S A T U R D A Y  S E S S I O N S

A36) Landscape Archaeology: Research Question: in Arid Zone Archaeology

Benjamin Saidel, W.F. Albright Institute, Presiding

159) Steven A. Rosen, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,
A Sacred Landscape: Preliminary Analysis of the Shrine and Tumulus System at Ramat Saharonim, Ramon Crater, Negev

      Survey and preliminary excavations at Ramat Saharonim, in the Makhtesh Ramon (Crater) in the Central Negev, have documented a sacred precinct consisting of four courtyard shrines with smaller subsidiary rectangular features, and thirty large burial cairns. Preliminary evaluation suggests an Early Bronze Age attribution for the site. Although previously known, the present research has established the embeddedness of the site in the landscaper by documenting alignments with both small scale topographic relief and with macroscale features, most notably a large black volcanic mountain in the distance. In addition, one shrine is aligned with the setting sun of the summer solstice. The special contexts and features of the Ramat Saharonim Sacred Precinct seem to reflect a seasonal mortuary cult, most likely associated with the early Bronze Age pastoral nomadic groups well documented in the region. As such the complex provides an important glimpse into the cult and ideology of an early desert nomadic society.

160) Mordechai Haiman, Israel Antiquities Authority,
Enclosed Structures, Pens, and Pastoralism in the Negev and Sinai Deserts—Past and Present

      Surveys and excavations conducted in the Negev and Sinai deserts in the past yielded considerable number of animal pens which are part of the archaeological record left behind by pastoralists. Among the large variety of pens, one type - a sort of enclosed structure - is noteworthy. The enclosed structure measures ca. 5-20 X 10-30 m and consists of dwelling rooms and open sections of various sizes and shapes. This type of structure was found in all the periods represented in the Negev and Sinai deserts, beginning in the late 4th or early 3ed mill. B.C.E. In the Early Bronze Age the enclosed structures constitutes ca. 90% of the entire corpus of structures. In later periods, - the Early Bronze Age IV, Iron Age II, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, the proportions changed and the ratio of the enclosed structures was reduced to only 10% in each period. A limited ethnoarchaeological examination carried out by the author on recent Bedouin animal pens support the possibility that enclosed structures represent sheep husbandry while goat husbandry is represented in simple circular pens.

161) Benjamin Adam Saidel, Albright Institute,
Shiniyot (Stone Piles) in the Negev

      In the spring of 2001 Benjamin Saidel and Tali Gini carried out a study of shiniyot located in the eastern Negev. This paper considers the location and construction of shiniyot from a landscape perspective. This research is integrated with the data collected by the Negev Emergency Survey, in order to study these structures on a regional level. Hypotheses concerning the function and date of shiniyot are proposed.

162) Gary Christopherson, University of Arizona,
Topographic Prominence in an Archaeological Landscape on the Madaba Plain, Jordan

      Topographic prominence can be defined as the perceived difference in height between an individual and their surroundings within a defined neighborhood.  Because this difference can be seen as an element of visual/political control, topographic prominence may provide clues to perceived social hierarchy and rank.  This study uses a geographic information system (GIS) to discover topographic prominence in a landscape at a variety of neighborhood scales.  Within these landscapes archaeological sites have been introduced to determine their relative topographic prominence.  Data for this study comes from the hinterland surveys of the Madaba Plains Project at Tall Hesban and Tall al-Umayri, Jordan.

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A37) Reports on Recent Research in the Amuq Plain and Vicinity, Southeastern Turkey

Timothy P. Harrison, University of Toronto, Presiding

163) Tony Wilkinson and Jesse Casana, University of Chicago,
Settlement Dynamics and Environmental Change in the Amuq Valley

      The archaeological importance of the Amuq Valley lies in the large number of archaeological sites in evidence as well as the presence within it of major sites ranging, for example, from prehistoric Tell Kurdu to Bronze and Iron Age Tells Tayinat and Atshana (Alalakh). In addition, a major "world city" of the Roman period (ancient Antioch) grew up immediately adjacent to it and astride a major route between Upper Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. This paper will employ the latest data from archaeological, textual and environmental studies to place this growth in settlement within a long term record of changing patterns of wetland, upland land-use exploitation, regional vegetation change and long term patterns of sedimentation. Emphasis will be placed on the complex interactions between the changing political economy and the environment rather than any single agency of change.

164) Rana Özbal, Northwestern University, and Fokke Gerritsen, Free University Amsterdam,
Tell Kurdu 2001: Excavations of a Sixth Millennium Regional Center

      This paper will present ongoing research at Tell Kurdu, a 15 hectare sixth and fifth millennium site located in the center of the Amuq Valley in southeastern Turkey. The emphasis will be on the 2001 season when an area of 700 m² was uncovered, exposing part of a residential neighborhood dating to the Amuq C Period (provisionally dated to ca. 5200 BC).  In this period Tell Kurdu was by far the largest settlement in the region, and presumably an early economic and political center. In 2001 the excavations yielded a variety of domestic and other structures along trash-filled streets and alleys. A program of macro and micro artifact analyses is currently underway to gain insight into the distribution of activities and intra-site variability and hence a better understanding of the social, economic, and cultural character of this neighborhood. This will supply us with a view of one facet of the major social transformations taking place in the Amuq Valley and throughout the Near East in this period. Future research will also expose earlier and later phases of occupation and address diachronic changes at the site and in the region.

165) Aslihan Yener, University of Chicago,
The Amuq Valley Regional Project, 2000–2002: Investigating Tell Atchana (Ancient Alalakh)

      During the summer of 2000 the University of Chicago Oriental Institute team set out to investigate the last remaining, previously-excavated site in the Amuq Valley Regional Project survey in the most southern state of Turkey, Hatay.  Tell Atchana, Ancient Alalakh, the capital of the Late Bronze Age Kingdom of Mukish was surveyed by Robert Braidwood for the Oriental Institute and subsequently excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1936-39; 1946-49.  Located at the center of the valley close to the bend of the Orontes river near Antakya (Antioch), Tell Atchana constitutes one of the largest sites in the region and may be much larger than previously thought.  Three seasons of survey and architectural reassessment will be presented including unexpected finds in the dig house depot.  A detailed topographical map was completed in 2002 and a section from Woolley's Temple deep sounding was cleaned for chronological clarity prior to full scale excavations in 2003.

166) Timothy P. Harrison, University of Toronto,
The Tell Tayinat Archaeological Project, 1999–2002

      The Tayinat Archaeological Project represents a recently launched research initiative at the Bronze and Iron Age site of Tell Tayinat, located on the Amuq Plain in southeastern Turkey.  As part of a broader, long-term research effort, this project seeks to refine the cultural sequence for a pivotal region of the ancient Near East, with the aim of facilitating more focused inter-regional investigations of the complex social, economic and political institutions developed by the first urban communities to emerge in this part of the world.  Ever since the pioneering work of the Braidwood-led Chicago Expedition in the 1930s, the Amuq Sequence has been fundamental in cultural studies of Anatolia and Northwest Syria.  This paper will review the archaeological and documentary records for Tell Tayinat, one of the principal settlements on the Amuq Plain, and the focus of large-scale excavations by the Chicago Expedition.  The results of the recently activated field initiative will also be presented, and placed within the framework of the broader, regional research effort.

167) Hatice Pamir, Mustafa Kemal University,
The Orontes Delta Survey, 1998–2001

      The Orontes River Delta is located in the southernmost part of Turkey, on the eastern Mediterranean coast, and links Anatolia, the Levantine coast, and northern Syro–Mesopotamia with Cyprus and the Aegean.  Although it forms its own distinct geographical sub-region, the Orontes Delta nevertheless is strongly connected both physically and culturally to the Amuq Plain.  Archaeological research conducted in the 1930s identified three principal settlements in the Delta: Sabuniye, al-Mina and Seleukeia Piera.  After a hiatus of more than sixty years, the Delta has once again become the focus of archaeological research, with the launching of The Orontes Delta Survey in 1998, initiated as part of the Amuq Valley Regional Project.  The fundamental purpose of the survey is to document the existing archaeological and historical records, and to determine the settlement patterns for the Delta region.  This paper will present the results of the past four field seasons, conducted between 1998 and 2001, which have relocated and refined the settlement histories of Al Mina, Sabuniye and Seleukeia Pieria.  Particular attention will be given to Seleukeia Pieria, founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 B.C.E., which gained prominence as the seaport for Hellenistic and Roman Antioch.  To date, the survey of Seleukeia Pieria has documented numerous architectural remains of the ancient city, including the interıor and exterior harbors, the Titus-Vespasian tunnel and dam system, the necropolis, the agora, a Doric temple, the theater, the water supply system, and it has outlined the fortification walls and gates of the ancient city.

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A38) Archaeology of the Roman Period: Archaeology of Qumram

Katharine Galor, Brown University, and Jürgen Zangenberg, University of Wuppertal, Germany, Presiding,

169) Jean-Baptiste Humbert, École Biblique et Archéologique Francaise, Jerusalem,
Qumram Architecture and History

      Within the framework of Qumran studies, scroll research has overshadowed archaeological research.  The complete archaeological documentation of the site is currently in the process of study and publication; the available data had not been truly considered previously.  The available documentation, meanwhile, could easily initiate the process of differentiation between the successive occupants of the site.  The goal of my research is to articulate the architectural development of the site and to relate it to historical events, through the available stratigraphic evidence.

