Fortified enclosures of the early bronze age in the samaria region and the beginning of urbanization

Six fortified Early Bronze I-II period enclosures were discovered in the Samaria region. They are defined by their advanced fortification systems and the fact that they are empty or sparsely settled inside. They do not enjoy good ecological conditions. They probably represent a transitional stage from the unfortified proto-urban (EB I) settlement to the urban, fortified town of EB II by walling settlements or erecting pre-settlement enclosures. The fortified towns of the EB II continued into the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, and Iron Age periods or combinations thereof, whereas the enclosures were abandoned in the third millennium B.c.