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Here we present the paleopathological profiles of two young adult males, identified as brothers through ancient DNA analysis, who were buried together beneath the floor of an elite early Late Bronze Age I (ca. 1550–1450 BC) domestic structure at the urban center of Megiddo (modern Israel). Both individuals displayed uncommon morphological variants related to developmental conditions, and each exhibited extensive bone remodeling consistent with chronic infectious disease. Additionally, one brother had a healed fracture of the nose, as well as a large square piece of bone cut from the frontal bone (cranial trephination). We consider the potential etiologies for the appearance of the skeletal anomalies and lesions. Based on the bioarchaeological context, we propose that a shared epigenetic landscape predisposed the brothers to acquiring an infectious disease and their elite status privileged them enough to endure it. We then contextualize these potential illnesses and disorders with the trephination procedure. The infrequency of trephination in the region indicates that only selected individuals could access such a procedure, and the severity of the pathological lesions suggests the procedure was possibly intended as curative to deteriorating health. Ultimately, both brothers were buried with the same rites as others in their community, thus demonstrating their continued integration in society even after death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dramatic growth of Jerusalem in the Iron Age IIB-C raises questions regarding subsistence and relations with the city's rural hinterland. Studies of animal economy can shed light on these questions. Here, we present results from the zooarchaeological investigation of two sites: the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem and Tel Moza, located a few kilometers to the west of the capital. We also compare our finds to previous results from several locations within Jerusalem. We find that while the Western Wall Plaza's inhabitants focused on meat consumption and did not engage in actual herding, the inhabitants of Tel Moza focused on agriculture and producing caprines' secondary products, probably supplying sheep and cattle to Jerusalem. Within Jerusalem, people living close to the Temple Mount showed a higher economic standing than those in a neighborhood on the southeastern slope of the "City of David" ridge. The higher-status neighborhoods seem to have received meat through a redistribution mechanism from the temple. These results enable us to gain several insights into rural-urban relationships and sociopolitical mechanisms in the Iron Age Levant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Bronze Age is considered to be the period when complex and hierarchical societies first developed in the southern Levant. The appearance of specialization and social complexity is manifested through different aspects of the production stages of animal economy. In this paper, we examine faunal assemblages from two interconnected contemporaneous neighboring sites of differing characters in the Jezreel Valley, Israel: Megiddo, a cult site, and Tel Megiddo East, a town site. Both assemblages are dated to the Early Bronze Age IB (EB IB; 3090-2950 B.C.E.), at the dawn of urbanization in the Near East. The connection between sites, revealed in previous studies of other aspects, is supported by the analysis of faunal remains that reveals intriguing overlaps and divergences. The results of the current study show that the control of resources by the Great Temple in Megiddo also included access to animals and their products, and that it impacted the animal economy in settlements in its hinterland. The impact of this system demonstrates the Great Temple at the center of a larger regional economic organization in the late EB IB that would presage the urban developments of the EB II-III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Negev Highlands (Israel) are characterized by a rich settlement history over the last millennia. To sustain life in this arid environment, measures to collect and store water were introduced. Two types of installations to collect and store runoff water were built in the region: open reservoirs, and more elaborate subterranean rock-cut cisterns. This article focuses on the latter. Based on a few inscriptions found in rock-cut cisterns, it is assumed that the majority were constructed in the Hellenistic (Nabatean) to Byzantine period. To evaluate this age assessment, this study was carried out at the Borot Hazaz cisterns system, using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating together with micromorphological analyses. Both were applied to sediments that were relocated during the cistern’s construction and usage and after the maintenance activities ended. Despite unfavourable conditions for resetting the OSL signal, including fluvial transport over short distances and sediment deposition by humans in large quantities, it was possible to reconstruct the life cycle of the cistern system. The present study places the construction of the system during the late Roman to Byzantine period, with utilization and long-term maintenance during the following centuries. Maintenance ceased at the Borot Hazaz cistern system gradually over the course of the last 500 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly discussed issue in the