| go to Ann. Meeting page or session index | 2004
ASOR Annual Meeting |
| S A T U R D A Y S E S S I O N S | |
| A37) Hebrew Bible, History, and Archaeology Dale W. Manor, Harding University, and Daniel C. Browning, Jr., William Carey College, Presiding 154)
Jane Cahill, Hebrew University The Old Testament account of Jerusalem's transformation from a Jebusite city-state to the Israelite capital names and describes various constructions that were either incorporated, rebuilt, or added to the city during the United Monarchy; these include the citadel of Zion, the millo, the temple, and the royal precinct. While the location of Solomon's temple and the royal precinct can reasonably be surmised and even their appearance can reasonably be reconstructed based on excavated remains from other sites, neither of these features has been identified in the archaeological remains. Moreover, in recent years some scholars have asserted that archaeological excavations in Jerusalem have yet to produce any evidence of settlement in Jerusalem at the time of the United Monarchy. Although largely unpublished, archaeological evidence for Jerusalem's settlement during the United Monarchy does exist. Such evidence from the excavations directed by Yigal Shiloh on behalf of the Hebrew University, the Israel Exploration Society, and the Jerusalem Foundation establishes that at the time of the United Monarchy, Jerusalem was fortified, served by at least two subterranean water supply systems, and was populated by a socially stratified society occupying residential quarters both inside and outside the fortifications. The administrative and economic strength required to generate and to support the city evidenced by the archaeological record is best identified with the period of the United Monarchy rather than the subsequent period during which the rump state of Judah struggled to maintain its autonomy. 155)
Oded Lipschits, Tel Aviv University and Ronny Reich, University of Haifa
The site of Ramat Rahel, located in the western part of Kibbutz Ramat Rahel on
a hilltop (818 m above sea level) about halfway between the Old City of Jerusalem
and Bethlehem, was first excavated in 1954 and again in four seasons between 1959
and 1962 by Y. Aharoni on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel
Exploration Society, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of
Rome. The main discovery was a late Iron Age II citadel. Other remains dated to
the Persian, Early Roman, Late Roman (a Villa) and Byzantine (Church and monastery)
periods. The results were published in two volumes (1962, 1964). However, these
volumes contained only small-scale schematic plans which prevented any additional
architectural study. Recently, the entire bulk of detailed field plans was "discovered,"
which enables a re-evaluation of dig's results. 156)
Jeff Zorn, Cornell University In his 1913 and later excavations in the City of David, R. Weill attempted to locate the burial grounds of the Judaean kings following the hints in Nehemiah 3:16. He uncovered several rock cuttings which he identified as the Davidic royal tombs. Acceptance of these cuttings as remnants of the royal tombs has waxed and waned over the years. Most recently comparisons of Weill's cuttings to the fine late Iron Age tombs in Silwan and around Jerusalem have led many scholars to discount Weill's conclusions. However, evaluating potentially early Iron II tombs against those of the end of the Iron II may be a faulty comparison. If one evaluates Weill's cuttings against elite tombs of Syria-Palestine from the 2nd millennium they appear in a more favorable light. It is crucial to remember that David and Solomon needed to appear as legitimate kings to both their Israelite and Canaanite subjects, and many of their policies, including their burials, may be seen as efforts to appear as good Canaanite kings in the tradition of the Late Bronze Age. 157)
Anson F. Rainey, Tel Aviv University
The archaeological reports of the excavations of Beitin were examples of the worst
kind of "biblical archaeology." They did, however, give enough data to show that
Beitin is sitting on a major tell from the Bronze and Iron Ages. In fact, there
is no other site in the vicinity that can compete with it for stratigraphic representation
of the MB, LB and Iron Ages.
Billie Jean Collins, ASOR Director of Publications, Presiding 158)
Billie Jean Collins, ASOR Director of Publications 159)
James Weinstein, Editor, BASOR 160)
Sandra Scham, Editor, NEA This workshop focuses on how we get non-professionals to understand and appreciate our work. You may exit your graduate programs well versed in data analysis, interpretation or even some of the more complex modern archaeological theories. The hard realization awaits you, however, that a lot of what you will write will have to speak to audiences who are not necessarily interested in what you devoted the best years of your life to learning. In any number of different ways, from writing articles for publications aimed at non-professionals, like Near Eastern Archaeology, to preparing grant proposals to being interviewed by the Discovery Channel, you will have to be able to present what you do and what you want to do in clear and simple terms. Unlike scholars in many other academic fields, we have the advantage of having already engaged the public's interest. We owe it to them and to ourselves to get them to understand why they should continue to care. 161)
John Kutsko, Abingdon Press
A39) Content, Context, Contacts: Art and Artifacts of the Ancient Near East Eleanor Guralnick, Independent Researcher, Presiding 162)
Alice Petty, Johns Hopkins University
Style encompasses both tangible (formal) and intangible (conceptual) attributes.
