Early second millennium settlement landscape in the Nami Region, Israel, revealed by GPR investigations

Yossi Salmon, Lawrence Conyers, Harry Jol, Michal Artzy

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    Abstract

    The establishment of the settlement at the start of the 2nd millennium BCE in the Nami region of Israel marks the beginning of a new era of human habitation in this region, following a hiatus of ca 500 years. Tel Nami was deserted ca. 200 years later, not to be settled again for another 400 years or more. Nami is in a system that combines wetlands and coastal depositional packages of marine and aeolian sediments in addition to archaeological features. These environments are very complex in terms of their geophysical (dielectric) properties. In addition, the proximity to the sea and the intrusion of seawater to the subterranean medium creates areas with high high salinity (conductive) and high water content values. Four areas were selected for GPR data collection to create amplitude maps and collected with 400MHz and 270MHz antennas. A total of 7,450 sq meters of data was collected. Each of the grids shows a complex series of depositional units from different environments that provide a framework of ancient habitations. In two 3D surveys, archaeological features were detected, indicating fragments of walls and floors. Under them, in one instance high reflective features were detected. These are likely aeolianite sandstone, in contrast to low reflective limestone, the usual building material of the site of the period. This slab might indicate a Middle bronze tomb covered by a stele.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR 2014
    EditorsSebastien Lambot, Antonis Giannopoulos, Lara Pajewski, Frederic Andre, Evert Slob, Christophe Craeye
    PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
    Pages60-65
    Number of pages6
    ISBN (Electronic)9781479967896
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Dec 2014
    Event15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR 2014 - Brussels, Belgium
    Duration: 30 Jun 20144 Jul 2014

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR 2014

    Conference

    Conference15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar, GPR 2014
    Country/TerritoryBelgium
    CityBrussels
    Period30/06/144/07/14

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2014 IEEE.

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Environmental Engineering
    • Computer Networks and Communications
    • Signal Processing
    • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
    • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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