CHRONOLOGY OF IBA SHAFT TOMBS IN THE SOUTHERN LEVANT: INTEGRAL PART OF THE IBA CULTURE FROM BEGINNING TO END

Ron Lev, Yehuda Govrin, Zach Horowitz, Eugenia Mintz, Lior Regev, Elisabetta Boaretto

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Vast burial fields, some with hundreds of burials, categorize the southern Levant's Intermediate Bronze Age period (IBA). This phenomenon contrasts with a limited number of burials found from the preceding Early Bronze III period. This paper presents the first radiocarbon dating research of sampled bones from shaft tombs from five IBA burial sites across Israel: Yehud, Jebel Qaaqir, Sheikh-Danon, Hazorea, and Kefar-Veradim. Prescreening methods, including Fourier transform infrared analysis, were applied to identify best-preserved collagen in archaeological bones for radiocarbon dating. Overall, the measured date ranges cover the IBA timeline, supporting the observation that the IBA signature shaft tombs are a fundamental tradition of the IBA culture, at least in Israel. A single IBA shaft tomb at Jebel Qaaqir which contained remains of multiple humans, supplied different dates for various people, spanning over a few hundred years. These results suggest a tribal or family-oriented IBA community with a long-lasting tradition reflected in centuries of collective burial practices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)969-987
Number of pages19
JournalRadiocarbon
Volume64
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 22 Oct 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

  • Intermediate Bronze Age
  • radiocarbon dating
  • Shaft tumbs
  • southern Levant

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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