Linear A inscription shows, the site illuminates the diffusion of Minoan culture to the mainland. Ayios Stephanos yielded a stratified pottery sequence from EH I to LH IIIC, with a break at the end of the Early Bronze Age. Study of this sequence has vastly improved our knowledge of the chronology, clarifying Cretan relations with the mainland. There were three phases of EH. After disastrous fires, rectangular buildings replaced the MH I apsidal dwellings, and the street plan came to resemble Minoan prototypes. The pottery illuminates the invention of Mycenaen ceramics. In line with the fortunes of Crete, the site declined in LH IIA, traded with Knossos in LH IIIA1, and declined again. It briefly revived in LH IIIC Early, probably following an influx of refugees. Then it was abandoned, perhaps after a massacre. Ayios Stephanos was reoccupied in c. 1270 AD, when a building with a walled yard and stables was erected to guard the approach to Skala along the River Vasilopotamos. This phase fills a gap in our knowledge, since no site of this period has been excavated south of Corinth. After 1321 a hostile raid plunged the site into oblivion. This publication studies the architecture and stratigraphy, the burials, the Medieval period, the pottery and small finds, the human and other organic remains, the settlement pattern and the regional and historical context. Numerous figures and plates document the results. Appendices containing techinical analyses, stratigraphic tables and concordances are on an accompanying CD.

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The Neolithic Pottery from Lerna: Results of excavations conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Beneath the famous remains of the House of the Tiles and the other Bronze Age remains found at Lerna, a large amount of Neolithic pottery was found during 1950s excavations by the American School of Classical Studies. Although the mixing of material makes it impossible to establish an independent ceramic sequence for the site, the author is able to differentiate Early and Middle Neolithic types using her knowledge of material from the well stratified Franchthi Cave, across the Argolic Gulf. By placing the ceramic material in archaeological context, the author makes a number of important new claims about Lerna's earliest history. While the date of the first settlement is still unclear, the Middle Neolithic was clearly a time of intensive occupation at Lerna, when the digging of at least one long ditch across the site suggests some internal planning. Sherds of the first Late Neolithic phase (Franchthi Ceramic Phase 3/ FCP 3) are totally absent, suggesting that Lerna had been abandoned by the end of the Middle Neolithic but substantial quantities of Final Neolithic pottery, found largely in pits and two graves, suggest ritual re-use in this period. A final chapter summarizes the results of the study, including the changing patterns of burial practices over the course of the Neolithic. This final chapter is repeated in Modern Greek.
"The publication of this manuscript on the Neolithic material from Lerna will be of outstanding scientific importance for Neolithic research in Greece. Much to the benefit of the reader, the author has succeeded in making a vividly clear and coherent account out of a highly complex situation." Mats Johnson, Göteborgs Universitet.

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The unique feature of the settlement at En-Gedi, which was occupied virtually without interruption from 650 BCE to 650 CE, was its homogeneous Jewish character throughout its long history. Founded in a desolate region, it almost always received assistance from a central government because it produced perfumes more precious than gold. The settlement was periodically destroyed: during the destruction of the First Temple, at the end of the Persian period, and during the First and Second Jewish Revolts against Rome; but in each of these cases, it soon recovered and was rebuilt as a Jewish settlement. Other populations also settled there from time to time: some clear Edomite and Phoenician influences can be discerned among its early remains, and signs of the Nabateans and of the Roman army are evident in its later stages.

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Joan du Plat Taylor originally undertook rescue excavations at Apliki in 1938 and 1939, discovering evidence of Late Bronze Age metallurgical activities. This volume forms the first part of a comprehensive re-examination of her findings, with the aim of furthering a greater understanding of primary copper production in the Bronze Age. It includes a detailed description of the excavated areas and finds and special studies of some of the most important categories of materials - pottery, loom weights, marked objects, stamp seals, stone tools and animal bones.

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The Moshe Dothan excavations (1959-1960) at Tel Mor uncovered a series of large buildings that dominated the summit of this small tell throughout the Late Bronze Age. Two of the buildings excavated had sizable amounts of Egyptianized pottery and it is argued that these were Egyptian garrisons in Canaan. This excavation report presents the stratigraphy and building remains of the site, as well as the Late Bronze and Iron Age pottery and other finds.

Read a review of the publication by Susan Cohen in The Journal of Near Eastern Studies (Vol. 71, No. 1 (April 2012), pp. 158-161, U. of Chicago Press) HERE.

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This is the final report of the excavations of the large fortress of Horvat 'Uza, which was originally built in the Iron Age and re-used with modifications in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and the smaller frontier outpost of Horvat Radum, which was abandoned at the end of the Iron Age. In addition, the results of the excavation of part of a newly-discovered Iron Age settlement (no. 24) are presented. These excavations, which spanned the years 1982-1988 and 1996, were carried out as a joint venture by the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University and the University of Waco, Texas, under the direction of Itzhaq Beit-Arieh and Bruce C. Cresson, respectively. This publication contains the contributions of several specialists in their fields and covers the architecture, stratigraphy, pottery, epigraphic finds, numerous small finds, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains, and an historical overview. The results make an important contribution to the knowledge of the Judahite defense system on its eastern border during the last days of the kingdom in the First Temple Period and the nature of its relationship with Edom – "the enemy from the east."

Available for purchase through the publisher's website HERE.

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This is the first in a series of volumes intended to bring the results of the excavations of the late Shmarya Gutmann at Gimla to the public. Gutmann - a brilliant archaeologist, but with no formal training - was the driving force behind these excavations of the site of Gamla, which was not inhabited after 67AD.