fields of Hebrew epigraphy and biblical research is the level of literacy in the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah (Rollston 2010 ; Davies and Römer 2013 ; Schmidt 2015). Treating this topic using biblical texts, for example, the references to scribes at the time of a given monarch, may lead to circular argumentation: The reality behind a given account may reflect the time of the authors, who could have lived centuries later and retrojected their own situation back onto earlier history. A preferable methodology is to consider the material evidence—the corpora of Iron Age Hebrew ostraca from archaeological excavations. The idea is to use algorithmic and forensic methods to distinguish between handwritings and thus the number of authors in a given corpus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arad is a well preserved desert fort on the southern frontier of the biblical kingdom of Judah. Excavation of the site yielded over 100 Hebrew ostraca (ink inscriptions on potsherds) dated to ca. 600 BCE, the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. Due to the site's isolation, small size and texts that were written in a short time span, the Arad corpus holds important keys to understanding dissemination of literacy in Judah. Here we present the handwriting analysis of 18 Arad inscriptions, including more than 150 pair-wise assessments of writer's identity. The examination was performed by two new algorithmic handwriting analysis methods and independently by a professional forensic document examiner. To the best of our knowledge, no such large-scale pair-wise assessments of ancient documents by a forensic expert has previously been published. Comparison of forensic examination with algorithmic analysis is also unique. Our study demonstrates substantial agreement between the results of these independent methods of investigation. Remarkably, the forensic examination reveals a high probability of at least 12 writers within the analyzed corpus. This is a major increment over the previously published algorithmic estimations, which revealed 4–7 writers for the same assemblage. The high literacy rate detected within the small Arad stronghold, estimated (using broadly-accepted paleo-demographic coefficients) to have accommodated 20–30 soldiers, demonstrates widespread literacy in the late 7th century BCE Judahite military and administration apparatuses, with the ability to compose biblical texts during this period a possible by-product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past excavations in Samaria, capital of biblical Israel, yielded a corpus of Hebrew ink on clay inscriptions (ostraca) that documents wine and oil shipments to the palace from surrounding localities. Many questions regarding these early 8th century BCE texts, in particular the location of their composition, have been debated. Authorship in countryside villages or estates would attest to widespread literacy in a relatively early phase of ancient Israel's history. Here we report an algorithmic investigation of 31 of the inscriptions. Our study establishes that they were most likely written by two scribes who recorded the shipments in Samaria. We achieved our results through a method comprised of image processing and newly developed statistical learning techniques. These outcomes contrast with our previous results, which indicated widespread literacy in the kingdom of Judah a century and half to two centuries later, ca. 600 BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Hebrew ostraca, found near Khirbet Zanu' (Ḥorvat Zanoaḥ) and published by Milevski and Naveh in 2005, were re-imaged using a high-end multispectral imaging technique. The re-imaging yielded dozens of changed or added characters and resulted in renewed, larger and improved readings, hereby published. In addition, we interpret the texts of the ostraca and place them in the context of the economy and administration of Judah in the seventh century BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study of Black-on-Red sherds found in well-stratified Iron IIA contexts at Megiddo shows that the earliest examples of this ware appear in an early stage of the Late Iron IIA, radiocarbon dated to the late 10th to early ninth century B.C.E. An archaeometric analysis of 10 sherds reveals that they were manufactured in Cyprus, meaning that Black-on-Red vessels were produced on the island as early as ca. 900 B.C.E. This makes Gjerstad's theory regarding the "Levantine Phase" in the production history of this ware obsolete. It is noteworthy that Black-on-Red vessels of Type IV (dated to the eighth and early seventh centuries B.C.E. based on stylistic considerations) are present in secure contexts in levels Q-5 and Q-4 at Megiddo, radiocarbon dated to the late 10th and ninth centuries B.C.E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In antiquity, the development of techniques to collect and store water was fundamental to sustain life in arid regions. One way to overcome the problem of water supply in the desert was to construct water reservoirs and cisterns which collect surface runoff during rare rain events. Indeed, open reservoirs and rock‐cut cisterns are widely spread over the arid zone of the Negev Highlands. They were an important component of human activity in the area. Today, they can serve as sedimentary archives for archaeological and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. To