1. The original occupation is limited to a square structure, obvious from a reading of the site plan, visible within the midst of the general complex.  This must be a Hasmonean structure, an intuition confirmed by internal organization and several architectural elements.  The original building reflects the mode of living of a partician family of that era.  Its internal distribution was, in a later phase, significantly adapted to a sectarian way of life.
2. Around the original Hasmonean nucleus, several successive installations were added over time.  Defining the phases of several distinctive spatial expansions, and their respective functions, will help to determine or identify the successive occupants at Qumran during its two centuries of existence.  The available stratigraphic data allows us to distinguish between various phases of occupation that followed one another without interruption.  Those phases do not correspond exactly to the periods Ia, Ib, II and III identified by R. de Vaux.  Furthermore, the chronology proposed in the 1960s needs to be reexamined and corrected in light of recent excavations at contemporary sites in the region.  The reassessment of Qumran's architecture follows in the path of the reassessment which has been done for the site's pottery.

170) Mireille Bélis, École Biblique et Archéologique Francaise, Jerusalem,
The Workshops of Ain Feshka: A New Hypothesis

      R. de Vaux excavated Aïn Feshkha in 1956 and 1958. As soon as he discovered a system of channels and of vats located in the northeastern corner of the site, apart from the main building, he identified these installations as workshops devoted to an industrial use, preparation and treatment of the animal skins for the Qumrân scriptorium. He took samples and had them analysed but didn’t get the conclusive results he expected, since they contained no traces of tan. Nevertheless, he never abandoned his theory of a tannery, even if he expressed the wish that some other interpretation be proposed. Nearly fifty years later, no satisfactory hypothesis has been suggested. The question remains to determine the industry the complex was devoted to. Was there any link between it and any of the archaeological artifacts discovered in the Qumrân settlement, in its caves or those of the cliffs?
      My purpose is precisely to re-examine closely the architectural features of the workshops and their water system , in order to express a new interpretation of the whole area, based upon de Vaux’s notes de chantier and illustrated by unpublished photographs taken during the excavations and belonging to the Ecole Biblique’s collections.

171) Yizhar Hirschfeld, Hebrew University,
Qumram, Ein Feshka, and the Perfume Industry of Judaea during the Reign of Herod the Great

      In the Herodian stage of construction at Qumran, large wings, primarily in the west and southeast, were added on to the central fortified structure from the Hasmonean period. Various installations were discovered in these wings, such as ovens and soaking pools, which characterize the perfume industry. At the same time, an estate manor was built at Ein Feshkha south of Qumran, and next to it an installation that was also probably used in the production of perfume essences. Similar installations were found on the royal estate of the Hasmonean and Herodian winter palaces in Jericho, as well as at Ein Gedi and Ein Boqeq along the western shore of the Dead Sea.
      The demand for perfumes in Rome was great, and Herod understood the economic value of this industry. To this end, the king established a new and sophisticated port in Caesarea and prepared two roadways from the Dead Sea area to Caesarea—one through Jerusalem and the other through Sebaste. These were Herod’s perfume roads that gave him control, both in the means of production and in the mode of marketing.
      Thus, we should view the sites of Qumran and Ein Feshkha (which seem to have a common physical connection) in their context as important stations on the perfume route from the Dead Sea to Caesarea. The owner of these sites, who probably lived in Jerusalem, was a member of the ruling class in Judaea, a relative or close friend of the king himself, who enjoyed the prosperity that the kingdom of Judaea offered him during the reign of Herod the Great.

172) Yuval Peleg, Israel Antiquities Authority,
New Israeli Excavations at Khirbet Qumram (1993, 1996–2002)

      In 1993, 40 years after R. de-Vaux excavated at Qumran, renewed excavations commenced revealing important new discoveries. The excavations were carried out in 1993, and from 1996 to 2002 under the supervision of Dr. Itzhak Magen and myself for the Staff Officer of Archaeology in the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria. The main objective of this project was to re-examine the stratigraphy of this settlement. The results of these investigations will soon be published in the Judea and Samaria Publications series.
      Thousands of artifacts were unearthed, including numerous shards and complete pottery vessels, glass and stone vessels, coins that signified the various stages of the site, jewelry, ostraca and organic materials. Items found were from the Iron age and from the Second Temple period. In addition, parts of the main water channel were unearthed. Pottery workshops and installations for processing dates and balsam were also found. One unique find was complete pottery vessels that in many cases were filled with animal bones. Several storage jars dated from the end of the second century B.C were found sealed, precisely as described in the bible as "tzamid patil" (Num. 19:15). The contents of these vessels are of organic origin, and presently being analyzed by Prof. Steve Weiner of the Weitzman Institute. This find establishes that the inhabitants of Qumran were already observing Halacha at this early stage.

173) Carl Savage, Drew University, and Richard Freund, University of Hartford,
New Insights on the Cemetery of Qumram

      The John and Carol Merrill Qumran Excavations Project of 2001, a joint project between the University of Hartford, Bar Ilan University and California State University, Long Beach, did a systematic reassessment of the cemetery of Qumran in July, 2001, with important insights on the relationship between the Qumran site and perhaps the caves. The first part of the paper will review the historical understandings of the cemetery from the 19th century through the De Vaux and Steckoll excavations. The second part will review the work done in the summer of 2001. Since part of the mandate of the license for this project allowed for an evaluation of already excavated graves and an assessment of other anomalies in the cemetery, the paper will analyze some new findings from the excavated graves and relate it to excavations which were conducted during December, 2002 in the area adjacent to the cemetery. The final part of the paper will examine some of the interpretations of the cemetery's relationship to the Qumran site and caves and then propose a variety of new insights on the relationship between the cemetery, Qumran and information in the Scrolls.

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A39) The World of Women: Gender and Archaeology

Beth Alpert Nakhai, University of Arizona, Presiding

174) Susan Pollock, Binghamton University,
Dressed for Death: Burial in the Royal Cemetery of Ur

      Feminist theorizing has emphasized the intertwining of gender with race, class, age, and other forms of difference.  These various forms of social difference are not simply additive, but rather transformative; in other words, the very meaning of being a gendered person may depend upon one's age, race, and/or class.  I use this insight in an examination of the treatment of the dead in the Royal Cemetery of Ur.  I argue that the ways the bodies of the deceased were dressed and adorned served, among other things, to represent gendered differences.  However, those representations of gender were shaped as well by other categories of social difference, in particular the social position, age, and household affiliation of the deceased person.  I suggest that the lavish displays that characterized some of the mortuary rituals in the Royal Cemetery were occasioned in part by the public nature of the ritual -- in an open area near the central precinct of the city -- and also by the burial of numerous individuals at the same time, which may have heightened the perceived "need" to mark distinctions among people.

175) Joe Seger, Mississippi State University,
Queen or Crone? Gendered Archaeology in an LB Tomb at Gezer

      Analysis of human remains is an important path by which to research gender roles in past cultures.  From burial styles and burial goods inferences can be made regarding gender treatment.  Details regarding sex differentials in respect to workloads, diseases, physical risks, stresses and rates of mortality can all be assessed.  Similarly, the skeletal remains themselves often preserve patterns of trauma, disease and/or workload stress that lead to better comprehension of gender specific conditions and cultural circumstances.
      An interesting case study in this regard is provided by remains in an LB IB - IIA (1450 - 1300 B.C.) tomb excavated by the presentor, during several seasons between 1969 and 1971, in Cave I.10A at Tell Gezer in Israel.  In central focus is the status and character of the last individual to be buried in the chamber, a tall, gracile female, who's complement of associated grave goods suggests a status that seems to conflict with evidence derived from analysis of her physical remains.  Was she a queen, as may be inferred from associated artifacts?  Or was she a more humble crone on testimony of her skeleton?
      Through review of the burial environment, in company with study and analysis of the associated artifacts and skeletal remains, this paper will seek to resolve this conundrum..

176) Jennie Ebeling, Hebrew University,
Bread Making as Women’s Technology in Ancient Israel

      Bread was literally the “staff of life” in Ancient Israel: a primary source of carbohydrates, it was the staple food of the Iron Age diet.  It has long been assumed that women were responsible for the grueling task of providing bread for the Israelite household, but little attention has been paid to the evidence for women’s control of the complex process of transforming cereal grains into bread.  In this presentation, I will use archaeological, ethnographic, iconographic, and textual sources to reconstruct the bread making process in the Israelite villages of the Iron Age, and suggest that women played the primary role in selecting and manufacturing much of the equipment required for this basic subsistence activity.  I will also suggest that the central role of bread in Israelite and later Jewish ritual may have originated in the women’s domestic cult of this period.

177) Joan Branham, Providence College,
Women’s Bodies as Sacrificial Sites in Christianity of Roman North Africa

      This presentation investigates the relationship of women’s bodies to Jewish sacrificial symbolism in early Christianity through a critical analysis of archaeological remains and literary texts from Roman North Africa.  A late-antique marble fragment from Numidia carries the inscription, “Chancel of the Virgins,” and throws into problematic juxtaposition a number of crucial features of early Christian worship, including gendered, sacrificial, and sacred space.  Having originally been part of a chancel screen, the stone inscription once played an active role in dividing, organizing, and labeling space within an ordered ecclesiastical structure.  But textual evidence and excavated remains from the fourth century point to chancel screens as powerful agencies of sacrificial ritual, establishing and classifying sacred space dedicated to the eucharist, the symbolic sacrifice of Christ on the altar.  The unmistakable object of this chancel screen is, however, a group of women--virgins. 
      The remarkable intersection of sacred, sacrificial, and gendered implications in a single material object provides the point of departure for discussing the relationship of Christian women—figured in Patristic texts as “separated,” “walled off,” “veiled,” “divided,” and “partitioned”—to sacrifice in early Christianity.  The critical analysis here seeks to interpret the virgins’ chancel as a strategic apparatus in the production of Christian categories of gendered, sacrificial, and sacred space.  The screen’s discursive and non-discursive mechanisms—inscribed authoritative text and physical divider—together with textual evidence, not only segregated these women, but helped to constitute them as objects of sacrifice.

