A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Anthropogenic impact and landscape response

Abstract

Tell es‐Sâfi/gath is situated in the semiarid foothills of central Israel, adjacent to the coastal . plain. An enigmatic landscape feature, noted on aerial photographs, encircles the tell on three sides. This unique feature, unknown from other Near Eastern tells, was investigated. Methods of analysis include aerial photographs, field surveys, excavations, soil analyses, chronotypological ceramic classification, and radiocarbon dating. We concluded that (1) the peculiar landscape feature is a huge human‐made trench, over 2 km long, 5–6 m deep, and more than 8 m wide, cut through bedrock; (2) the trench was excavated during the Iron Age IIA (ca. 1000–800 B.C.E.), apparently as part of a siege system; (3) the extracted rock and soil material was dumped on the Iron Age landscape surface on one side of the trench, forming an elevated “berm”; (4) erosion processes transformed this landscape scar, as the trench filled with sediment; (5) stratigraphic analysis indicates two major phases of filling, separated by a period of landscape stability and soil formation (A horizon); (6) the two filling phases, exhibiting Iron Age IIA and Byzantine pottery (ca. 324—638 C.E.), appear to coincide with more intense human activity; and (7) the possible effect of climatic variations seems less obvious. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Paleo-Anthropocene and the Genesis of the Current Landscape of Israel

“…Given differences in scale and function, each settlement and installation type would have had a different impact on both its immediate environment and more distant locations (Goring-Morris & Belfer-Cohen, 2011); (b) hewn landscapes, such as cupmarks in bedrock and stone quarries (e.g., Grosman & Goren-Inbar, 2007;Dagan, 2011;Rosenberg & Nadel, 2014;Grosman & Goren-Inbar, 2016), wine and oil presses (Frankel, 2009), water wells, cisterns, water tunnels (Nir & Eldar, 1986;Tsuk, 2011); (c) agricultural terraces (e.g., Ron, 1966;Gibson, 2001;Davidovich et al, 2012;Gadot et al, 2016); (d) anthropogenic soils comprised of, for example, human refuse and manure (Bruins & Jongmans, 2012;Hadas, 2012;Shtienberg et al, 2017;Šmejda et al, 2017a,b;Paz et al, 2017); and (e) battlefield remains (e.g. Ackermann et al, 2005;Lewis, 2015 ).…”

“…(e) Battlefield Remains Many wars and battles have been fought in Israel, and some of them have had long-term impacts on the landscape (Lewis, 2015). An ancient siege system still visible today can be seen at Tell es-Safi/Gath, located in central Israel, and consists of an offensive trench, 2.5 km long and 5.5 meters deep (Ackermann et al, 2005;, probably constructed by Hazael the king of Aram during the 9 th century BCE. Both the trench and a berm formed from the excavated material significantly altered the original surface topography.…”