shed more light on this valuable archive, the chronology of an ancient stone‐lined, open reservoir was established by optically stimulated luminescence dating. By determining the age of the deposition of sediments associated with the reservoir, it was possible to constrain its construction (8th–11th centuries C.E.), duration of use (up to ca. 15th century C.E.), and final refilling (from the 15th century C.E. to the modern era). These results indicate that most human activity related to the reservoir occurred between the 8th‐to‐11th and the 15th centuries C.E., when permanent settlements are not recorded archaeologically in the region, suggesting that the studied water reservoir was primarily utilized by pastoral nomads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Historical events are sometimes expressed in destruction layers. We present here a study in which aspects of construction, destruction, and chronostratigraphy of fired mud bricks were explored using archaeomagnetism, infrared spectroscopy, and micromorphology. We measured 88 oriented samples mostly collected from one stratum, dated ca. 1000 B.C.E., representing a destroyed late Canaanite (late Iron Age I) city in Tel Megiddo, Israel. Firing temperatures, evaluated from infrared spectroscopy, micromorphology, and high‐temperature magnetic susceptibility cycles, range between 300°C and 800°C. Samples studied in one archaeomagnetic site yield a single stable magnetization vector in demagnetization experiments. Archaeomagnetic site means of three standing walls are grouped near the expected direction of the ancient geomagnetic field. We propose that walls in the destruction layer were constructed from sun‐dried mud bricks that later burned during the destruction. Collapsed bricks and tilted walls show variable directions, diagnostic for the relative timing of collapse and cooling of bricks, during and following the destruction event. In addition, we attempt to assign stratigraphic affiliation based on archaeomagnetic considerations to standing walls, which are spatially disconnected from the studied destruction layer. Altogether, this study demonstrates the usefulness of archaeomagnetism to understanding site formation processes related to fire and destruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arad Ostracon 16 is part of the Elyashiv Archive, dated to ca. 600 b.c. It was published as bearing an inscription on the recto only. New multispectral images of the ostracon have enabled us to reveal a hitherto invisible inscription on the verso, as well as additional letters, words, and complete lines on the recto. We present here the new images and offer our new reading and reinterpretation of the ostracon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological surveys of the Negev Highlands show that the settlement history of this arid environment oscillated widely over time. This observation is almost entirely based on scant sherd assemblages from surveys, with only a few chronometric ages from one or two archaeological features at a given site. The reasons for the scarcity of chronometric ages include insufficient attention to radiocarbon dating in past research, low amounts of datable organic material for radiocarbon dating and issues related to low rate of site accumulation, and incomplete preservation of activity remains. In order to overcome these problems, we present here the results of a detailed chronometric radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating study exploring the development of Negev archaeological sites in the third millennium BCE. The study included micromorphological analyses to aid identification of sedimentological and post-depositional processes at the studied sites. At Nahal Boqer 66, one of many small Negev third millennium BCE sites, seven radiocarbon ages were determined from archaeological contexts that suggest repeated discontinuous activity throughout the Early Bronze (EB) and early part of the Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA) (c. 3300–2350 BCE). At Ein Ziq – one of a few large sites in the region – seven samples were dated; they show a very short period of activity in the beginning of the IBA (c. 2450–2200 BCE). OSL age determinations at this site provided evidence for the rapidity of site burial by sediment accumulation. Also, OSL ages from secure depositional contexts – verified via micromorphology – are in agreement with those obtained by radiocarbon dating. Taken together, the results provide new systematic evidence for the timing of EB–IBA activity in the arid Negev Highlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca—ink-on-clay texts. They are poorly preserved and once unearthed, fade rapidly. Therefore, proper and timely documentation of ostraca is essential. Here we show a striking example of a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon revealed via multispectral imaging. This ostracon, found at the desert fortress of Arad and dated to ca. 600 BCE (the eve of Judah’s destruction by Nebuchadnezzar), has been on display for half a century. Its front side has been thoroughly studied, while its back side was considered blank. Our research revealed three lines of text on the supposedly blank side and four "new" lines on the front side. Our results demonstrate the need for multispectral image acquisition for both sides of all ancient ink ostraca. Moreover, in certain cases we recommend employing multispectral techniques for screening newly unearthed ceramic potsherds prior to disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the practice of metalworking in Megiddo, Israel from the end of the Middle Bronze Age until Iron IIB. It looks into the changes in the production processes, including the introduction of ironworking and the continuation of bronzeworking, where iron production was accompanied by a substantial increase in iron. The strong tie of metalworking and exploitation of metal resources to political power and social infrastructure is also examined.