178) Gloria London, Burke Museum,
Women Potters and Craft Specialization in a Pre-Market Cypriot Economy

      The origins of pottery craft specialization are assessed in terms of why women might choose to specialize in a high risk low-return seasonal industry.  Reconstruction of the production technique is a necessary component to understand the allocation of labor and overall organization of the industry.  Discussion of the role of women potters in prehistoric Cyprus in both pre-market and complex societies follows.  Craft specialization in pottery appears in neighboring countries prior to the second millennium B.C.E. and it probably did in Cyprus as well.

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A40) The Roman and Byzantine Periods: Cities and Other Settlements I

Theme: Studies on Caesarea Maritima, Israel

Avner Raban, University of Haifa, Presiding

179) Avner Raban, University of Haifa,
Introduction

180) Eduard G. Reinhardt, McMaster University,
Results of the 2000–2002 Underwater Excavations at Caesarea

      The goal of the 2000-2002 excavation seasons was to complete an east-west section (areas COA-COI) through the southern mole of King Herod’s breakwater in order to determine the method of construction and the relative position of structures (i.e. concrete and kurkar wall elements).  We wanted to test the hypothesis that void spaces were intentionally left during the construction of the mole in order to have them fill with sand from winter storms.  Once filled, the whole structure would have been capped with large ashlars encasing the sand-filled voids and preventing subsequent erosion.
      In order to place the detailed stratigraphic analysis in context with the rest of the harbor structure, we conducted a detailed magnetic and bathymetric survey of the harbor to map the extent of the hydraulic concrete.  The magnetic survey revealed that the concrete elements were placed on the seabed to form compartments that were later filled with sand.
      The magnetic and bathymetric survey of the area surrounding the harbor also revealed a circular feature (ring) off the southwest corner (water depth 8 m.).  The feature can be clearly seen in both the magnetic and bathymetric data and cannot be explained as a geological feature.  The feature is approximately 50 m. in diameter and 0.5-1.0 m. thick.  The results of the excavation probes (June 2002) to determine the nature of the anomaly will be presented.

181) Avner Raban, Recanti Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa,
“Brought from Afar and at a Great Cost”: Imported Building Materials for Herod’s Harbor Sebastos  

      A well known passage in Josephus (Antiquities 15.332, also Wars 1.414) has often been considered by modern scholars to be a reference to the use of architectural marble by Herod’s engineers.  Yet recent archaeological excavations have proved beyond any doubt that such imports did not predate the second century C.E. (the Hadrianic period).  During underwater research on the submerged features of Sebastos, we have identified other types of imported construction materials that Josephus may have had in mind.  These included timbers of European conifers, used for constructing the prefabricated “single-mission barges” and the wooden forms for the hydraulic concrete.  Also imported were not less than ten metric tons of Vitruvian pozzolana, the volcanic ingredients of the concrete itself, brought in from the bay of Puteoli or from the Cumaean coast nearby, and equally large quantities of hard limestone cobbles used for cushioning the sandy sea floor and making a firm foundation for the freestanding moles.

182) Kenneth G. Holum, University of Maryland,
The Octagonal Church on the Temple Platform: Architecture and Liturgy

      Excavations on the Temple Platform 1989-2000 brought to light an octagonal church built ca. 500 displaying several design features, e.g. northern and southern entrances, side rooms or chapels, that might be interpreted in terms of Early Christian liturgy.  Equally interesting from the liturgical perspective are remains of a bema, the raised platform on the east, presumably separated by a chancel screen.  Reserved for clergy, this space would have contained the church’s main altar where the eucharist was celebrated.  Further, a marble disk found in the excavations was certainly the base of the church’s ambo, or preacher’s pulpit.  20 cm. high and 1.62 m. in diameter, it had six attachment points for square posts or post bases that would have supported the ambo’s upper structure.  Finally, a plaster and cobble feature 1.54 m. in length may have been the sub-floor foundation of a martyr shrine in the common form of a sarcophagus.  It was located in the exact center of the octagonal hall, beneath the centerpoint of the dome.  Each of these liturgical features can be interpreted in the light of similar furnishings in contemporary churches elsewhere in Palestine and the Mediterranean world.  This will permit assessment of how the octagonal church functioned in the Christian society of Late Antique Caesarea.

183) Anna Iamim, Porria-Illit, Israel,
Building Early Islamic Caesarea: Evidence from the Temple Platform

      This is the third in a series of papers about the builders themselves.  The first two looked carefully and appreciatively at the builders of monuments: the pagan temple of the first century B.C.E. and the Christian church of ca. 500 C.E.  The church suffered a violent end; it is thought to have collapsed in the earthquake of 749 C.E., well after the Muslim conquest of Caesarea in 641 C.E.
      The collapse of the church left the people of Caesarea with both a huge pile of rubble and the opportunity to create something new, now under Muslim rule.  This paper examines the work of the builders on the Temple Platform in the eighth through eleventh centuries.  In the tradition of practical men, the Muslim builders made good use of the men and materials at hand.  Parts of the church walls were still standing among the rubble.  The builders scavenged those parts that were in the way of new buildings and left standing those parts that would be of use.  Then they proceeded to build according to their needs and their skill. 
      Caesarea, the international port of call, had disappeared, and so had Caesarea as a provincial capital.  The town was now a not-very-important stop on the way to conquest or to market, yet it was still a place of comfort and plenty.  The buildings of the early Muslim period on the Temple Platform conform to this image.  

184) Jennifer Stabler, University of Maryland,
Monumental Crusader Buildings on the Temple Platform: Design and Function

Remains from the Crusader phase of occupation at Caesarea have been in identified in many excavation areas.  This paper will focus primarily on the monumental buildings exposed on the Temple Platform between 1989 and 2000.  The remains consist of broad, deep foundations of vaulted halls surrounding a large courtyard on the west side of a central north-south street.  Other buildings include a large plastered room, perhaps used for industrial purposes, and a possible residence on the east side of the central street.  These buildings appear to be contemporary and associated with the triple-apsed church that occupies the southern sector of the Temple Platform.  The form and function of these structures will be examined in relation to other buildings of similar type from contemporary sites in the region.  Archaeological remains of Crusader structures and features from other areas of Caesarea will also be discussed and tied into the cultural landscape of the site.  These will include a cemetery to the south of the fortification wall, houses to the east of the Temple Platform, and a large vaulted hall in the northern sector of the Crusader city.

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A41) Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to Near Eastern Archaeology II

Theme: Biological, Social, and Political Approaches to Reading the Past in the Present

Susan Sheridan, University of Notre Dame, Presiding

186) Susan Ellis, Wayne State College,
Household Water Procurement in Ancient and Modern Egypt

      Ceramic usage has  a long, continuous history in Egypt.  As early as 2700 B.C. Egyptian art illustrates daily activities, including the use of pottery vessels.  This use continues unbroken from then until today in villages throughout Egypt. This paper examines the continuity of use of pottery vessels for water procurement, storage and use in Egypt.  The study compares water vessel use from ancient art to vessel use in three modern villages.  Additionally, it compares similarities and differences in water vessel shape. The purpose of this work is to identify a possible range of ceramic vessel forms usable for water transport, storage and consumption in ancient times.  In some modern villages, several different forms are used for the same purpose, e.g. water storage.  In other instances, the same vessel type serves several purposes. Results of this study indicate that there are a variety of vessel shapes that may be used for water transport, storage and consumption.  It also shows that, in some instances, there is duplication in tasks for a single vessel type.  Therefore, assigning specific vessel usage to ancient forms may be somewhat problematic.

187) Susan Sheridan, University of Notre Dame, and Dennis Van Gerven, University of Colorado, Boulder,
Bioarchaeological Reconstruction of Political and Economic Change in Medieval Nubia

      Nubia has been described as “the corridor to Africa,” connecting cultures of the Mediterranean and Sub-Saharan Africa.  This characterization reflects a geographical and behavioral dynamic that has shaped the politics, economy, and biology of Nubia’s ancient populations.  Analyses of human remains from the medieval site of Kulubnarti in Nubia’s Batn ‘el Hajar region illustrate the interaction of geography and political/ economic forces, and address the contention that state-level societies are predatory upon their peasantry. Interred in one of the driest environments on Earth, the Sudanese Nubian assemblage from Kulubnarti of over 400 naturally mummified individuals, demonstrates exceptional preservation.  Hair, nails, skin, internal organs, and intestinal contents are present for many individuals.   Intact cornrows, adults wrapped in burial shrouds, newborns with the umbilicus tied in twine, and even last trimester fetuses are preserved. 
The rich archaeological record for the site and region, textual remains for Coptic culture in Nubia, and the exceptional nature of the mummified remains permit a unique opportunity for biocultural synthesis.  Twenty-three years of investigation on these remains have demonstrated a pattern of improved health with political decentralization.   Infants and children in particular, readily demonstrate that this population experienced greatest stress during the period of political unification when they were a small contributing satellite to a centralized and distant authority.  Adult nutritional data, especially for the female segment of the community, further illustrate a pattern of diachronic change in health as the region shifts from political/economic unification to autonomy.

