Formation processes in Philistine hearths from Tell es-Safi/Gath (Israel): An experimental approach

Abstract

Ancient cooking installations yield important evidence for cooking technology and human diet. A cooking installation termed the Philistine pebble hearth is associated with the arrival of the Philistines at the beginning of the Iron Age in the southern Levant (ca. early/mid-12th century B.C.). These installations have been studied using traditional methods, focusing on a description of form and style in relation to the pottery of the period. Here we present a study using an experimental approach. We prepared three sets of experimental pebble hearths to study the pebbles' thermal behavior in relation to their volume. The comparison of these results with observations of Iron Age I archaeological hearths reveals different patterns in pebble shattering and soot patterns, indicating that the archaeological hearths were used in a different manner than the experimental ones. The experiments highlight the utility of shattered pebbles as an indicator of the use of fire directly on Philistine hearths, even in the absence of ash and/or charcoal. They also demonstrate that these installations may have been used with open fire or live embers. The results are applicable to the study of hearths worldwide, with implications for appropriate excavation methods and basic identification of ancient pyrotechnologies.

Radiocarbon Dating Shows an Early Appearance of Philistine Material Culture in Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistia

“…Area A, architecture from Strata A5 and A4 include a series of floors and architectural features that cut one another, and cut into Stratum A6. Philistine architectural features found in Strata A6, A5, and A4 include pebble hearth cooking installations (Gur-Arieh et al 2012), hydraulic plaster that was found from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean world (Regev et al 2010), and a "temple" that is similar to a temple found at Tel Qasile, Stratum X , as well as fragmentary domestic architecture .…”

How long does it take to burn down an ancient Near Eastern city? The study of experimentally heated mud-bricks

“…Gur-Arieh et al . (2012) showed that 5kg of wood on a 1 × 1m open fire can maintain a temperature of about 600°C for around two hours. By extrapolation, maintaining 600°C for two hours in a structure of about 100m 2 would require approximately 500kg of vegetal fuel.…”

The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: excavation of a Last Interglacial charcoal and and burnt stone feature — is it a hearth?

“…Diagnostic traits include colour change (e.g. blackening and reddening), thermal cracking and spalling (Backhouse & Johnson 2007;Gur-Arieh et al 2012;Pagoulatos 2005).…”