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is widely applied to sediments in paleoenvironmental sciences. However, there are only limited examples determining the age of archaeological stone structures by OSL using dust deposits. The age of dust deposits associated with ancient buildings may be used to date the onset of settlement (sediment below structures), settlement activity (occupation layer), or the time after a settlement had been abandoned or destroyed (sediment between collapsed roofs and walls). In this study, OSL dating is applied to establish numerical dates for settlement structures situated in the Negev Highlands, Israel. Two archaeological sites are investigated to identify their occupation history, by dating nine samples of aeolian dust trapped within the remains of ancient buildings. The OSL dating technique is applied using coarse grain quartz and a standard single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. It was possible to date the onset of sedimentation in a later phase of the human occupation or shortly after the sites were abandoned, to 3.7 ± 0.3 ka (Intermediate Bronze Age) at the central site and to 2.7 ± 0.2 ka (Iron Age) at the ephemeral site. These results are supported by archaeological evidence gained from pottery finds and the architecture of the ancient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive settlement activity characterizes the arid Negev Highlands during the Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500–1950 BCE). However, the underlying subsistence basis of this population is poorly understood. Recent microarchaeological work at Iron Age sites in the Negev Highlands has shown the potential for recovering direct evidence for subsistence practices through analysis of the microscopic plant remains in degraded animal dung. Following these methods, this paper reports new macro- and micro-archaeological results of two sites near Mashabe Sade: a central Intermediate Bronze Age site, and for comparison, an ephemeral site in the immediate vicinity. At the central site, dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age by pottery and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL), evidence is absent for any sort of food production. In contrast, identification of ancient livestock dung at the ephemeral site suggests that it was sustained by animal husbandry— yet the OSL results suggest these degraded dung deposits date to the Iron Age. Taken together, the Intermediate Bronze Age results from Mashabe Sade bolster arguments suggesting that central sites were supported mainly by trade and other alternative subsistence practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geomagnetic field measurements from the past few centuries show heightened secular variation activity in the southern hemisphere associated with the south Atlantic anomaly (SAA). It is uncertain whether geomagnetic anomalies at a similar scale have existed in the past owing to limited coverage and uncertainties in the paleomagnetic database. Here we provide new evidence from archaeological sources in the Levant suggesting a large positive northern hemisphere anomaly, similar in magnitude to the SAA during the 9th–8th centuries BCE, called “Levantine Iron Age anomaly”. We also report an additional geomagnetic spike in the 8th century. The new dataset comprises 73 high precision paleointensity estimates from ca. 3000 BCE to 732 BCE, and five directional measurements between the 14th and the 9th centuries BCE. Well-dated pottery and cooking ovens were collected from twenty archaeological strata in two large contemporaneous stratigraphical mounds (tells) in Israel: Tel Megiddo and Tel Hazor. The new data are combined with previously published data and interpreted automatically using the PmagPy Thellier GUI program. The Tel Megiddo and Tel Hazor data sets demonstrate excellent internal consistency and remarkable agreement with published data from Mesopotamia (Syria). The data illustrate the evolution of an extreme geomagnetic high that culminated in at least two spikes between the 11th and the 8th centuries BCE (Iron Age in the Levant). The paleomagnetic directional data of the 9th century BCE show positive inclination anomalies, and deviations of up to 22° from the averaged geocentric axial dipole (GAD) direction. From comparison of the Levantine archaeomagnetic data with IGRF model for 2015 we infer the “Levantine Iron Age anomaly” between the 10th and the 8th centuries BCE is a local positive anomaly. The eastward extent of the anomaly is currently unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has attracted scholarly attention for over a century. Information on this issue can be deduced from Hebrew inscriptions from the final phase of the first Temple period. We report our investigation of 16 inscriptions from the Judahite desert fortress of Arad, dated ca. 