188) Maureen Basedow, University of North Carolina, Wilmington,
Toward a New Cultural Archaeology: Burial, Ethnicity, and Political Geography in the Anatolian Bronze Age

      Investigations into ancient ethnicity can be modeled on an approach characteristic of the New Cultural History, where contemporary and near contemporary sources are parsed for perceptions of sentiment, opinion, motive and mentality. This paper suggests that the equivalent archaeological sources are mortuary sites. In examining the results of investigations of Bronze Age burials in Anatolia, this paper calls on recent theoretical developments in Historical Theory, the Sociology of Death and History of Religion.
      It concludes that ethnicity - what separated one people from another within the Bronze Age cognitive landscape - is best defined as shared systems of practices and beliefs functioning as crucial cultural identifiers. This paper also argues that, comparable to the later Greek concept of ethnos, Bronze Age Ethnicity encompassed a very definite physical and political dimension. As a result, the contextualized funerary remains where these elements can be observed are essential to any attempt to define the political geography of the Bronze Age world. This suggests that earlier attempts to resolve these issues in Anatolia without reference to ethnicity - including the classic "Hittite Geography" monographs - are subjectively anachronistic and open to radical revision.

189) Robert Saunders, American University,
Writing the Present into the Past: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Archaeological Writing from the Near East

      Archaeology relies primarily on written publication to satisfy its professional responsibility to provide both the public and the discipline with accessible information regarding the past.  Publication of archaeological works from the Near East remains relatively unique because the professional obligation to provide access to information is satisfied in traditional academic periodicals as well as popularized magazines.  Diversity of publication style in Near Eastern archaeology benefits the discipline because it appeals to a variety of audiences; however, despite apparent differences, both academic and popularized writings of archaeology are embedded with particular perspectives and constructions of the past. Knowledge of the past is purportedly constructed through the scientific interpretation of material objects and analytical data, yet the act of interpretation is inherently subjected to biases laden with social, cultural, and political messages.  Incorporation of both personal and institutional biases is inevitable in the construction of the past; however, the resulting effects of social, cultural, and political messages proliferated through archaeological writings can be identified through critical discourse analysis.  Exploring the written presentation of archaeology in the Near East provides insight into how the construction of the past impacts current social, cultural, and political issues effecting the region.  This paper will examine archaeological writing in the Near East, from both academic and popularized publications, in order to identify the messages embedded within the writing and to determine how these messages act as indicators of contemporary social, cultural, and political issues.

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A42) Material Culture and History

Theme: Examining the Relationships between Text and Artifact

Lynda Carroll, Binghamton University, Presiding

190) Alice Petty, Johns Hopkins University,
The Meaning and Function of Terracotta Figurines: The Archaeology of Household Cult and Magic

      The subject of this paper is the anthropomorphic terracotta figurines of Syria, from the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age. As a class of objects, figurines are intriguing because they are common, yet poorly understood. They provoke questions: Who made them and why? What is their cultural meaning, and function? Figurines appear to have been an integral part of daily life for the people of the ancient Near East as early as the Neolithic period, and continue to be crafted and used for millennia.
      It has been suggested that these enigmatic objects are manifestations of Syrian household cult, that they are representations of household gods, or that they are vehicles of apotropaic or sympathetic magic. This paper looks at the available  textual evidence from Emar, Ugarit and Ebla regarding the Syrian cult of the dead, as well as the Neo-Assyrian material concerning magical rites which involve the manufacture and manipulation of figurines.  What is the relationship between household cult and magical rites? Can these texts illuminate our understanding of the identity, meaning and function of terracotta figurines? Do figurines play a role in these cultic and/or magical rites and rituals and if so, can this role be discerned or articulated?
      This paper argues that while the textual material regarding household cult and magical rites can provide a framework for analysis and discussion, the relationship between text and artifact is unclear, which may reflect the multi-vocality of the figurines in each period considered, and their changing role over time.

191) J.P. Dessel, University of Tennessee,
Vernacular Public Architecture in the Iron Age I: Archaeological Evidence for Rural Elites

      The social, economic and political organization of the rural hinterland in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of the Levant is poorly understood and based primarily on data derived from urban, not rural,  sources.  It is assumed that  rural villages  are closely tied to urban cores, but this assumption has never been adequately tested.   Recently excavated examples of multi-period villages in the southern Levant offer compelling evidence of a deeply rooted rural population with their own potentially autonomous social, political and economic structures. These types of villages display an unforeseen  sense of rural complexity and social stratification which suggest  the presence of rural elites. Rural elites are alluded to in textual sources such as the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic texts, and are well established in the ethnographic record.  Unfortunately, due to the limited excavation of village sites,  archaeological traces of rural elites have been very elusive.  
      This paper will discuss what types of material culture correlates can be associated with rural elites, with a special focus on the role of vernacular architectural traditions in the expression of social, political and economic differentiation. The sequence of construction, use and abandonment/destruction of rural public buildings can explain how  and when rural elites were able to articulate themselves and provide a more inclusive  political and economic context in which these elites were embedded.  In this way a more balanced understanding or urban-rural relations can be adduced.  Examples of  vernacular public architecture from Tell ‘Ein Zippori, Tell el-Wawiyat, ‘Ein  Hagit, and  Khirbet Rosh Zayit will be examined as examples of rural elite expressions.

192) John W. Betlyon, Pennsylvania State University,
Archaeological Evidence for Peace and War in Persian Period Yehud

      Reconstructing the history of Persian period Yehud continues to be one of the most challenging problems facing the historian of ancient Israel. The few extant texts contain little definitive “historical” material. Moreover, nascent Judaism in the period of the Restoration is hardly monolithic; differing theological positions exist side-by-side in the rebuilt Temple and the Jerusalem community surrounding it.
      Ezra and Nehemiah lead the reader to assume that Persian domination brought peace to the region. Phoenician economic and commercial interests in Egypt and the Aegean Basin brought trade to the Levant. Classical sources, however, speak of several revolts by vassals of Persia, including the massive Egyptian rebellion of the 460s BCE and several smaller, regional uprisings.
      From a methodological point of view, can archaeological research help the historian understand the political and military swings of Persian history? To what extent do the artifacts suggest periods alternating between peace and war? Do the excavated finds support the hints preserved in texts such as Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, and Ezra-Nehemiah?

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A43) Archaeology of Syria I

Mark Chavalas, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Presiding

193) Geoff Emberling, University of Michigan,
The “Niche Building” at Tell Brak and Political Ritual in an Early Syrian City

      Recent excavations at Tell Brak in northeastern Syria have made clear that it was one of the first urban centers in the Middle East, growing in size and developing in complexity at the same time as the large cities of southern Mesopotamia during the first half of the fourth millennium BC, but clearly independent of them.
      Excavation of a large structure of this date at Brak raises questions about the persistence of forms of political authority in the new city. The structure, called the “Niched building,” is a small tripartite house with a large courtyard containing large-scale cooking features. Fills in the courtyard contained an abundance of cooking vessels and an unusual faunal inventory, suggesting that the courtyard was used for feasting. Architectural elaboration of the courtyard—in the form of niched decoration on its interior walls—suggests that it was used by high-ranking persons, although the size of the interior space make clear that it was not used as a residence.

194) Michael D. Danti, University of Pennsylvania,
Third Millennium B.C. Monumental Architecture on the Syrian Upper Euphrates: Excavations at Tell es-Sweyhat (Syria) in 2000 and 2001

      Tell es-Sweyhat, a substantial site located on the upper Euphrates in an agriculturally marginal zone, provides an unbroken stratigraphic sequence for the whole of the Early Bronze Age.  The settlement, perhaps the ancient Burman of the Ebla archives, reached its apogee in the mid to late 3rd millennium BC, when the whole of its 40-50 hectares was apparently occupied.  For more than ten years, the University of Pennsylvania Museum has conducted archaeological research both at Sweyhat, comprised of a high tell surrounded by an extensive low mound, and in the surrounding region.  However, the majority of this work focused on the excavation of the low mound.  The 2000 and 2001 excavations, which involved clearing large exposures of the high mound, marked a shift in research strategy.  The excavations discovered three Early Bronze Age monumental structures: two large, solid mud brick platforms of the early and mid third millennium BC, and a structure that we have provisionally interpreted as a public reception hall of the late 3rd millennium BC.  The monumental platforms of the earlier 3rd millennium BC suggest a degree of sociopolitical complexity far surpassing our previous understanding of the formative periods of Sweyhat’s transformation from village to city-state, and indeed challenge current reconstructions of Syro-Mesopotamian sociopolitical evolution.  The late-3rd millennium public building, unearthed on the summit of the high mound, has provided a glimpse of the core of the city near the end of its occupation.

195) Michel Fortin, Université Laval,
The Canadian Expedition to Tell’Acharneh, in the Middle Orontes Valley (Inner Syria)

      Following a short season of soundings in 1998, the Canadian Expedition to Syria began in 2001 a programme of annual and complete campaigns on the site of Tell 'Achanreh, in the Middle Orontes valley in Inner Syria. The director of this project subsidized by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada will report on the discoveries made during the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
      According to some scholars, Tell 'Acharneh might correspond to ancient Tunip. If this equation is right, this site witnessed a series of historical events of great significance which tok place in the Levant between 3000 and 720 B.C. Results from the Canadian excavations will not simply be presented but also discusses against the historical background of the region.

196) Michael Fuller, St. Louis Community College,
Chronology and Material Culture at Tell Tuneinir, Syria

      Radiocarbon dates, diagnostic pottery wares, and coin evidence point to a fairly continuous occupation at Tell Tuneinir ranging from the ca. 2500 BCE until the Ottoman period with reoccupation during the 1960s. Results of 14 seasons of excavation are considered along with evidence from other sites within the Khabur River drainage system. Size, complexity and function of the site changed through time.

