Hazor Eb Iii City Abandonment and Iba People Return: Radiocarbon Chronology and Its Implications

Lev, Ron; Bechar, Shlomit

doi:10.1017/rdc.2021.76

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Among the sites with deposition from both EB III and EB IV, chronological gaps have been inferred between these periods at Beth Shean/Tell el-Hosn based on ceramic chronology (Mazar 2012: 28) and at Hazor/Tell el-Waqqas and Jericho/Tell es-Sultan based on stratigraphy (Nigro 2003: 131, 138;Lev et al 2021). Modeling of AMS ages from Hazor estimates the end of its EB III occupation by 2580 cal BCE, followed by "many decades of abandonment" prior to resettlement in EB IV (Lev et al 2021) Kenyon (1981: 167, 214). The modeled 1σ distributions for these ages lie between about 2400 and 2250 cal BCE (Nigro et al 2019: fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Ams Chronology for the Early Bronze Iii/Iv Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

et al. 2022

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We present the first Bayesian 14C modeling based on AMS ages from stratified sediments representing continuous occupation across the Early Bronze III/IV interface in the Southern Levant. This new high-precision modeling incorporates 12 calibrated AMS ages from Khirbat Iskandar Area C using OxCal 4.4.4 and the IntCal 20 calibration curve to specify the EB III/IV transition at or slightly before 2500 cal BCE. Our results contribute to the continuing emergence of a high chronology for the Levantine Early Bronze Age, which shifts the end of EB III 200–300 years earlier than the traditional time frame and increases the length of EB IV to about 500 years. Data from Khirbat Iskandar also help direct greater attention to the importance of sedentary communities through EB IV, in contrast to the traditional emphasis on non-sedentary pastoral encampments and cemeteries. Modeling of AMS data from Khirbat Iskandar bolsters the ongoing revision of Early Bronze Age Levantine chronology and its growing interpretive independence from Egyptian history and contributes particularly to re-examination of the EB III/IV nexus in the Southern Levant.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Ams Chronology for the Early Bronze Iii/Iv Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

et al. 2022

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“…An ever-growing body of radiocarbon analysis (e.g., Regev et al 2012Regev et al , 2019Höflmayer 2021;Höflmayer et al 2014Höflmayer et al , 2016aHöflmayer et al , 2016b has transformed Southern Levantine Bronze Age chronology by disarticulating it from Egyptian dynastic history. Among its most significant changes, the recession of town life in Early Bronze IV now stretches over a half-millennium or more (Höflmayer et al 2014;Regev et al 2012;Lev et al 2021;Fall et al 2021Fall et al , 2022, rivaling the lengths of the urbanized Early Bronze II/III and Middle Bronze eras, and thereby drawing attention to the chronometric investigation of non-urban settlements in the ancient Southern Levant. Likewise, these studies show that the constituent subperiods of the Middle Bronze Age no longer coincide with the convenient dynastic alignments of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian Modeling of a Peripheral Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Zahrat Adh-Dhra‘ 1, Jordan

Fall,

Ridder,

Pilaar Birch

et al. 2023

Radiocarbon

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Analysis of 20 calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) ages reveals a chronology for the habitation of a unique peripheral settlement at Zahrat adh-Dhra‘ 1 (ZAD 1), Jordan during the Middle Bronze Age of the Southern Levant. Bayesian modeling distinguishes three phases of occupation between the first settlement at ZAD 1, perhaps as early as about 2050 cal BCE, and its abandonment by 1700 cal BCE. ZAD 1 represents a marginal community, both environmentally and culturally, on the hyperarid Dead Sea Plain, and exemplifies the peripheral settlements that are envisioned as important elements of Bronze Age Levantine society. Most importantly for this study, it is the only peripheral site in the Southern Levant that provides a Bayesian model for its habitation during the growth of Middle Bronze Age urbanized society. The timing of ZAD 1’s constituent phases, early in Middle Bronze I, across the Middle Bronze I/II transition and in Middle Bronze II, correspond well with emerging chronologies for the Middle Bronze Age, thereby contributing to an ongoing reassessment of regional social and settlement dynamics.

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Redefining “Collapse” in the Early Bronze Age: New Evidence for Recovery, Resilience, and Societal Transformation at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Richard

2024

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History

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This paper provides a new perspective on the long-debated issue of “collapse” at the end of the urban Early Bronze Age III (EB III, traditionally ca. 2300 BCE) in the southern Levant. In the past, the facts on the ground – manifesting the classic characteristics of a devastating collapse (destruction/abandonment) at the end of EB III – appeared to be followed by a rural “dark age” or “pastoral-nomadic” interlude in Early Bronze IV (EB IV), also known as the Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA). The “dark age” then ended upon the regeneration of urbanism after 2000 BCE in the Middle Bronze Age (MBA). This conceptualization of dramatic culture change in the Early Bronze Age has dominated the scholarly literature since the mid-20th century, bolstered by the widespread acceptance of evolutionary theories on the collapse of nations and civilizations. Current theoretical constructs on collapse look to the post-collapse period for insights on the process itself. A post-collapse urban-to-rural process, documented by nine continuous occupational phases at the EB III/IV transition, has recently come to light at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan. This archaeological profile suggests strong local resilience in the aftermath of collapse, evident in the maintenance of traditions and social memory of settled life at the ancestral home. This adaptive cycle militates against traditional “collapse” modeling positing an apocalyptic break in Early Bronze Age civilization; instead, it resonates with resilience and resilience theory. Moreover, a plethora of new evidence has accumulated illuminating a type of “rural complexity” witnessed by a considerable database of EB IV permanent, multi-phased agricultural settlement sites belying the so-called pastoral-nomadic interlude rubric. Applying the construct of societal transformation, the hypothesis driving this research is that archaeological stratification at Khirbat Iskandar supports a process of recovery, resilience, and societal transformation, a reevaluation particularly apropos when contextualized in the new higher Early Bronze Age chronology.

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Hazor Eb Iii City Abandonment and Iba People Return: Radiocarbon Chronology and Its Implications

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

New Ams Chronology for the Early Bronze Iii/Iv Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

New Ams Chronology for the Early Bronze Iii/Iv Transition at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Bayesian Modeling of a Peripheral Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Zahrat Adh-Dhra‘ 1, Jordan

Redefining “Collapse” in the Early Bronze Age: New Evidence for Recovery, Resilience, and Societal Transformation at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

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