The former includes aspects of visual content such as shape, iconography, techno-visual
factors, and a quality of expression. The latter includes the communicative nature
of the style in question, which may be gleaned via a consideration of the archaeological
and socio-cultural context in which the artifacts were manufactured, used and
discarded. 163)
Marian Feldman, University of California, Berkeley Much recent scholarship has called for contextual approaches to understanding the art of the Near East. Context itself, however, as a research construct, presents issues for the scholar. Rather than assuming context is an artifact awaiting discovery, it is better to consider it as a process contextualization which might be described in a more active sense as "framing." In so doing, contextualization becomes social action that is both constitutive and derivative. Moreover, it allows us to acknowledge our role in this process, that is, how we construe context as relevant, and the roles of past audiences. This paper considers contextual reconstructions and explores how their frames condition our interpretations of ancient art both positively (by enriching the field of analysis) and negatively (by predetermining the types of questions that get asked and the answers that are generated). To this end, two contextual case studies are presented. The first addresses contexts that change over time in an analysis of artistic continuity seen from the Late Bronze to Iron Age. While there are strong visual parallels between the two periods, the motival meanings varied according to the social and political contexts that distinguished the two periods from one another. The second examines contexts that shift across space through a consideration of Minoan-style frescoes in the Aegean, Egypt, and the Levant. Here, similar images and techniques served diverse purposes across multiple cultural contexts. 164)
Trudy Kawami, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation An unpublished ostrich egg vessel in the collection of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation presents a challenge to understand its function, its place of production, and its date. The use of ostrich egg shells as containers is well documented in Mesopotamia and Syria, the natural range of the great bird. The Royal Tombs at Ur dated in the mid-3rd millennium BCE yielded a notable example encrusted with an ornamental neck. This artifact and other related examples, however, were cups, not pouring vessels. The rhyton-like form of the Sackler vessel with its little animal head spout finds closest parallels on the Iranian plateau, not lowland Mesopotamia. A survey of both the material and the formal comparanda suggests an Iron Age date for the Sackler piece, and illustrates one mode of contact between the two regions. 165) Pauline
Albenda, Independent Researcher
Formerly in a private collection, The British Museum has acquired the clay plaque
generally known as the Burney relief. The plaque is now labeled "The Queen of
the Night." The plaque measures 49 by 37 cm. The figural composition consists
of a nude female figure, winged and showing talon feet, standing upon two recumbent
lions that overlap one another. She holds a ring and rod in each upraised hand.
At each side is an owl-like bird turned frontally. 166)
Eleanor Guralnick, Independent Researcher From Sargon II's Palace at Khorsabad there is a single example of cast bronze sculpture. There are also miscellaneous bronzes, particularly a finely worked emplacement for a door post. During three excavation campaigns, conducted by Paul Emile Botta (1843-1845), Victor Place (1852-1855), and Gordon Loud (1928-1936), many important fragments of bronze relief were excavated. Since the first two excavations were sponsored by the French government, these finds are now in the Louvre Museum. The finds from the Loud expedition were split between the Oriental Institute and the Baghdad Museum. Still others were reburied at the site. The bronze reliefs originally decorated palace and temple doors, and the standards that stood in front of the temple entrances. The reliefs include figures of men wearing highly decorated garments, animals and fantastic animals. A symbolic meaning has been attributed to the figural groups decorating the temple standards. The bronzes document the continuity of the Assyrian tradition of using relief decorated bronze to decorate significant doors begun during the reign of Assurnasirpal II. These bronzes also document the technical excellence of Assyrian bronzes of the time of Sargon. This technical excellence set the standard for bronze work in Syria and in Greece. A40) Prehistoric Archaeology I April Nowell, University of Victoria, Presiding Theme: Paleolithic Archaeology 167)
Leslie A. Quintero, University of California-Riverside, and Philip J. Wilke, University
of California-Riverside As originally presented and traditionally used, the term "Levantine Corridor" has implied a zone of migration and settlement of Lower Paleolithic peoples between Africa and Eurasia by way of the Levantine coast and Jordan Valley. Yet, research during the last two decades has established that the vast Pleistocene lake basins in eastern Syria and Jordan contain an abundant record of Lower Paleolithic occupation. In these Pleistocene lake settings, important Acheulian sites reveal much of the technology and adaptation of Middle Pleistocene hominids. These sites include Nadaouiyeh in the el-Kowm Basin of Syria; 'Ain Soda, C-Spring, and 'Ain el-Assad (Lion's Spring) in al-Azraq Basin of Jordan; and sites J-83, J-25, and J-92 in al-Jafr Basin of Jordan. Available data suggest that the hunting and butchering of large game animals was an important subsistence activity in these lacustrine settings of the interior Levant. This interpretation is supported by substantial handaxe assemblages dominated by up to 70 percent tranchet-sharpened bifacial cleavers at some of these sites, and by a faunal association at 'Ain Soda that includes elephant, steppe rhinoceros, equid, and aurochs. We report here our ongoing work at Acheulian sites in the lake basins of eastern Jordan. This work necessitates broadening both the definition and the perspective of the "Levantine Corridor" as a conceptual tool for addressing migration and settlement between Africa and Eurasia far back into the Middle Pleistocene. 168)
