Selected archaeological methods on the example of Khirbet

Qeiyafa

Archaeological survey

• A method, when archaeologists search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of the daily life

Regular survey x rescue survey

• Rescue -"preventive" or "salvage" survey is a survey and excavation carried out in areas threatened by, or revealed by, construction or other development. These conditions could include the building of dams where sites of interest might exist in the flood plain, highway projects, or before war operations.

• Speed, undertaken

• May include in situ preservation of any finds, or protective measures taken to preserve an unexcavated site beneath a building

• Developers must announce their plans before the architectural work and must allow the archaeological exploration

Non-intrunsive x intrunsive survey

• in a non-intrusive survey, nothing is touched, just recorded. An accurate survey of the earthworks and other features can enable them to be interpreted without the need for excavation

• An intrusive survey can mean different things. In some cases, all artifacts of archaeological value are collected. This is often the case if it is a rescue survey, but less common in a regular survey.

Rationales to survey• Artifacts found: Locals have picked up physical artifacts, sometimes held by the local

museum but more often collected in private homes or old buildings such as churches and synagogues, and it is unclear where they are coming from.

• Literary sources: Old literary sources have provided archaeologists with clues about settlement locations that have not been archaeologically documented. Sometimes the texts may be quite recent; for instance, a book on local history may mention an interesting area.

• Oral sources: In many locations, local stories contain some hint of a greater past, and often they have a basis in history. For instance, someone may remember that a grandfather who used to walk the hills as a shepherd used to talk about columns from an old temple, although the descendant never saw the ruins.

• Local knowledge: In many cases, locals know where to find something of interest to archaeologists. They may not have reported it because of taking it as part of their world, or because of fearing intrusions on their land or community.

• Previous surveys: In some places, a past survey may have been recorded in an academic journal. The use of more recent technologies and finds from other sites may provide reason to re-examine the site.

• Lack of knowledge: Many areas of the world have developed limited knowledge about the nature and organization of past human activity at the regional level. (Although one or more sites may be known from an area, often little is known about the wider distribution of contemporary settlements, and how settlement patterns may change over time.) An archaeological field survey is the primary tool for discovering information about previously uninvestigated areas.

• Archaeological hypotheses: Some kinds of archaeological theories — about changes in agricultural strategies or population density for example — are investigated or tested through the use of archaeological surveys of areas that should or should not contain particular kinds of archaeological materials if the theory is true.

Why to dig in Khirbet Qeiyafa?

• Geopolitical importance • Situation between on the borders between Judea

and Philistine • Overlooking on the Elah Valley, on the main road

from Jerusalem and Hebron to the Costal plain• Not a tell site• Preservation is very good, not suffered from

postdepositional procesess

The location

source of image: http://confessionsofamakeshiftarcheologist.blogspot.com/2011/06/to-holy-land-i-go.html

Source of image: http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2008/10/identity-of-khirbet-qeiyafa.html

Source of image: qeiyafa.huji.ac.il

Source of image : http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01930/history/ironage.html

Steps preceeding the research itself

• Formulation of Research• Implementation of Research• Data Acquisition (Archaeological Reconnaissance, Surface Survey,

Excavation)• Data Processing• Data Analysis (Artifacts, chronology,fauna and flora

remains, geological analysis)• Data Interpretation• Publication of Results

Data Analysis

A) Artifacts: classification, technology, function.B) Chronology: age determination through absolute and relative dating techniques.C) Faunal Remains: identification of animal species.D) Floral Remains: identification of plant species.F) Geological Analysis: sediment analysis.

Forms of Archaeological Data

• Artifacts

• Features

• Ecofacts

• Sites

• Regions

Dating

• Relative dating determines the age of artifacts or site, as older or younger or the same age as others, but does not produce precise dates.

• Absolute dating, methods that produce specific chronological dates for objects and occupations, was not available to archaeology until well into the 20th century.

Source of image : http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/lines/IIIAchronology.shtml

Relative d. – Stratigraphy

» Source of image:» http://www.geology-israel.co.il/

Stratigraphy

• oldest of the relative dating methods • based on the law of superposition-like a

layer cake, the lowest layers must have been formed first.

