Micro-geoarchaeology

The extensive remains of the Middle Bronze Age palace uncovered at Tel Kabri, and the evidence for its abrupt demise, presented an opportunity to utilize a geoarchaeological approach to address possible reasons for its demise. We used ftir spectroscopy to address the possibility of destruction by fire, phytolith analysis to address the possibility of economic decline, and micromorphology to assess the possibility of destruction associated with a flooding event. The results negated the possibilities of destruction by fire and flooding. Low phytolith concentrations did not enable us to assess the possibility for economic decline. Utilizing these methods has shown that the integration of a geoarchaeological approach helps understanding the archaeological context even if by providing data to negate hypotheses.