Gary O. Rollefson, University of California-Riverside In 1982 F. Hours excavated a collection of stone tools and debitage from a small spring mound called Hummal in the El Kowm Basin about 300 km NE of Damascus. The absence of bifaces clearly indicated a Middle Paleolithic age, but he considered that the low incidence of facetted platforms on the predominantly laminar artifacts to rule out a strict equivalence to the Levallois character of the Levantine Mousterian, which was found stratigraphically later at this site. To accentuate the different nature of the techniques and forms, Hours referred to it as the Hummalian Industry. Other examples were later found at four other sites, all in the El Kowm Basin. Until recently, the Hummalian Industry was not noted anywhere else, but in 1997 one excavation trench at the Paleolithic site of 'Ayn Soda in the Azraq oasis area of eastern Jordan produced numerous long and heavy pointed blades that resemble the published information from El Kowm. This paper makes a detailed techno-typological comparison and comments on the validity of the Hummalian Industry as a separate lithic entity. 169)
April Nowell, University of Victoria There has been a resurgence in interest in the emergence of behavioral modernity and whether or not symbol-based behavior is unique to anatomically modern humans or more widely shared amongst hominid species such as the Neandertals. Many recent studies have focused on the archaeological and fossil records of Anatomically Modern Humans in South Africa and Western Europe where new finds have impacted our understanding of the origin and development of symboling. This paper will compare the evidence for the emergence of symbol-based behavior in Levantine record with data from these other regions in order to better understand the nature and timing of the emergence of behavioral modernity. 170)
John Shea, SUNY Stony Brook Genetic and fossil evidence increasingly supports the hypothesis that Neandertals were a separate species from modern humans. Yet, in Southwest Asia between 45-130,000 years ago, Neandertals and early modern humans are both associated with Late Levantine Mousterian archaeological assemblages. This association suggests that Neandertals and early modern humans competed for the same "human niche" in the Levant during Middle Paleolithic times. After 40-50,000 years ago, modern humans dispersed through the Levantine into temperate western Eurasia, displacing and replacing all Neandertal populations by 28-30,000 BP. This paper examines possible reasons for the long delay in modern human dispersal through the Levant biogeographic corridor. The most likely explanation is that there were significant biologically-based behavioral differences between the "modern-looking" Middle Paleolithic humans from Skhul and Qafzeh and later Homo sapiens populations. Competition between Neandertals and early modern humans may have been a factor in the origin of these behavioral differences. 171)
Deborah Olszewski, University of Pennsylvania
Archaeological patterning from sites in the Wadi al-Hasa
is used to examine temporal trends during the Epipaleolithic. Early Epipaleolithic
occupations are found at Tor Sageer, Yutil al-Hasa, and Tor at-Tareeq, while Late
Epipaleolithic (Early Natufian) occupations are documented at Yutil al-Hasa and
Tabaqa. Radiocarbon dates from several of these sites provide a framework between
22,590 to 12,270 bp, uncalibrated. A41) ETANA (Electronic Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives) Workshop II: Hands-on Session for Participants and Project Directors James W. Flanagan, Case Western Reserve University, Presiding
S. Thomas Parker, North Carolina State University, Presiding
Part I: Nabataean Domestic Complexes at Aqaba
The Roman Aqaba Project opened Area O in the northern portion of the site, between
two known domestic complexes (Areas B and M). Nine trenches were opened in the
1998 and 2000 seasons to determine whether the Nabataean and Roman domestic complexes
in Areas B and M extended through this intervening part of the site. 173)Sarah
Morgan Harvey, Kent State University Area
B of the Roman Aqaba Project was originally laid out on a small mound in the northwestern
corner of an abandoned Jordanian military base, in the southeastern section of
the undeveloped "Circular Area" of Aqaba. It was excavated during the project's
1994, 1996 and 1998 seasons. Extensive horizontal exposure was problematic due
to intrusive modern military trenching. Thus, the goal of Area B was to obtain
a complete stratigraphic profile in both the E-W and N-S directions of the mound.
This goal was reached, except that frequent balk collapse precluded connecting
the profile between the central and eastern portions of the mound. 174)
Joseph Anthony Stumpf, Montgomery College The Roman Aqaba Project has revealed ample evidence from the time of the Nabataean Kingdom (1st centuries B.C./A.D.) to the Late Roman period (2nd to early 4th centuries). This evidence is largely of a domestic nature. Excavation in Area K revealed three major architectural phases from these periods: 1) from the mid-1st century AD, 2) the period around the Roman annexation of Nabataea (AD 106), and 3) mid to late 3rd century. These periods were characterized by mudbrick support and partition walls, stone paving, working platforms, hearths, clay-lined ovens and water channels. Associated artifacts are diverse and offer insights into the nature of the occupation. These include a Nabataean stamp seal, remains of ancient cloth and wood, and locally made and imported fine ceramic wares. Some features, such as a large pile of clay nuggets and a plaster-lined trough, suggest a mixed domestic-industrial function and the possibility of "cottage industries." It is not able that Area K seems to reflect a smooth transition from the Nabataean into the Late Roman period. This is in sharp contrast to three other contemporary domestic complexes in the northern portion of Aila, which witnessed a short period of abandonment around the turn of the 2nd century, then reoccupation. This coincides with the period of the Roman annexation of AD 106. This paper will describe those remains found within the later city walls in "Area K" and, based on these descriptions and utilizing parallels with material presented on other Areas of the site, will attempt to draw inferences about Nabataean and Roman domestic contexts. Part
II: Aila's Economy: The Implications of Ceramic Evidence
The Roman Aqaba Project recovered over 2,000 sherds of imported ceramic fine wares
dating to the Roman period (most from the late 1st century BC to 2nd century AD).