197) Aaron A. Burke, University of Chicago
A Chronological Typology of Middle Bronze Age Fortified Settlements in Syria and Palestine

      For the past three decades since the work of Jacob Kaplan archaeologists working in Syria and Israel have struggled to refine a typology for large, fortified MBA settlements. In the valleys and plains of this region Ebla, Qatna, Hazor, and Jericho have dominated the debate, while in the hills of Israel Shechem, Shiloh, and Hebron have also been examined. In the past, fortifications at these settlements have been described by examining sections of their fortifications, thereby illustrating the main elements in their construction. The primary elements were identified by Kaplan as the wall rampart, the freestanding rampart, and the glacis. These elements then served in subsequent studies as the basis for classifying each site’s fortifications. Although his analysis is useful for understanding the methods employed in their construction, this and similar taxonomies cannot adequately serve as the basis for a typology of MBA fortifications. This is due to the fact that the identification of the architectural elements of fortification systems alone cannot constitute the basis for a typology of fortification types. This is most evident from irregularities within the construction of the fortifications of a single site. Therefore, this paper will first demonstrate that the irregularities in MBA fortification construction were in fact constructional adaptations of each site’s fortifications to different landscapes. Second, it will demonstrate that despite these adaptations the overall plans of these settlements conformed to a set of well-defined defensive architectural strategies that appear to have been contingent upon the phase of the MBA in which its fortifications were constructed.

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A44) The Roman and Byzantine Periods: Cities and Other Settlements II

Theme: Cities in Israel and Jordan

Kenneth G. Holum, University of Maryland, Presiding

199) Achim Lichtenberger, University of Tübingen,
Foundation Myths of the Decapolis Cities: Numismatic and Literary Evidence

      Myths and traditions of the founding of cities in the Greek East of the imperium Romanum have been a focus of research since the pioneering work of Louis Robert, who combined study of numismatic, epigraphic, and literary sources.  Earlier, the local traditions of the cities had been largely unknown, but combining the different sources has afforded vivid insight into local histories and thus has provided us with information on the identities of cities subject to Roman rule.  This is especially true for the cities of Asia.
      For cities of the Near East, such an analysis of local traditions is also a desideratum.  The Decapolis cities are well suited for a case study because in their imagry and history they demonstrated their Hellenism, and yet they were placed in (and were part of) semitic surroundings.  Although it is hardly possible to construct such legends and myths in detail, hints of such traditions can be found for Hippos, Abila, Gadara, Capitolias, Scythopolis, Pella, Gerasa, and Philadelphia.  These legends are evident mainly in the civic coinage and in Byzantine authors not yet sufficiently investigated.  It appears that the legends originated in the Antonine period, coinciding with the Second Sophistic, when cities of the Greek East demonstrated their Greek origin and pro-Roman attitude in order to increase their prestige.  It is striking that sophists appeared also in the Decapolis cities, so we may gather that they were the promoters of such traditions.

200) Marion Brew, University of Colorado,
The Caesarea Tyche: Persistence of an Iconographical Tradition

      The Goddess of Fortune, Tyche, though not in the Olympian Pantheon and not found in Homer, was ubiquitous in the ancient world.  In Athens and other Greek cities, in the fourth century B.C., she functioned mainly as protector of cities, and her attributes included the mural crown, denoting city walls, and the cornucopia.  Perhaps the most famous representation was the Tyche of Antioch carved by Eutychides, a pupil of Lysippus.
      The Tyche of Antioch prevailed, with one important exception: the Tyche of Caesarea in Palestine, represented as an Amazon.  She first appeared in coins of Nero dated 67/68 C.E. and her image appeared on one-third of the mint’s production until it ended in 253 C.E.  Her iconography corresponds with the goddess Roma in the same period, and may represent the fact that Caesarea supported Rome.
      But why did the Caesarea Tyche persist?  When Hadrian dedicated a temple to Roma in Rome, he adopted the more serene Antiochene type, but the Caesarea Tyche remained an Amazon.  Her image appeared on one-third of the Caesarea mint’s coin production until it ceased in 253 C.E.  A statue of the Amazon type, dated to the second century, was found at the site.  The fourth-century Caesarea Cup, now in the Louvre, depicts Tyche as an Amazon standing in front of a temple, perhaps her own cult temple in the city.  Eusebius provides literary evidence for the cult of Tyche, relating that her birthday was still celebrated at Caesarea on 5 March 310 C.E.

201) Gideon Avni, Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem
The Urban Development of Northern Jerusalem During Late Antiquity: A Fresh View from the Necropolis

      Although archaeologists have discovered hundreds of tombs and burial caves,  the tombs and caves  have been overlooked as an indicator for the urban development of the city.  During the last decade, large-scale excavations have been conducted to the north of the Damascus Gate that have yielded new evidence about the largest urban burial ground of Jerusalem during the Late Roman period (second-fourth centuries C.E.).  The evaluation of finds from these excavations, together with the study of previous archaeological work conducted in this area, leads to a number of conclusions about urban development between and second and ninth centuries C.E.
      The spatial distribution of Late Roman tombs and burial caves indicates that the northern cemetery of Aelia Capitolina was located far to the north of the Damascus Gate and even to the north of the first century “Third Wall.”  These finds raise the question of whether the northern urban limit of Aelia was along the present-day city wall, as accepted by most scholars, or whether the line of the Third Wall was the northern limit.  During the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, a large network of Christian monasteries was constructed to the north of the Damascus Gate, replacing and partly destroying the Late Roman burial ground and extending the extramural urban area of Jerusalem further to the north.  The nature of burial also changed, from open-air cemeteries to burial within the limits of the Christian monasteries.

202) Debra Foran, University of Toronto,
A Late Byzantine Mansion on Madaba’s West Acropolis

      The Tell Madaba Archaeological Project (TMAP) began excavation of what was thought to be a series of Byzantine shops during the summer of 1998.  This particular area of the site (Field C) had been explored in 1980 by Fr. Michele Piccirillo.  At that time two Byzantine mosaics were uncovered, removed, and transferred to the Madaba Archaeological Museum.  The work undertaken by the TMAP has revealed that this was not a series of shops but a large secular structure, perhaps a mansion.  A wealth of material has been recovered from this area, including a large corpus of sixth/seventh century ceramics, fragments of a painted inscription, coins, and additional mosaic pavements.
      A significant amount of material exists that relates to the ecclesiastical aspect of the Byzantine settlement but little is known of the secular nature of the town.  The excavations on the west acropolis will undoubtedly shed light on the broader settlement of the Late Byzantine period.  This paper will synthesize the results of previous work at the site, while incorporating the results of the 2002 excavations.  This will allow a further examination of the nature and function of this building and its relationship to the rest of the Byzantine City of Madaba.

203) S. Thomas Parker, North Carolina State University,
The Economy of Aila, a Roman Port on the Red Sea

      The project aims to reconstruct the economy of the Roman port of Aila, now within the modern Jordanian city of Aqaba on the Red Sea, and to contribute to the on-going debate about the nature of the economy of the Roman Empire.  The research design consists of a regional archaeological and environmental survey of the environs of Aila and excavation of the ancient city to recover its history and artifacts relevant to its economy.  The regional survey (completed in 1998) revealed no evidence of an agricultural hinterland, suggesting that Aila was supported logistically from more distant sources.  Excavations over scattered areas have yielded a complete stratigraphic profile extending from the first century B.C.E. to the tenth century C.E.  Various literary sources document Aila’s role in the traffic of luxury goods.  But the project’s excavations have greatly expanded our knowledge of Aila’s trade to include many other types of commodities, such as fine ware pottery, glass, wine, and oil.  The excavations have also revealed that Aila was a center of several industries, including production of ceramics, metal, and shell.  Excavation has revealed much of the city, including the Byzantine fortifications, several domestic and industrial complexes, and a monumental mudbrick structure that may be the oldest purpose-built church known in the world, erected ca. 300.

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A45) Arabia I

Theme: Archaeology in Arabia

David F. Graf, University of Miami, Presiding

204) Saad al-Rashid, Deputy Ministry of Antiquities and Museums, Saudi Arabia
Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Its Protection and Conservation

      During the past three decades, there has been an intensive and extensive effort to record the pre-Islamic and Islamic historical heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  In the process, a comprehensive survey of the Arabian peninsula has been launched and 17 major excavations conducted.  Principal and prominent sites are now enclosed and guarded.  In some cases, the important remains of the art and architecture of these early periods has been transported to the National Museum in Riyadh for preservation, and are now on permanent display.  This includes a temple from Qaryat al-Fau, domestic architecture from Taymâ', and the lintel of the Thamudic temple at Rawwafa with its famous Greek-Nabataean Aramaic bilingual inscription.  In addition, the Ministry of Antiquities and Museums has implemented a number of policies and procedures for protecting is archaeological legacy.

205) Barbara Reeves, SUNY Buffalo,
The Gods of Hawara: Religion in a Third Century AD Arabian Town

      Hawara (Modern Humayma) was a small but significant community in the Hisma desert of ancient Arabia.  Originally founded by the Nabataeans in the first century BC the community later became part of Roman Arabia.  Soon after the annexation, the Romans built a fort on the outskirts of the apparently robbed-out and leveled Nabataean town.  A new civilian community (a vicus) subsequently grew up outside the fort.  Excavation in this vicus in 2000 uncovered a small third century shrine containing dedications to Romano-Egyptian deities (Jupitrer Ammon and Serapis) and a betyl serving as the anticonic representation of a Nabataean god.  These finds have implications for the religious and social climate of third century Hawara.  The relationship of the betyl to other Nabatean betyls and its orientation to the mountains suggests it may represent Hawara, the patron deity of the community.  Together with Jupiter Ammon, the patron deity of the legionary vexillation, and Serapis, a divinity from the legion’s homeland, these three gods protected the civilian and military inhabitants of third century Hawara. 

