Geochemical Analysis and Sociocultural Complexity: A Case Study From Early Iron Age Megiddo (Israel)*

Abstract

Few archaeological sites can claim a more celebrated position than Megiddo, the Armageddon of biblical revelation. Guardian to a strategic pass on the ancient land bridge that traverses the region, it has long been known that Megiddo played a prominent role in the emergence of the Iron Age nation-states of biblical fame. Given its pivotal location, Megiddo provides an ideal opportunity to examine the experience of a community that found itself at the centre of these developments. The archaeological and textual evidence indicates a community that enjoyed extensive contact with an array of culturally distinct sociopolitical groups emerging in its hinterland. To further explore the nature and extent of this interaction, an assemblage of 86 ceramic sherds was analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). This paper presents the results of this analysis, together with an evaluation of potential geochemical and archaeological interconnections. Based on this comparative analysis, implications are drawn regarding Megiddo's role in the changing cultural and political landscape of this formative period in the history of the region.

Using neutron activation analysis to identify scales of interaction at Kinet Höyük, Turkey

“…We suggest that differences in the relative amount of local vs. regional vs. imported ceramics, when seriated through a site's history, contribute an important line of evidence for understanding the larger regional pattern of political and economic change. NAA analysis of ceramics from Megiddo was used to suggest that this type of data, for a relatively small but diverse assemblage (n ¼ 86), can provide insight into the political dynamics of the southern Levant in the EIA (Harrison and Hancock, 2005). More recently, a NAA study of Maya ceramics at Teotihuacan was used to make comparable arguments for the linkages between ceramic exchange and political economies (Clayton, 2006).…”

A soil chronosequence in Late Glacial and Neoglacial moraines, Humboldt Glacier, northwestern Venezuelan Andes

“…The sixteen COR samples, from five locations, are relatively homogeneous in their elemental compositions and are equivalent to the dispersion of elemental concentrations in ancient, coarse-ware ceramics (e.g. Harrison and Hancock, 2005), the latter considered as an index of element uniformity.…”

Chemistry Versus Data Dispersion: Is There a Better Way to Assess and Interpret Archaeometric Data?

“…Chemical fingerprints, generated from the elemental concentrations of a reasonable number of elements in each sample, become the basis on which ceramics are sorted into groups and on which they are archaeologically assessed (e.g., Perlman et al 1972;Abascal-M et al 1974;Picon and Vichy 1974;Schneider and Hoffmann 1976;Attas et al 1977;Artzy et al 1978;Schneider 1978;Davidson 1981;Allen et al 1982;Cesana et al 1983;Olin and Blackman 1987;Sharon et al 1987;Mommsen et al 1988Mommsen et al , 2006Yellin and Gunneweg 1989;Boquet et al 1992;Gunneweg et al 1994;Steponaitis et al 1996;Mirti et al 1998;Day et al 1999;Buxeda i Garrigós et al 2003;Blomster et al 2005;Harrison and Hancock 2005;Kilikoglou et al 2007;Stark et al 2007;Hughes 2009). Chemical fingerprints, generated from the elemental concentrations of a reasonable number of elements in each sample, become the basis on which ceramics are sorted into groups and on which they are archaeologically assessed (e.g., Perlman et al 1972;Abascal-M et al 1974;Picon and Vichy 1974;Schneider and Hoffmann 1976;Attas et al 1977;Artzy et al 1978;Schneider 1978;Davidson 1981;Allen et al 1982;Cesana et al 1983;Olin and Blackman 1987;Sharon et al 1987;Mommsen et...…”