ABSTRACT. The chronology of the Early Bronze Age (EBA) in the southern Levant and the synchronization between the sites, considering seriation and radiocarbon dates, have shown large inconsistencies and disagreement. We have assembled 420 14 C dates, most of them previously published and a few provided directly by the excavators. The dates have been re-evaluated on the basis of their archaeological context and using analytical criteria. Bayesian modeling has been applied to the selected dates in relation to the given seriation of the EBA subperiods (EB I, II III, IV). Sites with 2 or more sequential subphases were individually modeled in order to define the transitions between the subperiods. The new chronology indicates that the EB I-II transition occurred site-dependently between 3200-2900 BC, with EB II-III around 2900 BC, and EB III-IV -2500 BC.

Olive ( Olea europaea L.) was one of the most important fruit trees in the ancient Mediterranean region and a founder species of horticulture in the Mediterranean Basin. Different views have been expressed regarding the geographical origins and timing of olive cultivation. Since genetic studies and macro-botanical remains point in different directions, we turn to another proxy – the palynological evidence. This study uses pollen records to shed new light on the history of olive cultivation and large-scale olive management. We employ a fossil pollen dataset composed of high-resolution pollen records obtained across the Mediterranean Basin covering most of the Holocene. Human activity is indicated when Olea pollen percentages rise fairly suddenly, are not accompanied by an increase of other Mediterranean sclerophyllous trees, and when the rise occurs in combination with consistent archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence. Based on these criteria, our results show that the southern Levant served as the locus of primary olive cultivation as early as ~6500 years BP (yBP), and that a later, early/mid 6th millennium BP cultivation process occurred in the Aegean (Crete) – whether as an independent large-scale management event or as a result of knowledge and/or seedling transfer from the southern Levant. Thus, the early management of olive trees corresponds to the establishment of the Mediterranean village economy and the completion of the ‘secondary products revolution’, rather than urbanization or state formation. From these two areas of origin, the southern Levant and the Aegean olive cultivation spread across the Mediterranean, with the beginning of olive horticulture in the northern Levant dated to ~4800 yBP. In Anatolia, large-scale olive horticulture was palynologically recorded by ~3200 yBP, in mainland Italy at ~3400 yBP, and in the Iberian Peninsula at mid/late 3rd millennium BP.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Although long considered a hallmark of the EB II-III of northern Canaan, Metallic Ware (sometimes termed Abydos Ware, Combed Ware) has eluded systematic characterization. Defined by its highly fired fabric, Metallic Ware comprises a full range of household forms, excluding cooking pots. It is widely distributed between Tacanakh in the south and Tyre in the north, and from Khirbet ez-Zeraqun in the east to the Mediterranean coast. Wherever found, it exhibits a unity of typology, chronology (floruit in EB II, decline in EB III), and fabric. Sherds from eight sites were analyzed petrographically, revealing a similar geological provenance: Lower Cretaceous formations that crop out mainly in the Hermon massif and north, in Lebanon. In view of its stylistic affinity to contemporary Canaanite pottery, it is proposed that Metallic Ware was produced in workshops centered around the upper Jordan Valley and distributed from there, in large quantities, to sites as far away as 100 km. Its pattern of distribution reflects a highly integrated, perhaps centralized, economy in EB II in northern Canaan and adjacent regions. Levant is generally characterized by a pronounced regionalism in detailed typology and choice of raw materials, and a tendency toward local production in villages or, during urbanized periods, in or near major towns (Wood 1990: 70-85). Occasionally, specific classes of pottery are widely distributed from a specific center of manufacture (Amiran, Beit-Arieh, and Glass 1973; Beck 1985; Falconer 1987; Esse 1989). It would be rare to find a comprehensive pottery industry mass-producing its ware at a single locale and distributing it in large quantities over a considerable distance, to the extent that local industries are virtually obliterated within a large radius from the source of production. The Early Bronze Age Metallic Ware of the upper Jordan Valley and the adjacent regions of northern Transjordan, the Golan, the Galilee, and the Lebanese Biqac appears to provide an example of such a rare case. Its appearance in conjunction with the initial urbanization of northern Canaan and neighboring lands suggests that a study of this industry may provide further insight into the far-reaching changes effected at that time in the social fabric of these regions. WARE DESCRIPTION AND TYPOLOGY Although long considered a hallmark of the EB II-III in northern Israel and adjacent regions, Metallic Ware has yet to be systematically described in the archaeological literature. Various overlapping terms have been used to designate it, most notably CombedWare and Abydos Ware (Prausnitz 1954; Mazzoni 1987; Esse 1991: 109-16; Ben-Tor 1991: 107-9), but its identification and definition as a specific clas...

This paper explores long-term trends in human population and vegetation change in the Levant from the Early to the Late Holocene in order to assess when and how human impact has shaped the region's landscapes over the millennia. To do so, we employed multiple proxies and compared archaeological, pollen and palaeoclimate data within a multi-scalar approach in order to assess how Holocene landscape dynamics change at different geographical scales. We based our analysis on 14 fossil pollen sequences and applied a hierarchical agglomerative clustering and community classification in order to define groups of vegetation types (e.g. grassland, wetland, woodland, etc.). Human impact on the landscape has been assessed by the analysis of pollen indicator groups. Archaeological settlement data and Summed Probability Distribution (SPD) of radiocarbon dates have been used to reconstruct long-term demographic trends. In this study, for the first time, the evolution of the human population is estimated statistically and compared to environmental proxies for assessing the interplay of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping the Holocene landscapes in the Levant.

The village of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, contains the remains of most ancient Jerusalem, often termed "The City of David". In recent years the excavation and presentation of the archaeology of Silwan has been placed in the hands of a Jewish settler non-governmental organization. Their incorporation of this site into the Jewish-Israeli narrative is multifaceted -mixing religious nationalism with theme-park tourism. As a result, confl ict with local Palestinians occurs at the very basic level of existence, where the past is used to disenfranchise and displace people in the present. The volatile mix of history, religion and politics in the City of David/Silwan threatens any future reconciliation in Jerusalem, which must be based on the empowerment of local people and the adoption of a proactive inclusive archaeological stance in which the many voices of the past are heard.