206) Juris Zahrins, Southwest Missouri State,
Networks Across the Rub al-Khali

     The world's largest continuous sand desert has often been described as "impassable", "forbidding", "too great of a challenge to cross" etc.  Archaeological work to the north of the desert in Eastern Saudi Arabia, south of the desert in northern Dhofar/Mahra Governate however suggests that routes across the desert originated in the Neolithic and were in force throughout the suceeding Bronze Age.  What was the case for the Iron and Islamic periods however?  Evidence from the desert itself and both northern and southern regions will be used to suggest that crossings were known and undertaken with some regularity by indigenous populations.  Parallels to travel across the Nafud in the Iron and Islamic periods can also be shared.

207) Bill Glanzman, University of Calgary,
Beyond Pliny and the Periplus: A Reassessment of South Arabia’s International Commerce

      Most of the discussions concerning South Arabia in antiquity have focused upon biblical connections and Classical authors mentioning her role in trafficking aromatic substances. Relying upon those collateral sources, it is during the Hellenistic and Roman periods that we begin to envision the value placed upon specific commodities desired by the Mediterranean world, yet our view of South Arabia is incomplete. Traditionally, the inscriptional and archaeological evidence from within South Arabia have largely been ignored in these discussions. Several recent presentations blend newly discovered archaeological data into the picture, although a synthesis has yet to appear. This paper focuses upon South Arabia’s poorly known primary sources and incorporates data from both surveys and excavations. What now emerges is a more balanced view of South Arabia’s role in the international commercial network during the periods of Hellenistic and Roman domination and influence within the Near East. Indeed, we find commercial links with and a strong argument for the presence of commercial agents from Nabataea, Palmyrene, Persia, India and beyond.

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A46) Archaeology of Jordan

Bruce Routledge, University of Pennsylvania, Presiding

208) Zakariya Badhann Naimat, Yarmouk University,
The Environmental Impact on the Funerary Practices in the Early Bronze Age Southern Ghors of Jordan

      This paper explores the similarities and differences in Early Bronze I (EBI) tomb architecture in the Southern Ghors of Jordan (SGJ).  Extending along the southeast shore of the Dead Sea, the SGJ bears a unique environmental and geological context.  Recent archaeological explorations reveal three extensive EBI cemeteries: Bab-edh-Dhra, an-Naqe (Safe), and Feifa.  The distinctions between tomb types in these cemeteries are particularly conspicuous.  To date, three distinct types of tomb architecture have been identified: the shaft tomb, the cist tomb, and the well-built chamber tomb.  However, variations in the tombs' material culture and internment patterns between these sites are less salient.  After reviewing the evidence, I argue that variations in the geological contexts of these cemeteries explain these similarities and differences in EBI funerary practices.

209) J.S. Illingworth, Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute,
Early Bronze Age Perishables and Perishable Construction Technology from the Southeastern Dead Sea Plain

      Excavations at the Early Bronze Age sites of Bab edh-Dhra‘ (EBI-IV) and Numeira (EBII-III), both on the Jordanian Dead Sea Plain, have produced nearly 11,000 specimens of textiles, cordage, and basketry impressions, as well as 74 implements associated with perishable production.  Analysis of these materials shows a very complex in situ weaving technology with the presence of small scale textile "factories" or "mills," a possible correlation between certain perishable production activities and religious precincts, and clues  to both living and mortuary dress. Additionally, analyses suggest that the nature of textile production differed between these two sites and that textile manufacture at both sites is fundamentally different from previous models which often consider textile production from this region to be very similar to that of contemporaneous Egypt.

210) Suzanne Richard, Gannon University, Jessie C. Long, Lubbock Christian University, and Paul Holdorf, Khirbet Iskander Expedition,
Vestiges of Early Bronze Age Urban Traditions: The Final Report on the Khirbet Iskander EBIV Gateway

      The "Gateway" in Area C at Khirbet Iskander gives us a rather remarkable lens through which to glimpse a fairly sophisticated Early Bronze IV community. The site is strategically located at a crossing of the ancient "King's Highway," just a half dozen kilometers north of the Wadi Muhib.  With recent excavations revealing Khirbet Iskander to have sub-stantial fortified remains from the urban EB II-III period, we have a view of a city population that survived the demise of the urban period fairly intact.  Three well-stratified, superimposed EB IV settlements, including the wonderfully preserved uppermost, Phase 3, "Gateway," provide the evidence for sociocultural complexity continuing post-urban collapse to the end of the period.  Thus, the completed volume on the Area C excavations sets forth a view of the last vestiges of Early Bronze Age urban traditions, as seen from the Central Transjordanian Plateau.  Utilizing conclusions of the specialist reports on the flora, fauna, geomorphology, and ceramic, lithic, and stratigraphic materials, as well as comparative analysis, this paper seeks to assess 1)the site of Khirbet Iskander in its regional and southern Levantine context and 2) the impact of Khirbet Iskander on Early Bronze IV studies.

211) Meredith S. Chesson, University of Notre Dame,
Rethinking EBIV Abandonment and Collapse: Excavations at Khirbet el-Minshalat, Jordan

      From a century of previous research, we know that the Early Bronze Age (EBA, c. 3600-2000 B.C.) encompasses a cycle of urbanization and ruralization, in which we witness the settlement of EB I-III walled communities throughout the region and the subsequent abandonment of many of these settlements during the EB IV.  Researchers have proposed many models for understanding the demise of EB III society and the nature of EB IV society; traditionally the EB IV has been understood as a "Dark Age", with the collapse of society involving the widespread adoption of rural lifeways of farming and herding.  However, Miller’s survey on the Kerak Plateau demonstrate a remarkable continuity of settlement during the EB III-IV transition.  Excavations at Khirbet el-Minsahlat, located on the Kerak Plateau, focus on reevaluating this model of collapse and abandonment. This paper presents preliminary results from the 2001 and 2002 seasons at Minsahlat, and the implications for reevaluating our understanding of EB IV society.  

212) Robert Chadwick, McGill University,
Syrian Gate Architecture and the Six-Chambered Gate at Khirbet al-Mudayna, Jordan

      Gates were the focal point of cities and towns throughout the ancient Near East and were essential for their defense and economic success. In 1996 a six-chambered city gate was unearthed at Khirbat al-Mudayna, Jordan. Among the gate's interesting features are a pair of stone benches along both sides of a central street, a street drain which appears to continue outside the main gate entrance, the base of at least one free-standing tower, in addition to  two standing stones (massebôt) near the gate entrance.  Many of these elements can be found associated with Iron Age gates in other parts of Syria-Palestine. After outlining the major architectural characteristics of Iron Age gates and how they differ from earlier Bronze Age gates, this paper will examine gate structures from two regions of the ancient Near East; northern Syria in the areas between the Orontes and the upper Euphrates, and Jordan (specifically Moab), near the Dead Sea. A comparison of building materials, gate plans and gate use strategies, plus architectural features and iconography, will be made and the distinguishing features of gates from each area will be examined.

213) Benjamin W. Porter, University of Pennsylvania,
Beyond the River, Beyond the Empire? Assessing the Local and Imperial Economic Administration of the Central Jordan Valley during the Persian Period

      Once considered a political and economic interlude between the Babylonian and Hellenistic Empires, the Persian Period (circa. 539-332) in Transjordan is growing increasingly recognizable thanks to carefully excavated occupational strata and material culture.  The evidence is now sufficient to begin broad regional investigations into the nature of the period's political and economic administrative practices.  This paper focuses on excavated evidence from the Perisan period occupation in the Central Jordan Valley, investigating how and to what extent this region was organized to facilitate production for local and imperial economies during the Persian Period.  Complementing this discussion are historical sources that facilitate the reconstruction of Achaemenid imperial strategies from other satrapies in their domain; these strategies are then tested against the material evidence from the Jordan Valley.  Following this analysis, a broader anthropological awareness of the evolutionary category of "empire" is put forth, arguing that such multifarious social phenomena are best pursed through concurrent investigations at both local and imperial resolutions that are sensitive to spatial and temporal changes in the archaeological and historical records.

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A47) Archaeology of Syria II

Brian Schmidt, University of Michigan, Presiding

214) Nancy Serwint, Arizona State University,
The Terracotta Sculptural Corpus from Tell Halif

      During the excavation seasons of 1992, 1993, and 1999 a significant body of terracotta sculpture was recovered from the site of Tell Halif, located in southern Israel at the juncture of the Judaean hills and the northern Negev.  Fragmentary in nature and derived from a disturbed context, stylistically the material dates primarily to the Persian Period.  Numbering over 750 objects, the size of the corpus is substantial and supplements the relative dearth of comparable material known from ancient Palestine.  Pre-publication analysis of the Tell Halif sculpture focuses on an assessment from three different parameters--typological groupings, manufacturing strategies, and stylistic considerations.  Examination of the material from a multi-dimensional perspective has already revealed a diversity of sculptural and iconographic representations, certainly reflecting an unexpected range of figural types; multiple techniques used in sculptural production, clearly suggesting a range of artisans of varied skilled levels; and a gamut of styles, informing that the sculpture was likely derived from different local as well as foreign traditions.