Read a review from The Bulletin of The American Schools of Oriental Research No. 352 (Nov., 2008) HERE.

Purchase through the publisher's website HERE.

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This is the third volume on the results of the excavations directed by the late Professor Nahman Avigad in the years 1969-1982 at the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The first two volumes on these excavations (Jewish Quarter I, II) dealt with Areas A, W and X-2, the prominent remains of which are First and Second Temple period fortifications located on the northern side of the Southwestern Hill. These volumes also included studies on all the First Temple period seal impressions and imported Greek stamped amphora handles from the Hellenistic period found throughout the Jewish Quarter excavation areas.

The present volume focuses on the findings from Area E, located in the center of the Jewish Quarter. The area yielded finds from six occupational strata ranging from the Iron Age II to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. The most significant of these are the strata from the late Second Temple period, specifically the second half of the 1st century BCE. Prominent architectural remains from this period are a group of well-preserved structures, which contained a variety of finds (Stratum 3), put into disuse and sealed by the massive stone pavement of a street (Stratum 2). The importance of the finds contained within the structures lies in the fact that they were deposited in a clear stratigraphical context that can be well dated to a brief and defined period of time during the reign of Herod the Great.

The remains from the Second Temple period can contribute much to the understanding of the nature and chronology of the establishment of the wealthy residential quarter of the Upper City, and to the classification of pottery and stone vessel forms, as well as other finds, in use in Jerusalem during Herod's reign. Part One of this report includes seventeen chapters. The first chapter describes the architectural remains uncovered in Area E, presented according to stratum. The second chapter discusses uniquely shaped stone basins of the Second Temple period used for washing feet before descent into miqwa'ot for immersion; two of these basins were found in Area E, one in situ. The other chapters in Part One present the variety of small finds found in different strata of Area E. An index of the Area E finds is brought at the end of Part One. Part Two of the report contains five chapters dealing with several types of small finds from the Second Temple period uncovered in excavation areas throughout the Jewish Quarter: stone scale weights, Hebrew and Aramaic ostraca, and the refuse of a glass workshop. Also appearing in the second part are supplementary studies on various finds from the excavations.

Our plan is to continue in the coming years with the publication of the principal findings from the Jewish Quarter excavations. The fourth volume, which is being prepared by Oren Gutfeld, will deal with the findings from Areas X (the Byzantine Cardo) and T (the Nea Church). The fifth volume will be devoted to the findings from Area B (the Burnt House). To be published subsequently are the remains of the elaborate dwellings of the wealthy residential quarter-the Upper City of the late Second Temple period (also referred to as the Herodian Quarter)-uncovered in Areas F, M, and P of the Jewish Quarter. The present volume could not have been effectively realized without the assistance of numerous scholars, from research institutions both in Israel and abroad. They are appreciated for offering their time, knowledge and expertise on behalf of the publication of the wealth of finds unearthed in Area E and in other areas of the Jewish Quarter. Some of these scholars had already taken part in the study of Jewish Quarter finds published in the previous two volumes. Our thanks go to all of them for their invaluable contribution, and we hope that our rewarding partnership with them will continue in the future.

We would like to express our thanks and appreciation to the foundations that supported the publication of this volume: The Donna and Marvin Schwartz Foundation, The Dorot Foundation, The Reuben and Edith Hecht Trust, and George Blumenthal and the Center for Online Judaic Studies. The research and the editing of the chapters on the Hebrew and Aramaic ostraca were supported by The David and Jemima Jeselsohn Epigraphic Center of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University. We are also grateful to all who participated in the excavation and in the processing of the finds and the publication of this volume. Our thanks go to the Israel Exploration Society and its director, Joseph Aviram, for his encouragement and efforts in pushing the publication of the Jewish Quarter excavations forward, and his help in obtaining necessary financial support for the publication of previous volumes and the present volume; to the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Mt. Scopus, where the Jewish Quarter excavation's finds are stored and where their processing and study takes place, and whose laboratories were of great assistance in the preparation of finds for publication; and to the Israel Antiquities Authority (the Department of Antiquities and Museums at the time of the excavation), a trusted partner during the excavation, and in whose laboratories the pottery vessels were restored and the metal vessels were treated at the conclusion of the excavation.

We offer special thanks to those who have assisted over the years in bringing this volume to fruition in accord with the high standards set for the publication. Ben Gordon worked diligently on the translation of some chapters of the book to English, and on the final editing of the book, seeing it through to its final publication. Alan Paris and Shelly Sadeh translated and edited several of the chapters. Alan Paris also offered helpful advice in preparing the manuscript for publication. Gabi Laron took the color photographs of the finds. Oren Gutfeld assisted in preparing the stratigraphy chapter. Ravit Nenner-Soriano worked meticulously and devotedly on the registration of the finds and the production of publication-ready plates. We extend our thanks also to all those who have participated, over the years since the close of the excavations, in the drawing and photographing of the finds and in their preparation for publication (a full list of these individuals appears in Chapter One, this volume). Also deserving of mention for their tireless efforts are Arieh Marzel, who typeset the manuscript, and Avraham Pladot of the Old City Press, who harnessed his talent and expertise for the sake of the book, preparing its illustrations and page layout, supervising its printing, and essentially seeing the book through to the final form laid before you.

Copies may be ordered
by contacting:

The Israel Exploration Society
P. O. Box 7041,
5 Avida Street,
Jerusalem 91070 Israel.
Fax: 972-2-6-247772
Phone: 972-2-6-257991
E-mail: ies@vms.huji.ac.il

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