The Mamluk–Early Ottoman Marketplace of Qāqūn in Northern Israel

In 2015–2016, the first archaeological excavations were carried out in the ruined village of Qāqūn in the northern Sharon plain, located along the major international road from Egypt to Syria. Settled since ancient times, a fortress was constructed at Qāqūn in the Crusader period, and an adjacent khān road inn was built in the Mamluk period. The excavations and the subsequent interdisciplinary analyses of the numismatic finds, the animal species, the small-scale metal workshops and the simple ceramic bowls for takeaway meals, all enabled identifying the excavated area as the village marketplace mentioned in historical sources. This identification is corroborated by comparison with similar khān sites with functioning markets.