215) Andrew McCarthy, University of Edinburgh,
Excavations at Tell Jerablus, Tahtani, North Syria

Abstract not available.

216) Graham Philip, University of Durham,
The Archaeological Landscape of the Orontes Valley

      Large parts of Syria still lack systematic datasets from archaeological survey.  This paper employs a case-study to consider the relationship between field methods and the nature of survey results in the upper Orontes Valley.  Data obtained by a combination of remote sensing, purposive survey and systematic sampling during four seasons of fieldwork (1999-2002) by the Syrian-British project Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region are used to examine the natural and anthropogenic landscape.  In addition to recording ancient settlements, the project has looked at agricultural and water management infrastructure, which can be used to chart the balance between natural and anthropogenic aspects of the landscape at different points in the past. 
      The project area includes sample units within three quite different environmental zones; marls, valley alluvium and basalt plateau.  It thus offers a unique opportunity to investigate the nature of the archaeological record in adjacent but contrasting environments.  While the presentation reviews the main patterns of activity now emerging for each period, this is done in the light of a consideration of the salient characteristics of the archaeological record in each zone.  In this way it is possible to address the way in which particular forms of human activity generate quite different archaeological signatures under contrasting environmental and geomorphological conditions. 

217) Baruch Margalit, Haifa University,
Nixing Nightmares: A New Look at the Arslan Tash Incantations

Abstract not available.

218) K. Lawson Younger Jr., Trinity International University,
The Ancient Syrian Deity Kura

      The discovery and publication of the Phoenician inscription from Cebel Ires Dagi raises again the question of the identity of a deity named B`l kr -- previously known in Phoenician only from a small four-sided gray marble bowl or mortar from Sidon.  The term kr has been interpreted as "pasturage" or "furnace."  But in light of growing evidence from Ebla and elsewhere, it appears that kr should be identified with the Syrian deity Kura.  This paper will present a synthesis of the possible attestations of this deity and argue that this best explicates the Phoenician occurrences.

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A48) Ancient Mediterranean Trade

Eric Cline, George Washington University, Presiding

219) Michal Artzy, University of Haifa,
Entrepot at Work: News from Tell Abu Hawam

      One of the better known Eastern Mediterranean sites is no doubt, Tell abu Hawam, an anchorage situated on the estuary of the Qishon River, north of the Carmel Ridge, in modern Israel. Hamilton studied it in a salvage excavation in the 20Õs, after which it was relegated by the British mandate for industrial usage.  It remained to Balensi, following a study of its remains, to excavate and show that parts of it still existed in the 80Õs. However her archaeological explorations in conjunction with geological studies, carried out by Raban and Galanti, were limited to areas, not fully covered by modern construction.  From these studies as well as historical maps Balensi tried to envision the site in its ancient environment.
      In 2001, an opportunity arose to excavate some limited area, in the northern aspect of Tell abu Hawam, under a major road, which has never before been investigated.  Several 5 x 5 meter metal caissons were placed in the area to combat the high ground water table and the excavations could proceed well below Sea Level. The results of the investigation contribute greatly to the understanding of this important site. Data pertaining to the actual size of the site, its environmental situation especially its international connections in the 2nd part of the Late Bronze Age are to be presented in this paper.

220) Louise Hitchcock, UCLA,
“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before the kings”: Exploring Interconnections in Aegean and Levantine Architecture

      This paper summarizes the results of a five month field project exploring the relationships between the architecture of Cyprus, the Aegean, and the Levant (Canaanite, Philistine, and early Israelite) from the Middle Bronze Age through the Early Iron Age. These relationships might be categorized in terms of formal plan and design, technical, construction technique, and/or functional similarities (i.e. use of altars). In all, sixteen features and thirty different sites were examined. Some of the more notable features and practices include aniconic religious images such as baetyls, pillars, and massebot (standing stones); bench shrines, cult rooms, "sacred economy," hearths, extra-urban sanctuaries, horned altars, "mason's marks," use of painted plaster, free-standing and twin shrines, town planning, tripartite pillar buildings, clay tubs, and ashlar masonry. In some instances it was not possible to assign an origin to particular features or practices, which might be understood as part of a broader east Mediterranean cultural network.
      It was determined that the study of cultural interconnections requires a historical approach acknowledging multiple and varying types of contact appropriate to varying social and political circumstances and upheavals. These circumstances include the emergence of, ongoing changes in, and ultimate destruction of monumental architecture on Crete, Thera, the Greek Mainland, and Cyprus. Small groups of skilled workers that became refugees in the multiple disasters occurring in the Aegean throughout the second millennium may have sought out new patronage for their expertise in Cyprus and the Levant. Their value is alluded to in the title quote (Proverbs 22: 29).

221) Carol Bell, University College London,
Intra-regional Variation in Long Distance LBA Trading Relationships on the Northern Levant Coast—The Key to Site Survival?

      Attempts to synthesize patterns of Late Bronze Age/Iron Age trade on a regional scale are rare for the northern Levant. Fine-grained excavation data exist for individual sites, but few attempts have been made to model intra-regional variation in long distance trading relationships for this critical period from the detailed archaeological evidence. This paper considers the published imported ceramic corpus (Mycenaean and Cypriote wares) from comparable contexts within three coastal sites in the northern Levant, Ugarit (the tell of Ras Shamra), Tell Sukas and Sarepta, for evidence of differences in the patterns of trade within this region in the period leading up to the widespread destructions of sites in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age.  Ugarit's role as the major port of trade between the Hittite and Egyptian empires came to an end after its destruction early in the 12th Century BC. One of the most flourishing cities in the Eastern Mediterranean literally ceased to trade. Tell Sukas was also destroyed, but was rebuilt with little delay. Sarepta, on the other hand, was spared destruction and its stratigraphy continues smoothly into the Iron Age without break. Quantitative analysis of the imported pottery evidence will be used to investigate whether the contrasting fates of these coastal settlements on the northern Levant may reflect different trading relationships for importing ceramics during the Late Bronze Age.

222) Margaret Serpico, University of London,
Egypt’s Role in the Oil Trade of the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean

      Vegetable oils were one of the organic products widely transported in during the Late Bronze Age. Textual evidence from Egypt provides much information on this trade but several significant questions remain. One vexing problem is the lexicography of the likely sources. Several oil names are known from Egyptian texts, such as b3k and nhh, but the botanical identities of these products have been difficult to establish. In addition, it is clear that the technology of the oil industries of the eastern Mediterranean changed during this time, with potentially notable implications for regional production. Also of interest is Egypt’s choice to import oils, although sources were available internally.
      This paper will combine the archaeological, textual and pictorial evidence to study the oil trade in the eastern Mediterranean. In particular, recent research into the Canaanite amphorae used to transport oils in the eastern Mediterranean can help shed considerable light on the oil industry. With the help of this project, it is now possible to study in greater detail the industrial centers of production, the administration and transport of oils, the availability of supplies, the level of demand, and the geographical distribution of these products during this time period.

223) Anton Jansen, Brock University,
For Trade of Defense against Eastern Invaders: The Isthmian Wall

      Various theories about the collapse of Mycenaean Greek civilization and its association with the disruptions throughout the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze age have been suggested. One of the earliest involves invaders from the east attacking the Mycenaean world. Evidence for a wall dating to this period at the Isthmus of Corinth has been used to provide archaeological support for a Mycenaean response to such an attack. The status of the Isthmian wall is thus important in any attempt to understand what might have been happening in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean in this confused period.
      One problem with the Isthmian wall is that from the time of its discovery there has been a dispute about whether we actually have the remains of a fortification wall or whether the remains can be better understood as a roadway. When the archaeological remains on the Isthmus are examined it becomes apparent that the best parallels we have for the Isthmian material are not walls but rather roads. The comparanda include factors such as construction technique, siting and associations with other Mycenaean features in the area.
      As a result it is far more likely that the remains at the Isthmus belong to part of a road which probably connected a Mycenaean center on the Isthmus with its hinterland. It cannot be used as evidence to support the theory of a unified response to an external military threat.

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A49) Arabia II

Theme: Nabataea

David Graf, University of Miami, Presiding,

224) Stephen Schmid, Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece,
Ptolemaic Influence on the Material Culture of Cyprus and Nabataea: Parallels and Differences

      Specific types of capitals found in Cyprus and in some other areas have been commonly designated as "Nabataean", as they display certain similarities with the capitals generally used by the Nabataeans. More recently, it is suggested that both the Cypriote and the Nabataean capital types may be traced back to prototypes from Ptolemaic Egypt. This hypothesis that argues for possible Ptolemaic influence on both Cypriote and Nabataean architecture and related fields will be investigated. For instance, both the famous rock-cut tomb façades of Nabataean Petra as well as the partially rock-cut and partially free built Hellenistic tombs of Nea Paphos on Cyprus seem to find close parallels in Ptolemaic Egypt. There are admittedly considerable differences in the political background and relations between the Ptolemaic kingdom on one hand and Cyprus and Nabataea on the other. However, striking parallels are nevertheless notable in the architectural decoration and funerary architecture in all three regions. Cyprus always maintained close relations with Egypt, and for some time belonged to the Ptolemaic kingdom. But the Nabataean policy regarding the Ptolemies was always confrontational in character, primarily due to their rivalry in domination over the long-distance trade in the Arabian peninsula and the Red Sea area. Nevertheless, the evidence of the probable exchange of artistic ideas and innovations would strongly indicate that cultural contacts were largely independent from this political or economic rivalry. This is further supported by the finds of Nabataean pottery and inscriptions in Egypt. On the other hand, no direct imports from Nabataea to Cyprus or in the opposite direction can be attested for the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

225) David Johnson, Brigham Young University,
A Nabataean Tomb Facade with Carved Faces from Wadi Mataha, Petra

      In 1997, Brigham Young University surveyed and began excavation of both prehistoric and Nabataean material from the drainage of a small wadi flowing into the main Wadi Mataha from the west, south of the Mughur al-Mataha ridge.  In 1999 and 2001, excavation was undertaken of a series of five small rock cut facade tombs in an alcove initial identified as Tomb Complex 10 in the 1997 survey. Tomb E, Site 5 on the north side of the alcove was partially excavated and produced a series of plaster and stone faces representing deities. Tomb A, opposite it to the south, is a larger tomb with an apparently heavily eroded facade. Close examination of the facade showed that, rather than being eroded, it was originally carved into a series of at least eight faces.  Three of these faces are clearly identifiable with deities associated with the cult of Isis; Harpocrates,(Horus the Child) with his finger in his mouth, Bastet, the cat deity identified with Artemis, and a figure with a single feather, probably Maat. This type of tomb facade, previously unrecognized at Petra, represents a new category of Nabataean burial as well as confirming the importance of the cult of Isis at Petra in the first centuries A.D.

