Desert Habitation History by¹⁴C Dating of Soil Layers in Rural Building Structures (Negev, Israel): Preliminary Results from Horvat Haluqim

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Traditional archaeological approaches in the central Negev Desert used to employ excavation techniques in post-prehistoric periods in which stratigraphy is based on architecture, while material culture forms the basis for dating assessment and chronology. Such an approach was understandable, as it focused on the most visible remains of past human habitation. However, the detailed habitation record is in the soil rather than in the walls. Moreover, ceramics and stone tools in desert cultures often have limited time resolution in terms of absolute chronology. The rural desert site of Horvat Haluqim in the central Negev yielded 2 habitation periods with the traditional methodology: (1) Roman period, 2nd-3rd centuries CE; (2) Iron Age IIA, 10th century BCE. We have conducted at Horvat Haluqim initial excavations in small building remains that were never excavated before. Our excavation methodology focuses on detailed examination of the archaeological soil in building structures, coupled with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating for chronology, and micromorphology of undisturbed soil samples to study stratigraphy and soil contents at the microscopic scale. Here, we report preliminary results, concentrating on the 14 C dates. These suggest a much longer habitation history at the site during the Iron Age. The 14 C dates obtained so far from these building remains cover Iron Age I, II, III, and the Persian period. The oldest calibrated date (charred C 4 plants) in a rectangular building structure (LI00) is 1129-971 BCE (60.5%, highest relative probability). The youngest calibrated date in a round building structure (L700) is 540-411 BCE (57.9%, highest relative probability). This excavation methodology provides additional "eyes" to look at past human habitation in the Negev Desert, seeing more periods and more detail than was possible with traditional schemes and ceramic dating.

Iron Age Agriculture − A Critical Rejoinder to “Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: the Impact of Microarchaeological Methods”

“…The first geoarchaeological excavations of terraced wadi fields in the Negev Highlands were undertaken by Bruins (1986, 1990), who subsequently continued to develop this new approach, particularly at Horvat Haluqim, including macroarchaeology and microarchaeology (Bruins 2007, 2012). These excavations produced Iron Age 14 C dates from various layers in agricultural terraces (Bruins and van der Plicht 2005, 2007; van der Plicht et al 2009; Bruins et al 2012). Other periods, particularly the Early Islamic period (Bruins 2012), also exist in terraced fields at Horvat Haluqim, but the Iron Age is most dominant in terms of 14 C dating.…”

“…The charcoal in question is a powdery fleck, less than 1 cm in diameter, consisting of soft and fine charred organic particles. We prefer and use the term charred organic material (COM) in later publications, such as Bruins et al (2012) for these kinds of powdery charcoal flecks that also appear in archaeological soil layers within small building structures at Horvat Haluqim (Bruins et al 2012). The powdery fleck in the terraced agricultural field had an irregular shape with diffuse boundaries compared to the surrounding soil matrix.…”

Integrating Archaeological Data in Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies—Methodological Notes from High-Resolution Mapping of Ancient Features in Southern Israel

“…These studies included archaeological surveys and excavations by Cohen [18] (sites 95, 97, 98, 114), [19] (pp. 41-45), [20], the long-term research by Bruins et al [21][22][23][24], and the abiding interest that his conclusions aroused among the scholars specializing in remote sensing and among multidisciplinary scholars today [25] (pp. [63][64][65][66].…”

“…Following the work with Bruins [24], a preliminary test of the components of the Horvat Haluqim site, as Cohen had defined it, included a fortress, dwelling structures, and terraced wadis [18]. The preliminary test sufficed to confirm the assumption that the peripheries of terraced wadis had not been given sufficient attention.…”

Ancient runoff harvesting agriculture in the arid Beer Sheva Valley, Israel: An interdisciplinary study

“…No similarities between these systems and settlements of other historical periods were noted (Haiman, 2012). Attempts to date these systems by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL: Avni et al, 2013) or radiocarbon ( 14 C: Bruins et al, 2012) revealed a wide range of results. These attempts were severely criticized (Gibson, 2015; Shahack-Gross and Finkelstein, 2017), highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach to correctly date these structures (Haiman, 2019: 191).…”