Identifying a water source in an occupation area at Tel Shimron, Israel: a macro- and microarchaeological approach

Water access is an essential component of any settlement, and particularly in areas such as the Southern Levant where rainfall is limited and confined to a part of the year. At the ancient mound (tel) of Tel Shimron in northern Israel, two springs which were active in modern times are located at the foot of the mound. Here we report the presence of a third spring on the tel within an ancient occupation area. Using both Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and optical microscopy on-site we identified a calcitic material composed of single well-ordered lenticular crystals adhering to the walls of an Iron Age II building. At one location these crystals were forming in a wet seepage area. We therefore concluded that this was a tufa spring deposit. Isolated fragments of this tufa were found occluded in sediments of different ages from the Iron Age onwards, which is consistent with this spring being active for at least the last 3000 years or so. We also identified a 5–10 cm thick layer of finely laminated sediments laid down under water. These sediments included fresh water siliceous organisms, as well as calcite crystals that had presumably precipitated from the water. We therefore conclude that this was a pool in which the spring water accumulated. Radiocarbon dating of charred seeds from the laminated layers showed that the pool existed around 700 cal BCE years ago. This macro- and microarchaeological study thus revealed an important component of settlement activity in this area that changes our understanding of human occupation on the mound.