226) Jonathan Ferguson, University of Toronto,
Madaba of Nabataea: An Historical and Archaeological Investigation

      During the late Hellenistic period, Madaba was briefly under Hasmonean control, but after ca. 76 BC, it came under Nabataean dominion for almost two centuries, until the kingdom was annexed by Rome in AD 106. Since 1996, the Tell Madaba Archaeological Project at the University of Toronto, has been unearthing evidence that illuminates the cultural position of the settlement on the edge of Nabataea. Far from exercising only nominal political control, the archaeological evidence shows that Petra and the southern Nabataean lands had clear cultural and economic ties with Madaba, as well as maintaining to some extent connections with its northern neighbors in Peraea and the Decapolis. Historical and epigraphic sources suggest that the pre-existing Arab identity of the Madaba area (including its tribal structures and semi-pastoral economy) eased its incorporation into Nabataea and later the Roman empire. The cultural life of this city on the edge of the Nabataean heartland will be explored further.

227) G.W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton,
Notes on Nabataean Onomastics

      The extent to which Nabataean names are uniquely Nabataean or simply part of a larger Semitic onomasticon remains a serious and unresolved issue, and it touches on the larger issue of a distinctive Nabataean culture. This paper will address some recent discoveries and arguments that have been advanced both to construct and to deconstruct Nabataean civilization. The objective will be to determine more precisely what it meant to be Nabataean.

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A50) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Archaeology

Gary L. Christopherson, University of Arizona, Presiding

228) James G. Schryver, Cornell University,
The Possibilites of a 3D GIS for Stratigraphic Analyses

      The last decade has seen an increase in the application of Geographic Information Systems to archaeological research.  Most of these applications have involved a regional or inter-site approach and have focused on processes such as predictive modeling.  More recently, a number of archaeologists and other researchers have begun to explore the possibilities for the use of GIS on an intra-site level for the creation of site-wide spatial information system.  One of the questions being asked is whether or not a GIS can be used to create accurate 3-D representations of both archaeological features and the context in which they were found.  The author’s work on the later stratigraphic layers at the site of Herod’s Promontory Palace at Caesarea Maritima has shown that site stratigraphy can indeed be reproduced in a 3-D GIS, which is capable of performing different types of intra-site analyses.  For instance, not only can artifact distributions be examined spatially, but other factors such as artifact date and type can also be queried.

      This paper will discuss in brief the methodology employed in the creation of the GIS and will focus on the capabilities and benefits of the system.  The major difficulties encountered along the way will also be discussed for the benefit of those considering creating their own intra-site GIS.  Most of all, this paper will discuss the benefits and capabilities of an intra-site GIS for stratigraphic analyses, even if the data are not collected with the creation of a GIS in mind.

229) Laura B. Mazow, University of Arizona,
Taken as a Whole: Intra-site Spatial Analysis at the Site of Tel Miqne-Ekron in the Early Iron Age

      Spatial distribution analyses of excavated artifacts have been limited by assemblage size and division of material culture into specialist categories. Distribution studies have been confined to investigations of single object classes or pre-defined categories of "luxury" versus "utilitarian", or "foreign" versus "local". At the site of Tel Miqne-Ekron in the early Iron Age, study has concentrated on the difference between the "Aegean-influenced" and "Canaanite-tradition" material culture. This focus has masked much of the variability in the data set.
      This paper will demonstrate the potential of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the organization and analysis of excavated artifacts and spatial data on an intrasite level. The advantage of a GIS is its ability to integrate multiple data sets, thus allowing the investigation of the composite assemblage. The artifact information can then be overlaid on an excavation grid or an architectural plan, displaying queries as spatial maps. In this paper, I will demonstrate how a GIS can be used to discern patterns of artifact distributions and to suggest relationships within the assemblage at the site of Tel Miqne-Ekron in the early Iron Age.

230) Michael J. Harrower, Ohio State University
Incipient “Neolithic” Water Management and Irrigation in Southern Arabia: GIS-based modeling of Sociocultural and Ecological Parameters

      Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses have recently become a part of heated debates between researchers who emphasize interpretative (idealist) versus ecological (materialist) lines of anthropological inquiry.  Although some contend that GIS invariably leads researchers toward quantitative evidence and materialist analyses, others point toward possibilities for new methodology that can better incorporate qualitative social and sociopolitical understandings.  This paper outlines efforts to develop an analytical methodology for modeling both social and ecological parameters of incipient water management and irrigation activities along the Wadi Sana drainage of Southern Yemen, as a component of the Roots of Agriculture in Southern Arabia (RASA) research project.  Although the massive flood-capture irrigation systems that supported Iron Age kingdoms in Southern Arabia have become a foci of recent research, far less is known of the comparatively modest Neolithic and Bronze Age precursors to these extensive, labor intensive systems.  I outline a GIS-centered approach for investigating these issues and evaluating the relative influence of social and ecological determinants of water management and irrigation activities.  This includes, 1) the application of LANDSAT and ASTER satellite imagery to investigate associations with environmental variables and landcover features, 2) the development of a digital elevation model (DEM) for GIS-based hydrological analyses, and 3) the incorporation of local and cross-cultural ethnoarchaeological evidence to involve cooperative, coercive, and perceptual aspects of construction, maintenance, and management practices. 

231) Sara Parcak, Cambridge University,
On the Uses of Satellite Imagery Analysis in the Detection of Archaeological Sites: El-Markha Plain, Sinai

      The combination of satellite image interpretation and surface survey and excavation offer a speedier and less costly means by which to identify potential archaeological sites. Concerning satellite image interpretation for El-Markha Plain (South Sinai, Egypt), a number of methods were used to identify potential sites for the South Sinai Survey and Excavation Project (SSSEP). The basis of these approaches assumed that, aside from modern agricultural holdings, the detected vegetation clusters in the Sinai desert should reflect mainly natural concentrations of moisture (e.g., palm groves and fertile wadi beds), and hence represent localities with greater promise for ancient site placement.
      Surface reconnaissance trips took place (2000-2001) in El-Markha Plain, during which the expedition re-located one known New Kingdom anchorage site and detected two new sites. Modern road construction has contributed to the destruction of these sites and sand and modern debris have most likely obscured others. By closely examining satellite images of western Sinai, one can examine specific routes taken by the ancient Egyptian expeditions to the mining areas (both the sea and overland routes). The summer 2002 season will be discussed in terms of the ground truthing results, as well as the problems encountered during the analysis of the original satellite images.  New directions for satellite imagery analysis in the region will be explored, as well as potential applications for North Sinai and the eastern Delta. Overall, the application of satellite imagery analysis to this region and other areas within Egypt promises a potential high yield for archaeological site investigation.

232) Scott A. Branting, State University of New York at Buffalo,
Developing Pedestrian GIS-T at Kerkenes Dag, Turkey

      The majority of prior archaeological transportation analysis has focused on a raster-based approach for modeling movement through a landscape.  However, in situations where all or part of an ancient transportation system are known a priori, a network-based approach can be used much more effectively.  The tools available within Transportation Geographic Information Systems (GIS-T) are a new way to address this issue within a network-based framework.  This paper presents the results of preliminary implementations of GIS-T within the large urban street network at the Iron Age site of Kerkenes Dag in central Turkey.  It focuses on walking as the primary mode of transportation and investigates the social dynamics that such analysis could illuminate.

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A51) Archaeology of People

Meredith M. Chesson, Notre Dame University, and Walter E. Aufrecht, University of Lethbridge, Presiding,

233) Kevin Gibbs, University of Toronto,
The Emergence of Pottery in the Southern Levant: Discourse and Identity in the Eighth Millennium BP

      For archaeologists working in the southern Levant, pottery has proven a valuable analytical tool for typological analyses. Yet pottery was also made in specific historical and social contexts, and we can learn a good deal about the people who made a specific corpus of ceramics if our analytical framework takes these contexts into consideration. The first pottery production in the southern Levant coincides with a major shift in social organization, from the highly aggregated interaction sphere of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B to the linear or dendritic system of smaller, more dispersed sites of the Pottery Neolithic. The beginnings of pastoral nomadism as a distinct economic strategy was a part of this. This paper suggests that the emergence of pottery as a new and largely unprecedented technology constituted a material discourse t