This number excludes a much larger amount of Nabataean painted and unpainted fine
ware, presumably imported from the vicinity of Petra. The vast majority (ca. 98%)
of fine ware imported to Aila from beyond the Nabataean Kingdom in the Roman period
was Eastern Sigillata A (ESA), apparently from the northeastern Mediterranean.
The project also recovered very small quantities of Cypriote Sigillata and Eastern
Sigillata B, the latter presumably from western Turkey. 176)
Cheri Williams, North Carolina State University
The Roman Aqaba Project recovered several hundred sherds
of Egyptian Red Slip (ERS) pottery, representing imports to Aila (modern Aqaba,
Jordan). Importation began in the 4th century and continued until the 7th century.
This paper will briefly review the ERS industry in Egypt and then consider its
distribution in the surrounding environs. ERS appeared in Egypt in the 4th century.
Production continued into the Early Islamic period. Hayes divided ERS into several
ware families, at least one of which was produced in the Aswan region. ERS was
presumably distributed throughout the Mediterranean world via the Nile, the Nile-Red
Sea canal, and overland through the eastern desert to various Red Sea ports. Recent
excavation of one such port (Berenike) yielded ERS from the Aswan region. ERS
might have reached Aila via any of these routes. The 4th century at Aila also
witnessed a dramatic increase in the quantity of Egyptian amphorae, which represent
by far the largest number of imported amphorae at the site. Thus one may suggest
that the ERS might have accompanied the cargoes of amphorae from Egypt to Aila. Bethany J. Walker, Grand Valley State University, Presiding 177)
Jaimie Lovell, University of Sydney The University of Sydney recently began a new project in the Wadi Rayyan (previously the Wadi Yabis) which focuses on the site of el Khawarij, originally identified in the 1980s by Palumbo and Mabry as a Chalcolithic site in the Wadi Yabis survey. In 2003 the first intensive field walking was completed and in early 2004 the first excavations commenced. The site was targeted for excavation due to its location within current olive producing areas and the existence of rock-cut installations which may have been associated with agricultural or horticultural production. The artefacts so-far recovered suggest that the occupation of the site dates to the very final Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age I. It is therefore suggested that occupation and exploitation of hill country areas may have been a significant feature of this transitional phase. 178)
Douglas R. Clark, ASOR, and Larry Herr, Canadian University College The 2004 excavations at Tall al-`Umayri further explored the early Iron I remains in Field A to understand how they related to the late Iron I buildings above. In Field B more rooms of the LB palace were uncovered and an attempt to find its northern edge was made. There was also an extension of Field H to catch more of the late Iron I cultic courtyard and to discern more of its unique functional aspects. Finally, more of a Hellenistic farmstead was uncovered in Field L on the southern side of the site. This lecture will present the finds from 2004 in the context of previous excavation results and will include the small finds as well as the architectural results. 179)
Chang-Ho Ji, La Sierra University This paper attempts to integrate the Iron I-II findings from the archaeological survey of the Dhiban Plateau and to reconstruct the Iron Age settlement pattern of the region. The 1996-99 fieldwork uncovered 421 ancient ruins, 59 of which were found with Iron Age pot sherds. Both Iron I and II sites concentrate in the eastern part of the plateau, while they are quite sparse in the southwestern quarter of the survey area. From an environmental perspective, the Iron Age sites relate to the rocky, barren plains near the rim of the plateau rather than the cultivated area of the central plateau. Overall, this pattern of Iron I-II site distribution is in harmony with the character of ancient remains dated to the Early Bronze and later periods. The Iron Age, however, is unique in many respects. First, the primary water source for many Iron Age inhabitants appears to have been the wadi systems near the site rather than cisterns. Besides that, Iron Age evidence is more likely to be found at urban centers as compared to Early Bronze and late antiquity evidence. Also, the majority of Iron Age cities seem to have been protected with defensive walls; Iron Age sherds tend to be absent or, at best, sparse at the urban sites without the defensive system. Both Iron I and II sherds are also linked with the watchtower-like structures probably built by nomads, yet the probability for Iron II evidence to be found at such sites is somewhat greater for Iron I. This may indicate a disproportionate growth in nomadic population during the Iron II period. Put together, in the Dhiban Plateau, the Iron I period represents the onset of the Iron Age settlement intensification since the density of human settlement tripled later in Iron II. The region was relatively sparsely inhabited in Iron I with a heavy concentration of population at several urban centers in the east. The number of new cities and watchtowers increased in the Iron II period, positing that the Iron II settlement intensification was the result of an increase in both urban and nomadic population in the region. Overall, the Dhiban plateau appears to have been more urbanized than previously thought with a somewhat even mixture of city dwellers and nomadic pastoralists in the vicinity. Farming activities were probably restricted to the small wadies in the immediate vicinity of the cities. 180)
P.M. Michèle Daviau, Wilfrid Laurier University Aerial photographs of Khirbat al-Mudayna show clearly that the entire area within the walls was built up. Excavations of the last two seasons have begun to uncover this Iron Age town. The discovery of a pillared building south of Temple 149 has revealed a new aspect of the town layout. Additional exposure of the south end of the tell now provide information on the Iron Age town plan and the character of the site. 181)
Martha Joukowsky, Brown University The
2004 Brown University Excavations at the Petra Great Temple will clarify our ideas
about certain features of the precinct. Excavations will be completed in three
main areas: The Propylaeum, The Lower Temenos and the South Perimeter Wall and
its Residential Quarter constructed adjacent to the southwest of the temple site.
