Bridging the Gap Ebiii-Iba: Early Intermediate Bronze Radiocarbon Dates From Khirbat El-’alya Northeast, Israel

Abstract

Recent radiocarbon (14C) research demonstrates that the urban culture of Early-Bronze III in the southern Levant ends around 2500 BC, and not around 2300 BC as was widely assumed. This should extend the Intermediate Bronze Age by 200 years. Charred olive pits from Intermediate Bronze Age contexts in the site of Khirbat el-‘Alya Northeast in the Judean Shephelah region (Israel) were 14C dated, resulting in calibrated dates around 2500 BC. The date range of Khirbat el-‘Alya Northeast samples is an indication that in the Mediterranean parts of the southern Levant, the Intermediate Bronze Age material culture appeared around the time of the decline of the preceding culture of Early-Bronze III—around 2500 BC or somewhat earlier. Possible Intermediate Bronze settlement pattern and the site’s relation to the nearby Early-Bronze city of Tel Yarmuth are discussed based on previous Intermediate Bronze and Early-Bronze related research in the surrounding area.

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

“…For comparative purposes, well-dated evidence for the beginning of EB IV in the Southern Levant features the seven-phase modeled sequence of 25 seed ages for Tell Abu en-Ni'aj (Fall et al 2021), but is otherwise limited to three AMS seed ages from Khirbet el-'Alya New AMS Chronology for EB III/IV Transition 247 (Bar et al 2013;Lev et al 2020), the two earliest of four charcoal dates from Ein-Ziq (Avner and Carmi 2001; see also Dunseth et al 2016) and the earliest one of three charcoal ages from Nahal Refaim (Segal and Carmi 1996). Another noteworthy site, Bab edh-Dhra', has five ages that correlate with Phases 2 and 1 at Tell Abu en-Ni'aj, late in EB IV after about 2350 cal BCE (Falconer and Fall 2021).…”

Chronology of Iba Shaft Tombs in the Southern Levant: Integral Part of the Iba Culture From Beginning to End

“…The EB "High Chronology" based on a systematic analysis of 14 C dates suggests that EB III cities ceased to exist around 2500 BCE, and IBA sites already existed around the same time (Regev et al 2012(Regev et al , 2014Höflmayer et al 2014;Lev et al 2020;Fall et al 2021). The high chronology extended the duration of the IBA period from about 300 years in the previous consensus (Mazar 1990;de Miroschedji 2009) up to 500 or 600 years.…”

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

“…Yet another current view is that the end of the EB III did not happen simultaneously everywhere and that there are cases, as in Jericho, where EB III ended later, around 2300 BCE (Nigro et al 2019). Early IBA absolute radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates from around 2500 BCE or even somewhat earlier have been published lately from short-lived samples from Tell Abu el-Niaj in Transjordan (Falconer and Fall 2019;Fall et al 2020) and Khirbat el-'Alya in the Judean Shefelah region (Lev et al 2020). Absolute dates between 2500 and 2300 have also been published lately from IBA contexts in the Negev (Dunseth et al 2017).…”

“…Early IBA absolute radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates from around 2500 *Corresponding author. Email: elisabetta.boaretto@weizmann.ac.il BCE or even somewhat earlier have been published lately from short-lived samples from Tell Abu el-Niaj in Transjordan (Falconer and Fall 2019;Fall et al 2020) and Khirbat el-'Alya in the Judean Shefelah region (Lev et al 2020). Absolute dates between 2500 and 2300 have also been published lately from IBA contexts in the Negev (Dunseth et al 2017).…”