Selected archaeological methods on the example of Khirbet Qeiyafa

1
Selected archaeological methods on the example of
Khirbet Qeiyafa
2
Archaeological survey

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

3
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

4
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.

5
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.

6

• 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.

7
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

8
The location

source of image http//confessionsofamakeshiftar
cheologist.blogspot.com/2011/06/to-holy-land-i-go.
html
9
Source of image
http//blog.bibleplaces.com/2008/10/identity-of-kh
irbet-qeiyafa.html
10
Source of image qeiyafa.huji.ac.il
11

Source of
image http//library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01930/
history/ironage.html
12
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

13
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.

14
Forms of Archaeological Data

• Artifacts
• Features
• Ecofacts
• Sites
• Regions

15
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.

16
Source of image http//evolution.berkeley.
edu/evosite/lines/IIIAchronology.shtml
17
Relative d. Stratigraphy

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

18
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)

19
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

20
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/archae
  ology/mulberryrow/building-l-seriation.htm

21
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
• 
  

22
Absolute d. - Radio-carbon dating
23
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.

24

Source of image
http//www.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/fmi/contmech/kmarkov/h
istory/Carbon.html
25
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

26
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/

27
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/h
  tmlfiles/dig2005.html

28
Absolute d. - Dendrochronology

• Chronology
• of tree rings
• Source of image
• http//creationwiki.org/Dendrochronology

29
Absolute d. -Racemization dating

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

30
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

31
Absolute d. -Oxidized Carbon ratios

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

32
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 Provenience
• Vertical measurements will also use the site
  datum as a reference point.
• During excavation, a laser level will be used to
  take vertical depth measurements in the
  excavation unit.

33
Total station

• 
  Authors
  image from Khirbet Qeiyafa

34
Triangulation of grid

• Source of image http//www.uiowa.edu/osa/gcp/Cor
  alville/index.html

35
Source of image
http//samilitaryhistory.org/vol035j
k.html
36
Sieving

• excavated earth through screens
• Source of image http//qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/gallery
  2010d.asp

37
Archeological research in KhQSources of folowing
images http//qeiyafa.huji.ac.il/gallery2010d.asp
38
(No Transcript)
39
(No Transcript)
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
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

46
Thanks for your attention