We will explore each of these areas along with their material culture and present
as full a picture as possible of the now completed temple architectural plan during
the 14 phases of its existence.
A44) Theoretical and Anthropological Approaches to Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean Art and Archaeology Sarah Kielt Costello, SUNY Binghamton, Louise A. Hitchcock, University of Melbourne and Andrew McCarthy, University of Edinburgh, Presiding 182)
Anne Chapin, Brevard College
The frescoed images of boys and girls from LC I Akrotiri,
Thera, offer important evidence for the construction of gender in prehistoric
societies of the Bronze Age Aegean. The Xeste 3 fresco cycle, for example, provides
valuable information about the lives of the adolescent girls and women of Akrotiri.
The application of similar methodologies to the study of the boys and youths depicted
in Akrotiri, however, has yielded mixed results due to an uncritical reliance
on hairstyles as a determining factor in establishing the relative ages of the
figures. A review of the scholarship on the Boxing Boys painted in Building Beta,
the "Fishermen" in the West House, and the three youthful male figures in Xeste
3 indicates that little scholarly consensus on the approximate ages of the figures
in the frescoes has been achieved. 183)
Philip Karsgaard, University of Edinburgh The identification of ethnicity, culture groups and the movement of peoples in changes in the material record is a recurrent concern in prehistoric South-West Asian archaeology, and theoretically well-grounded approaches are still required if our newer terms like 'acculturation' and 'emulation' are not to become empty glosses of poorly understood processes. This paper will attempt to approach such issues using modified anthropological concepts of ethnogenesis or something like it with a cognitive underpinning of the understanding of culture and its material components. Ethnogenesis focuses on the creation of new identities arising from historically particular interactions, usually on a basis of parity, rather than on the dichotomies of 'local' vs. 'foreign' influences. Cognitive theories of the importance of material artefacts, meanwhile, encourage a move away from our monolithic culture groups to seeing culture as a series of shifting, recursive processes from material to mental and back again: a naturalistic paradigm which nonetheless holds out further hopes for the merging of processual and post-processual concerns. These approaches will be applied to a specific case of complex inter-regional interactions, the 'Ubaid period in Greater Mesopotamia, with a focus on the creative faculties of ceramics to foster new identities. 184)
Ömür Harmansah, University of Pennsylvania In the course of the Late Bronze and Early Iron ages, Near Eastern rulers developed cross-culturally shared strategies to structure the landscapes of their territorial states. One well-documented example of such practice was the demarcation of frontier territories with commemorative monuments of rock reliefs and monumental stelae. Assyrian rulers of the Iron age, from Tiglath-pileser I onwards, are known to have visited the so-called "Sources of the Tigris" during their expeditions and had their craftsmen carve inscriptions and images of their kingship (salam sarrutiya) at the headwaters of Birklincay in Eastern Turkey, in the mountains north of Diyarbakir. These events involved ceremonial banquets and "washing of the sacred weapons", as known from textual and pictorial representations dated to the early Neo-Assyrian rulers. Carving of rock reliefs at strategic locations are extensively known from the Hittite Empire, Late-Hittite states and the Urartian kingdom, suggesting that such commemorative practices were part of an inter-regionally shared royal rhetoric in Upper Mesopotamia in late 2nd-early 1st millennium. Taking Birklincay reliefs as a case study, this paper investigates commemorative building programs as material forms of social power and public performance. It is argued that rock monuments created places of social memory, which not only constructed narratives of imperial discourse about foreign landscapes but also generated places of localized spatial practices. Such symbolically charged activity was particularly essential in the socio-economically and politically contested marginal landscapes, such as the Sources of the Tigris, where was a desirable concentration of iron, copper and silver ores. 185)
Scott Bucking, DePaul University Since its inception, the discipline of papyrology has relied mainly on philological methods to construct meaning in the numerous papyri excavated from various regions of the ancient Near East. Little or no attention has been given to archaeological approaches to interpretation. At the root of this neglect has been the failure of papyrologists to see the texts as archaeological objects. As a contribution towards placing the discipline of papyrology on a sounder theoretical foundation, my paper will explore this fundamental concept of objectification and how it relates to making contextualized interpretations of the papyri. The key linking-concept is that of human agency: social actors creatively manipulate texts in particular spaces and such actions (as far as they can be discerned archaeologically) are critical to interpreting the texts. By situating the papyri within the complex network of agents and artifacts, they become part of the material context that structures social practices. This opens up important, new avenues of theoretical enquiry regarding the papyri, which will be explored in my paper. To help define the relationship between theory and method in papyrological practice, I will use a case study involving a Byzantine text excavated from a pottery workshop at Elusa in the Negev Desert. The case study will also illustrate the benefits of integrating philological and archaeological approaches to interpretation.