600 BCE--the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. The inquiry is based on new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions. Our algorithmic analysis, complemented by the textual information, reveals a minimum of six authors within the examined inscriptions. The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple. A similar level of literacy in this area is attested again only 400 y later, ca. 200 BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an intra-site investigation of the Strata VIIA and VIA faunal remains at Megiddo, Israel, which date to the LB III and late Iron I respectively. We examined social disparity between the populations of two areas of the city. Our finds indicate a difference in social status and division of labour: a dichotomy between producer-consumers and consumers, who most probably interacted. Viewed in light of other types of remains at Megiddo, these findings reveal that the inhabitants of one sector engaged in agriculture and cottage industries, while the people in the other part of the city, close to the palace, were more affluent - related to the local ruler and administrators. Our study demonstrates the potential in intra-site investigation at large, multi-period sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the ongoing excavations of Area Q at Tel Megiddo, a variety of on-site geoarchaeological analytical methods have been used in the study of Iron Age occupations dating to the Iron Age IIA. The aim of this approach is to optimally combine macroarchaeology with microarchaeology in order to reconstruct activities that were carried out within an Iron Age urban neighborhood. The macroscopic finds indicate that this area belonged to a quarter that features both domestic and public structures. Of particular interest are (a) evidence for abandonment and spatial differentiation of activities in Level Q-5 associated with a large, well-built structure with 18 pillars; and (b) localized small-scale destruction associated with ephemeral metalworking activity related to occupation during Level Q-4. Similar approaches have been carried out at other sites in Israel (e.g., Tel Dor and Tell es-Safi/Gath), yet only at Megiddo have we been able to use these methods to study a large excavation area (ca. 200 m2). The results shed new light on the variability of human activities in public and domestic contexts in an urban environment, and contribute to understanding the uses of space and the phenomenon of destruction by fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent study shows that multispectral (MS) imaging can improve the legibility of ostraca. Several examples of Iron Age ostraca unearthed over twenty years ago in Israel (Ḥorvat 'Uza and Ḥorvat Radum) are presented, showing how new images taken with an MS system improve the reading of inscriptions that have significantly faded over time. The article provides instructions for constructing a simple and low-cost MS imaging system that yields comparable results to commercial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The close association of metal ingots to the smelting operation and hence to the ore deposit makes them good candidates for provenance studies which in turn can be used for reconstructing paths of metal trade. A unique group of ingots from Hazor, Israel and two ingot groups retrieved during underwater explorations off the Carmel coast (Israel) were subjected to microstructure, chemical and lead isotope analysis. Ingots from Timna, Bir Nasib and Deir Alla, previously studied, were also subjected to bulk chemical and lead isotope analysis (LIA). The results enabled us to follow changes in the supply of copper to sites of this part of the Levant between two main copper producers: Cyprus and the Arabah (Timna and Faynan). The analyses showed that two of the ingot assemblages correspond to two different phases of Cypriot copper exportation in the second millennium BCE. The earlier phase, identified here for the first time, dated to the Middle Bronze Age II – Late Bronze Age I, consisted of trade in black copper in the form of relatively small plano-convex ingots, as suggested by the evidence from Hazor. The later phase, dated to the Late Bronze Age II, during which Cypriot copper was traded in the form of large oxhide–shaped ingots, is well-known and is evidenced by oxhide ingots recovered off the Carmel coast. A third assemblage from Neve Yam, off the same coast, consisting of 54 ingots of similar shape and composition, is identified here as the hitherto unknown product of the large-scale operations at Faynan in the Iron Age. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Modern rapidly expanding cities generate intricate patterns of species diversity owing to immense complexity in urban spatial structure and current growth trajectories. We propose to identify and uncouple the drivers that give rise to these patterns by looking at the effect of urbanism on species diversity over a previously unexplored long temporal frame that covers early developments in urbanism. To provide this historical perspective we analyzed archaeozoological remains of small mammals from ancient urban and rural sites in the Near East from the 2nd to the 1st millennium BCE, and compared them to observations from modern urban areas. Our data show that ancient urban assemblages consistently comprised two main taxa (Mus musculus domesticus and Crocidura sp.), whereas