Archaeology
Radiocarbon dating reveals new insights into Tel Gezer
Archaeologists have conducted radiocarbon dating of Tel Gezer, one of the most important Bronze and Iron Age sites in Israel.
Tel Gezer is located in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region.
The site was first occupied towards the end of the 4th millennium BC, when large caves were cut into the rock to be used as dwellings.
Major settlement occurred during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, with the construction of a fortified Canaanite city surrounded by a massive stone wall and towers.
The city evolved into a significant religious centre, characterised by the presence of prominent standing stones named massebot. These massbot stones were erected alongside an altar-style construction and a substantial stone basin, possibly used for ceremonies involving libations (a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity).
The Canaanite city was devastated by a fire, likely resulting from a military expedition led by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (reigning from 1479 to 1425 BC). The earliest documented mention of the city dates back to an inscription listing conquered territories found at Thutmose’s temple in Karnak.
The city continued to hold significant strategic importance until the Roman period due in thanks to the advantageous location at the intersection of the ancient coastal trade route connecting Egypt to Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia, as well as the pathway leading to Jerusalem and Jericho.
In a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE, archaeologists have used radiocarbon dating to investigate what extent of archaeological findings correspond to historical events from written sources.
The chronology of each phase of Tel Gezer has been based primarily on the comparison of ceramic styles and their connection to the political history of Egypt and Assyria.
Lyndelle Webster, an archaeologist from the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the ÖAW, said: “We took more than 75 measurements on charred seeds from several layers of settlement and destruction. The results of the 35 measurements from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age strata published in our study date from the 13th to 9th centuries BC. “This allows us for the first time to place the history of Gezer on a fixed timeline.”
The results have been cross-referenced with historical events, such as instances of destruction, construction of new buildings, or fortification development, providing additional context.
The radiocarbon dates indicate that the city saw a period of destruction around 1200 BC, possibly in relation to a campaign of conquest by the Egyptian pharaoh Merenptah, or as a result of the Late Bronze Age collapse that brought a sharp economic decline to regional powers.
The study also contributes to the dating of the “Philistine” culture, which arose in the nearby coastal plain and is now believed to influence the region around Tel Gez in the middle of the 12th century BC.
According to the study authors: “Another discussion covers the transition to monumental public architecture and centralised administration at Tel Gezer. This change can now be dated to the first half of the 10th century BC and not just the 9th century BC as previously thought.”
Header Image Credit : Lanier Center for Archaeology
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
A Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists have uncovered 22 mummified burials in Barranca, Peru.
The discovery was made on the Cerro Colorado hill, where the researchers unearthed the burials in one of four mounds located in a cluster.
Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said: “The bodies are wrapped in fabrics and plant material known as burial bundles. Between the layers of the fabrics we found ceramics, tools, and cult objects placed as funerary offerings.”
The team also found corn cobs and unidentified plant materials, which were likely placed as food for the deceased on their journey to the afterlife.
Six of the burial bundles contain the remains of adults placed in the fetal position, with their upper and lower limbs tucked under their chests.
According to the researchers, the adult burials are arranged vertically, which makes them appear as if they were sitting. They all have a similar external appearance, wrapped in thick fabric and entwined with rope.
One of the adult bundles is decorated with geometric patterns, while the remaining bundles – as Majchrzak suggests – may contain representations of animals and deities.
The other 16 burial bundles mostly contain the remains of children no older than 2 years old who were placed in a horizontal position.
The team plan to use computed tomography to examine completely preserved burial bundles that have no visible damage to allow for a non-invasive anthropological analysis. In further stages, they plan to carry out a chemical and isotope analysis, including the strontium isotope, which will determine whether the burials are from a local population.
Header Image Credit : R. Dziubińska
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
An international team, led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered an ancient prehistoric fortress in a remote region of Siberia known as Amnya.
According to a study, published in the scientific journal “Antiquity”, the fortress is a complex system of defensive structures around an ancient settlement, dating from 8,000 years ago.
The fortress is spread across two settlement clusters, Amnya I and Amnya II. Amnya I consists of extant surface features such as banks and ditches, which enclose the tip of a promontory, and 10 house pit depressions. Ten further house pits, located approximately 50m to the east, comprise the open settlement of Amnya II.
Excavations have uncovered approximately 45 pottery vessels within the wider complex, including pointed and flat-based forms that reflect two distinct typological traditions.
The Amnya settlement complex signifies the start of a distinctive, enduring trend of defensive sites among hunter-gatherers in northern Eurasia—an almost continuous tradition that persisted for nearly eight millennia until the Early Modern period.
Tanja Schreiber, archaeologist at the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology in Berlin and co-author of the study, explains, “Through detailed archaeological examinations at Amnya, we collected samples for radiocarbon dating, confirming the prehistoric age of the site and establishing it as the world’s oldest-known fort.
“Our new palaeobotanical and stratigraphical examinations reveal that inhabitants of Western Siberia led a sophisticated lifestyle based on the abundant resources of the taiga environment,” added Schrieber.
The construction of fortifications by foraging groups has been observed in different parts of the world, primarily in coastal regions during later prehistoric periods. However, the early in inland western Siberia is unparalleled.
According to the researchers, the discovery transforms how we perceive ancient human communities, questioning the notion that the establishment of permanent settlements with grand architecture and intricate social systems began solely with the rise of agriculture.
Header Image Credit: Nikita Golovanov
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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