A45) Prehistoric Archaeology II Theme: Neolithic Archaeology Gary O. Rollefson, University of California-Riverside, Presiding
186)
Alan H. Simmons, University of Nevada-Las Vegas Recent investigations into the Cypriot Neolithic have revealed this period to be both far older and more complex than previously believed. There is now a pre-Khirokitia Aceramic Neolithic phase, the Cypro-PPNB, that bears some similarities to contemporary mainland groups. It seems clear that Cyprus was an integral part of a wider PPNB interaction sphere. Despite this evidence for the rich ritual behavior seen on the mainland during the Neolithic is not overly abundant in Cyprus. Some of the newly studied Cypro-PPNB sites, however, contain evidence for cattle, which previously have not been documented on the island until the Bronze Age. This presentation examines various models, including economic and symbolic ones, that may account for the early appearance of cattle on the island as well as their apparent subsequent disappearance until several thousand years later. 187)
Donald O. Henry, University of Tulsa The Early Neolithic site of Ayn Abu Nukhayla (14C dated to 8.5Kbp) is unusual for Middle PPNB sites of the arid zone in that it is considerably larger and shows more substantial architecture than others found in the hyper-arid settings of the Levant. Moreover, evidence for cereal cultivation and sheep/goat herding recovered from our research challenge notions that Arid Zone occupations of the period were tied to transitory foragers and that herding was introduced only later during the Late PPNB. In comparison to contemporary sites in the better watered Levantine Corridor, Ayn Abu Nukhayla is smaller and retains the round, pithouse structures arranged in the honeycomb pattern of earlier times rather than rectangular (sometimes two-story) buildings. In many ways then, Ayn Abu Nukhayla shows the blending of features typical of Arid Zone sites reflective of high levels of residential mobility and foraging with elements tied to the more sedentary lifeways of the PPNB settlements of the Levantine Corridor supported by farming and herding. Equally puzzling is the presence of indirect evidence suggestive of cereal cultivation given that barley farming is unreliable in areas receiving less than 300 mm annual precipitation. Even if moister rather than drier conditions existed during the period, such high moisture levels, some 6-10 times over the modern average, seem unlikely. Along with other general questions, these intriguing observations inspired a research design that emphasized a reconstruction of Ayn Abu Nukhayla's cultural ecology. Specifically, our research focused on gathering information on the paleoenvironment along with the subsistence practices, the demographic patterns, and the social dimensions of the site's inhabitants. 188)
Marc Hintzman, University of California-Riverside
As the Neolithic began, human settlement patterns, social
structure, and even the environment were in a state of dramatic change. As people
created permanent settlements, timbers were required for the construction and
maintenance of settlements (e.g., fires, plaster production, etc) of these settlements;
felling trees for this construction affected the natural environment. Generally
considered tools used for woodworking tasks, it could be argued that axes and
adzes played a major role in changing the Neolithic environment of Jordan. In
this context, axes and adzes may be viewed as "tools of change" and can be found
at the center of these events. 189)
Taryn Rampley, University of California-Riverside Analysis of the large collection of sickle blades from the Neolithic site of 'Ain Ghazal in Amman, Jordan, gives a diachronic view of harvesting behavior focusing on inferred hafting strategies of flint sickle blades. Data include observations of hafting residues, deliberate edge modification, and patterns of glossing and use wear of blades. The collection spans the period from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B through the Pottery Neolithic occupation of 'Ain Ghazal, and its study establishes changing hafting and reaping strategies which correlate with changes in the economic structure of the town.
Mark W. Chavalas, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Presiding 190)
Paul-Louis van Berg, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, and Marc Vander Linden, National
Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium
The Hemma basaltic Plateau covers approximately 1200 km2
to the North-West of Hassake. Its eastern border, surveyed on 25 km, has been
intensely settled during the four last millennia BC, as attested by the stone
basements of hundred of buildings from various periods and by 2500 carved rocks.
Both series are mainly found on the slopes of the Plateau and of the wadis which
crosscut it. Two main concentrations of carved rocks are observed in Khishâm-2
(500 rocks) and Kefra (1400 rocks). These are the first ancient rock art sites
systematically studied in Syria. 191)
Jason Ur, SUNY Stony Brook, and Philip Karsgaard, University of Edinburgh Excavation since the 1930's has demonstrated the importance of Tell Brak, particularly in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. Beginning in 2003, within the framework of the Tell Brak Sustaining Area Survey, intensive systematic surface collection has been undertaken on the mound complex, in conjunction with offsite landscape studies and analysis of remote sensing data (aerial photographs and satellite imagery). Preliminary results suggest that 4th millennium Brak was an extensive settlement which developed directly from a smaller and more dispersed late 5th millennium antecedent. Although reduced in size, Brak in the 3rd millennium (ancient Nagar) included a previously unrecognized southern lower town. The survey also identified a possible outer wall and an impressive set of ancient tracks radiating out from its gates. After further contraction in the Khabur period, Brak expanded again under Mitanni control; the palace and temple complex excavated by the Oates loomed above an extensive 45 ha lower town. In the first millennia BC and AD, Brak hosted a sequence of small villages on its outer mounds. Brak's final florescence was a Byzantine-Early Islamic town which grew up around the late Roman "Castellum", originally documented by Poidebard in the late 1920's. Throughout this 5,000 year span, each settlement was constrained by the remains of previous settlements, and each further altered the landscape in ways that had to be respected by its successors. 192)