• refers to geological and archaeological layers that make up an archaeological deposit

• One part / layer is called stratum (pl. strata)

Stratigraphy in Khirbet Qeiyafa

• 6 stratas

• Stratum I - Ottoman farm

• Stratum II – Agricutural use from Late hellenistic to Early Islamic Era

• Stratum III – Early hellenistic settlement, late 4th BC

• Stratum IV – Early Iron IIA city, c. 1015-975 BC, two gates, probably the Judean city

• Stratum V – Midlle Bronze II phase

Relative d. - Seration

• manipulated graphically • Result is a series of „battleship curves“

• horizontal bars representing percentages

plotted on a vertical axis

Source of image: http://www2.monticello.org/archaeology/mulberryrow/building-l-seriation.htm

Relative d. - Probing

• 1. Ground Penetrating Radar 2. Simple Random Sampling 3. Stratified sampling

Sources of images: http://www.geosphereinc.com/gpr_gpradar.html

http://www.geo-sense.com/GPR.htm

»

Absolute d. - Radio-carbon dating

The Method of Carbon dating

• A radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years.

• When plants fix atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic material

during photosynthesis they incorporate a quantity of 14C that approximately matches the level of this isotope in the atmosphere. After plants die or they are consumed by other organisms the 14C fraction of this organic material declines at a fixed exponential rate due to the radioactive decay of 14C. Comparing the remaining 14C fraction of a sample to that expected from atmospheric 14C allows the age of the sample to be estimated.

Source of image: http://www.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/fmi/contmech/kmarkov/history/Carbon.html

Carbon dating in Khirbet Qeiafa

• 8 examples of olive pits send to analysis on Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator

• First set from the casemate wall /intrusive elements/

• Two samples were dated to 1628 – 1519 BC• Four of 1051 –969 BC• One sample dated on 361-271 BC

Absolute d. -Thermoluminescence dating

Based on the fact that electrons

in all minerals emit light

(luminescence)

after being heated

Source of image: http://www.gi.ee/rlqg/

Absolute d. -Archeomagnetic dating

• dating techniques rely on the fact that the earth'smagnetic field varies

over time. • databanks were created by

geologists interested in the

movement of the planetary poles

Source of image: http://www.whitehallvilla.co.uk/htmlfiles/dig2005.html

Absolute d. - Dendrochronology

• Chronology

of tree rings

Source of image:

http://creationwiki.org/Dendrochronology

Absolute d. -Racemization dating

• Source of image: http://www.icr.org/article/amino-acid-racemization-dating-method/

Racemization dating

• uses the measurement of the decay rate of carbon protein

amino acids to date once-living organic tissue • While an organism lives, their proteins are composed of

only 'left-handed' (laevo, or L) amino acids, but once the organism dies the left-handed amino acids slowly turn into right-handed (dextro or D) amino acids

• uses the pace of this chemical reaction to estimate the length of time that has elapsed since an organism's death

Absolute d. -Oxidized Carbon ratios

• a dynamical systems formula to establish the effects of the environmental context (systems theory)

Three dimensional space Horizontal Provenience:

Datum: The site datum is a known location in three-dimensional space that serves as a reference point for all horizontal and vertical measurements taken at the site. Grid: The site grid is laid out in reference to the datum. Total Station: A total station is a survey instrument that can measure horizontal and vertical angles, slope, and horizontal and vertical distances.

• Vertical Provenienceo Vertical measurements will also use the site datum as a reference

point.o During excavation, a laser level will be used to take vertical depth

measurements in the excavation unit.

Total station

» Author´s image from Khirbet Qeiyafa

Triangulation of grid

• Source of image: http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/gcp/Coralville/index.html

Source of image:

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol035jk.html

Sieving

• excavated earth through screens

Source of image: http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/gallery2010d.asp

Archeological research in KhQSources of folowing images: http://qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/gallery2010d.asp

Organization of research

• Fieldwork alloted by teams, one archeologist (student) and 3-4 volunteers

• Each team get excavated square 5x5m and excavated from topsoil to virgin soil

• The finds are collected into baskets• One basket cannot be used on two different loci• When excavating floor levels, all sediment is sieved though a 2mm.

mesh• Every afternoon are finds washed• When are dry, they are sorted and divided into main categories:

pottery, stone, metal and animal bones• Than are all artifacts send to laboratory

Thanks for your attention