assemblages of contemporaneous rural sites were significantly richer. Low species diversity also characterizes high-density core areas of modern cities, suggesting that similar ecological drivers have continued to operate in urban areas despite the vast growth in their size and population densities, as well as in the complexity of their technologies and social organization. Research in urban ecology has tended to emphasize the relatively high species diversity observed in low-density areas located on the outskirts of cities, where open and vegetated patches are abundant. The fact that over several millennia urban evolution did not significantly alter species diversity suggests that low diversity is an attribute of densely-populated settlements. The possibility that high diversity in peripheral urban areas arose only recently as a short-term phenomenon in urban ecology merits further research based on long-term data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temporal and spatial distribution of metal production remains from Hazor was used in this study to sketch the development of metalworking (bronze, iron and silver) at this important site. The remains attest to a long sequence of metalworking at Hazor, from the Middle Bronze Age through to the Iron Age, and significantly highlight the transition from bronze to iron production and the mode of bronze production after the transition had been completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By-products of iron production, mainly slag and bloom fragments, unearthed at three Iron Age urban centres in Israel (Hazor, Tel Beer sheba and Rehov), were analysed in order to better understand the organization of iron production during the Iron Age. The production remains studied are all dated not earlier than the Iron Age IIA, and thus shed light on a period of transition from bronze to iron production. Chemical composition and microstructural analyses enable us to determine that both the smelting of iron ores and the refining of the bloom took place within the urban centres of Hazor and Beer-Sheba. We show that slag cakes are the products of smelting, possibly carried out in pit-furnaces. Hammerscales, products of primary and secondary smithing, were attached to slags. From these observations we infer that all stages of iron production were practiced in these urban centres. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The relative chronology of the Aegean Iron Age is robust. It is based on minute stylistic changes in the Submycenaean, Protogeometric and Geometric styles and their sub-phases. Yet, the absolute chronology of the time-span between the final stages of Late Helladic IIIC in the late second millennium BCE and the archaic colonization of Italy and Sicily toward the end of the 8th century BCE lacks archaeological contexts that can be directly related to events carrying absolute dates mentioned in Egyptian/Near Eastern historical sources, or to well-dated Egyptian/Near Eastern rulers. The small number of radiocarbon dates available for this time span is not sufficient to establish an absolute chronological sequence. Here we present a new set of short-lived radiocarbon dates from the sites of Lefkandi, Kalapodi and Corinth in Greece. We focus on the crucial transition from the Submycenaean to the Protogeometric periods. This transition is placed in the late 11th century BCE according to the Conventional Aegean Chronology and in the late 12th century BCE according to the High Aegean Chronology. Our results place it in the second half of the 11th century BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near Eastern wild boars possess a characteristic DNA signature. Unexpectedly, wild boars from Israel have theDNAsequences of European wild boars and domestic pigs. To understand how this anomaly evolved, we sequenced DNA from ancient and modern pigs from Israel. Pigs from Late Bronze Age (until ca. 1150 BCE) in Israel shared haplotypes of modern and ancient Near Eastern pigs. European haplotypes became dominant only during the Iron Age (ca. 900 BCE). This raises the possibility that European pigs were brought to the region by the Sea Peoples who migrated to the Levant at that time. Then, a complete genetic turnover took place, most likely because of repeated admixture between local and introduced European domestic pigs that went feral. Severe population bottlenecks likely accelerated this process. Introductions by humans have strongly affected the phylogeography of wild animals, and interpretations of phylogeography based on modern DNA alone should be taken with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The article presents results of a petrographic investigation of pottery from Iron IIA settlements in the Negev Highlands in southern Israel. It focuses on a group of almost exclusively handmade wares that are tempered with crushed slag. The polarizing and electron microscopes explicitly identify these inclusions as copper smelting slag. Based on the slag as well as certain rock inclusions, the slag-tempered wares can be sourced to the copper districts in the Wadi Arabah, and hence for the first time provide a link between the Negev Highlands and the Arabah copper production centers in the period under review. More specifically, they demonstrate direct involvement of at least part of the pastoral-nomadic Negev Highlands population in the copper extraction