Roger Nam, UCLA Several factors suggest that most of the 900 excavated cylinder seals catalogued by Schaeffer-Forrer (1983) and Amiet (1992) were never used in administrative context. A recent study counts 95% of the seal impressions as inscribed with texts, yet only 4.5% of the actual cylinder seals have inscriptions. Such a statistical imbalance suggests a secondary function for seals. The fact that practically none of the economic documents have any sealings further solidifies this conclusion. This paper argues that cylinder seals had a decorative function in Ugaritic society alongside limited administrative use. Many of the seals consist of aesthetically pleasing materials such as faience and lapis lazuli. Also, excavations uncovered mounts and seal ring-settings, similar to settings found in Byblos. Plausible explanations for wearing seals in Ugarit include style as well as religious value. 193) Alexia
Smith, Boston University
Many studies have examined ancient agriculture in Syria, but most of these have
concentrated on the beginnings of farming. Fewer have focused on post-Neolithic
remains, and consequently, despite the importance of agriculture in the rise and
maintenance of complex societies, our understanding of agriculture during these
later time periods is fragmented. Before we can ask how shifts in agricultural
production affect ancient economies, we must first examine the nature of agriculture
in different areas during different time periods. 194) Michael Decker,
Rice University, and Carrie Hritz, University of Chicago
The village of Androna (modern al-Andarin) lies in the Syrian steppe about 60
km NE of Hama. Androna has been the scene of archaeological investigation since
1999, when excavation work began jointly between Heidelberg University and Oxford
University. The Heidelberg team has focused thus far on studying the Byzantine
kastron in the cente of the village, while the Oxford team has worked on the sixth-century
bathhouse across the street. Since 2002, a Syrian team has been investigating
what Howard Crosby Butler identified as a "praetorium" on his visit to the site
early last century. This structure is now known to be an Umayyad period bathhouse,
indicating continuous occupation through the Muslim conquests. Androna therefore
presents a unique opportunity to examine a well-preserved rural settlement on
the critical cusp of history between the end of Byzantine Syria and Umayyad rule. A47) Workshop on Caesarea Maritima Theme: Studies on Caesarea Maritima, Israel, in Memory of Avner Raban Kenneth G. Holum, University of Maryland, Presiding 195)
Laurie Brink, O.P., University of Chicago
For more than two decades, the harbor at Caesarea Maritima was the objective of
Avner Raban's excavations. For the student of Christianity, this harbor was a
major port of embarkation for the missionary activities of the early church and
the safe haven for those returning. Hence seafaring and harbors played a crucial
though little studied role in the spread of the religion. Not only is Caesarea
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles but so are fourteen other ports named as
harbors into and out of which the early missionaries sailed. 196)
Jennifer A. Stabler, University of Maryland
Beginning in 1990, the Combined Caesarea Expeditions uncovered on the Temple Platform
the remains of Herod's temple to Roma and Augustus, completed in 10 B.C.E. The
archaeologists aimed not only to recover the temple's design but also its longevity
and ultimate fate, in order to study the transition between paganism and Christianity
in the Mediterranean world. Indeed, the ceramic and coin evidence from layers
above the dismantled foundations prove that the entire temple had been taken down
no later than the second quarter of the fifth century C.E. Somewhat earlier, the
pavements surrounding the temple had been removed, and thus fragments of the stucco
covering the temple's columns appeared on the fill from beneath the robbed pavement.
Indeed, at least one of the massive columns had fallen toward the north with its
entabulature, perhaps during a deliberate effort to dismantle the temple ca. 400
C.E. 197)
Jennifer Ramsay, Simon Fraser University During the excavation seasons 1990-1994 the University of Pennsylvania expedition recovered botanical remains from Herod's royal palace, the so-called Promontory Palace south of the Old City. The remains were collected in a variety of ways, from hand picking the visible material during excavation to systematic flotation of soil samples. The results of the identification and analysis of the material demonstrate a definite discrepancy in the quantity and types of botanical remains that were recovered by means of the various methods utilized. The samples obtained through flotation were by far the most comprehensive, yet the information derived from an examination of all the samples, no matter what the recovery technique, is archaeologically significant. The species present aid not only in reconstructing subsistence strategies but also in reconstructing patterns of trade, economy, and fuel provisioning during the various periods of occupation. 198)
Marylinda Govaars, Independent Researcher
In over 600 years of continuous occupation, Caesarea
maintained a large cosmopolitan population that included Jewish and Samaritan
as well as pagan and Christian communities. Yet only one synagogue site is known
from archaeological excavation. In 1956 and 1962 the late Professor M. Avi-Yonah
revealed extensive structural remains from Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods.
The meager preliminary reports outlined five strata, including a plastered pool/cistern
(Stratum III), an apparent broad-house structure (Stratum IV), and a hallway with
two adjoining rooms (Stratum V). Among the finds were several fragmentary mosaic
pavements, three with Greek inscriptions, column capitals decorated with the seven-branched
candelabrum, a deposit of 3700 coins, and a marble column with a dedicatory inscription.
No site plans, however, or other structural plans were ever published, nor were
any photographs showing the structural outlines. 199)
Kenneth G. Holum, University of Maryland
In 622/23, shortly before the Muslim conquest, the victorious Persian king Khusrau
taunted the Roman emperor Heraclius in an open letter. If the Christian God was
so powerful, Khusrau asked rhetorically, "why did He not save Caesarea and Jerusalem,
and the great Alexandria from my hands?" Khusrau's words suggest a further rhetorical
question. Did the king evoke these cities, Caesarea first among them, on account
of past glories or strategic and religious importance, or because after centuries
of social change and attacks of bubonic plague they nevertheless remained prosperous
examples of ancient Mediterranean urbanism? Hotly debated today, the question
ranges the "polis to madina" school, locating the causes of urban decay within
the Empire and even inside the cities themselves, against those who blame attacks
of Persians, Muslims, and similar external foes for the demise of the Mediterranean
cities. If Caesarea indeed prospered until the Muslim conquest, the case against
the "polis to madina" school becomes stronger.
