The Beginning of the Early Bronze Age in the North Jordan Valley: New14C Determinations from Pella in Jordan
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This article reports on 10 new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from early phases of the Early Bronze Age at the long-lived settlement of Pella (modern Tabaqat Fahl) in the north Jordan Valley. The new AMS dates fall between 3400 and 2800 cal BC, and support a recent suggestion that all Chalcolithic period occupation had ceased by 3800/3700 cal BC at the latest (Bourke et al. 2004b). Other recently published Early Bronze Age 14 C data strongly supports this revisionist scenario, suggesting that the earliest phase of the Early Bronze Age (EBA I) occupied much of the 4th millennium cal BC (3800/3700 to 3100/3000 cal BC). As this EB I period in the Jordan Valley is generally viewed as the key precursor phase in the development of urbanism (Joffe 1993), this revisionist chronology has potentially radical significance for understanding both the nature and speed of the move from village settlement towards a complex urban lifeway.
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The EB IB to EB II transition result is similar to that suggested by the sequence of dates from Pella.
“This result is similar to that suggested by the sequence of dates from Pella (Bourke et al. 2009).”
From Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology (2012) · cites this paper as Bourke et al. 2009
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Cites
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Bourke, S., Zoppi, U., Meadows, J., Hua, Q., & Gibbins, S. (2004) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s003382220003962x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
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Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology
Regev, J., De Miroschedji, P., Greenberg, R., Braun, E., Greenhut, Z., & Boaretto, E. (2012) · Radiocarbon · doi:10.1017/s003382220004724x · Cited by 209 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bourke, S., Zoppi, U., Meadows, J., Hua, Q., & Gibbins, S.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Accium Biosciences (United States) (US)
- University College London (GB)
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Bourke, Stephen
- Venue
- Radiocarbon
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2009
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 905-913
- ISSN
- 0033-8222 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-5755
- OpenAlex
- W2208083784
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Radiocarbon (publishedVersion)
- UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion)
- The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Institutional Repository (The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Gilead Sciences
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History
- Keywords
- Early Bronze Age, Pella, radiocarbon chronology, Chalcolithic, village settlement
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