system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Negev Highlands arid region (southern Levant) shows evidence of sharp settlement fluctuations, with several periods of strong human activity separated by centuries with no evidence of sedentary life. In this study, we used the palynological method in order to shed light on the region's demographic history in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Fifty-four samples of pollen were collected and analyzed from secure archaeological contexts in four Negev Highlands sites: Nahal Boqer 66, dated to the Early Bronze Age and Early Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 3200-2200 BCE); Ein Ziq, dated to the Early Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500-2200 BCE); Mashabe Sade, dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500-2000 BCE); and Haroa, dated to the Iron Age IIA (ca. late 10th through 9th centuries BCE). Our study revealed no evidence of cereal cultivation, with some hints that the inhabitants' diets may have included plants gathered from the wild. Only one of the sites, Nahal Boqer 66, showed micro-indicators of animal dung remains, suggesting that the inhabitants herded animals. The palynological evidence did, however, emphasize that the livestock there were not fed or supplemented with agricultural by-products but rather grazed freely on wild vegetation. The pollen data also suggest that all four sites were occupied only during late winter and spring. The activity in the Negev Highlands during the third millennium BCE was probably related to the copper industry in the Arabah and to copper transportation to settled neighboring lands, especially Egypt. A relatively humid climate supported the trade through the Negev Highlands. Deterioration in both climate conditions and settlement activity was documented in the second half of the Intermediate Bronze Age., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Langgut, Finkelstein. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah's royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem's involvement in the trans-regional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Although the key role of long-distance trade in the transformation of cuisines worldwide has been well-documented since at least the Roman era, the prehistory of the Eurasian food trade is less visible. In order to shed light on the transformation of Eastern Mediterranean cuisines during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, we analyzed microremains and proteins preserved in the dental calculus of individuals who lived during the second millennium BCE in the Southern Levant. Our results provide clear evidence for the consumption of expected staple foods, such as cereals (Triticeae), sesame ( Sesamum ), and dates ( Phoenix ). We additionally report evidence for the consumption of soybean ( Glycine ), probable banana ( Musa ), and turmeric ( Curcuma ), which pushes back the earliest evidence of these foods in the Mediterranean by centuries (turmeric) or even millennia (soybean). We find that, from the early second millennium onwards, at least some people in the Eastern Mediterranean had access to food from distant locations, including South Asia, and such goods were likely consumed as oils, dried fruits, and spices. These insights force us to rethink the complexity and intensity of Indo-Mediterranean trade during the Bronze Age as well as the degree of globalization in early Eastern Mediterranean cuisine., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.

We report genome-wide DNA data for 73 individuals from five archaeological sites across the Bronze and Iron Ages Southern Levant. These individuals, who share the "Canaanite" material culture, can be modeled as descending from two sources: (1) earlier local Neolithic populations and (2) populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros or the Bronze Age Caucasus. The non-local contribution increased over time, as evinced by three outliers who can be modeled as descendants of recent migrants. We show evidence that different "Canaanite" groups genetically resemble each other more than other populations. We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Late Bronze of the Eastern Mediterranean (1550-1150 BCE) was a period of strong commercial relations and great prosperity, which ended in collapse and migration of groups to the Levant. Here we aim at studying the translocation of cattle and pigs during this period. We sequenced the first ancient mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA of cattle from Greece and Israel and compared the results with morphometric analysis of the metacarpal in cattle. We also increased previous ancient pig DNA datasets from Israel and extracted the first mitochondrial DNA for samples from Greece. We found that pigs underwent a complex translocation history, with links between Anatolia with southeastern Europe in the Bronze Age, and movement from southeastern Europe to the Levant in the Iron I (ca. 1150-950 BCE). Our genetic data did not indicate movement of cattle between the Aegean region and the southern Levant. We detected the earliest evidence for crossbreeding between taurine and zebu cattle in the Iron IIA (ca. 900 BCE). In light of archaeological and historical evidence on Egyptian imperial domination in the region in the Late Bronze Age, we suggest that Egypt attempted to expand dry farming in the region in a period of severe droughts.