A48) Reports on Current Excavations, non-ASOR-Affiliated Robert A. Mullins, UCLA, Presiding 200)
James Carlson, Portland State University The chipped stone technology of the Late Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, and Late Bronze Age assemblages from Çadir Höyük on the north-central Anatolian Plateau has been analyzed to establish whether production techniques differ between these chronological periods. At Çadir Höyük, architectural changes between the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age are indicative of an increase in social complexity. Determining the level of continuity and change in certain characteristics of stone tool production between these periods constitutes the first step towards determining whether this increasing complexity is mirrored in the lithic technology. In addition, the presence of a Late Bronze Age assemblage has offered the opportunity to compare the chipped stone technology of the earlier periods with that of a fully formed state level society - the Hittite New Kingdom. Findings concerning the variety of lithic technologies will be presented, including differences in lithic forms and manufacture between these periods. The study currently being conducted for Çadir Höyük is the first technological study of lithics on the north-central Anatolian Plateau and represents an important contribution to the presently emerging sequential culture history for these periods in this sub-region of Anatolia. 201)
Benjamin Porter, University of Pennsylvania, Danielle Steen, Stanford University,
and Bruce Routledge, University of Liverpool In the summer of 2004, the authors carried out a four-week field season at Dhiban, Jordan. Although initially explored in the 1950s and 60s in the groundbreaking work of Winnett, Reed, Tushingham, and Morton, Dhiban demands reexamination in light of our increasing knowledge of central Jordan's culture history. Excavation goals were designed to build on this earlier work as well as to apply new field applications in site prospection. Six goals shaped this research design: (1) a total station survey in order to produce a base map for a GIS database; (2) a systematic sampling of surface sherds in order to assess the size and obtrusiveness of Dhiban's various periods of occupation; (3) a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the settlement to identify sub-surface architectural units; (4) exposure of the eastern edge of the Iron II "public" building, partially exposed in Area L; (5) preservation of previously and newly excavated features; and (6) contact with the local Dhiban community in order to facilitate a dialogue over the objectives of site interpretation and development for domestic and international tourism. We will summarize the results from this initial season and present our plans for future field seasons. 202)
Wolfgang Zwickel, University of Mainz, Jürgen Zangenberg, University of Wuppertal,
Juha Pakkala, University of Helsinki and Stefan Münger, University of Berne Tel Kinrot/Tell el-Oreimeh (ancient Kinneret) is located at the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This paper presents the results of the 2004 season with regards to the ongoing German-Finnish-Swiss excavation project under the auspices of the Universities of Berne, Helsinki, and Mainz. This season's work concentrated mostly on Iron I habitation quarters in the lower city. New architectonic and stratigraphic insights enhanced our knowledge on the complex urban development at one of the major sites in the North of Israel at the close of the second millennium BCE. Furthermore, the rich find assemblage from these settlement layers will aid us in better understanding the variety of cultural influences on the ancient population. Additionally, complementary investigations in a stepped-trench near the shore of the Sea of Galilee provided much needed additional data for refining the settlement sequence of the Bronze Ages. Finally, work undertaken in the course of our restoration program of the Iron Age II fortress town on the acropolis lead us to a new interpretation of the much discussed tripartite pillared buildings. 203)
Gwyn Davies, Florida International University, Jodi Magness, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Uzi Avner, Arava Institute The Roman fort at Yotvata is located by a large oasis in the southern Arabah, some 40 kms north of Eilat/Aqaba (ancient Aila). The fort is a standard quadriburgium measuring approximately 40 x 40 meters, with external corner towers. A monumental Latin inscription originally set over the main gate and discovered accidentally in 1985 indicates that this fort was established during the time of the Tetrarchy. In June 2003 and June 2004, excavations were conducted in the fort under the direction of U. Avner, G. Davies, and J. Magness. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of our work. So far, we have discovered two main occupation levels in the fort. The lower occupation level, presumably represents the original foundation of the fort and dates to the fourth century. After a long period of abandonment, the site was reoccupied in the early Islamic period (seventh century C.E.), although this occupation does not appear to have been military in nature. 204)
Mark Schuler, Concordia University, Arthur Segal, University of Haifa and Jolanta
Mlynarczyk, Polish Academy of Science and Mariusz Burdajewicz, National Museum,
Warsaw Hippos/Sussita is located on a hill 1.5 km east of the Sea of Galilee opposite Tiberias. Under the auspices of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology of the University of Haifa, four seasons of work at Hippos/Sussita reveal a vibrant Graeco-Roman polis that was gradually transformed into a significant Byzantine center. A large Hellenistic religious compound attests to the early foundation of the city and to the successive reuse of the space by later religious ideologies. Multiple Byzantine churches display a range of function and provide perspective on the cult of martyrs and saints (including a local woman) as it was practiced up to the abandonment of the site after the earthquake of 749 CE.
Go to abstracts for Thursday or Friday |