Settlement Patterns in the Southern Levant Deserts During the 6th–3rd Millennia BC: a Revision Based on14C Dating
Open accessAbstract
Archaeological surveys conducted in the Negev and Sinai during the 20th century were commonly interpreted as representing short settlement periods interrupted by long gaps. The time factor was usually based on archaeological estimates rather than comprehensive physical dating. For example, the perceived age and time duration of “hole-mouth” pottery sherds and tabular flint scrapers became a source of circular reasoning to “date” sites and their “duration.” Thus, desert sites became to be perceived as temporary, seasonal, short-lived, while the cultures of desert populations were somehow undervalued. However, radiocarbon dating of desert sites from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age IV presents a very different scenario. The deserts of the Southern Levant exhibit a full sequence of settlement, a longer life span of individual sites, and a higher level of activity and creativity of the desert people. This paper describes the controversy and presents the 14 C data that form the basis for the revised view.
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Of the 420 dates, 60 samples originate from sites in the arid zone whose material culture assemblages are difficult to assign to a particular EB subphase.
“Of these, 60 samples originate from sites in the arid zone (Avner and Carmi 2001), whose material culture assemblages are difficult to assign to a particular EB subphase.”
From Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology (2012) · cites this paper as Avner and Carmi 2001
The appendix (Table 2; page unavailable) lists radiocarbon dates from desert sites, and ‘Settlement Duration of Desert Sites’ explains that pottery and flint tools once assigned to EB-II have a wider date range, supporting the difficulty of assigning sites to an EB subphase. ‘Settlement Patterns Based on Radiocarbon Dating’ reports 175 dates from 73 sites, but our copy does not identify the cited 60-sample subset; the 420-date total belongs to the citing document’s framing. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredDates from arid zones in the south published by Avner and Carmi are not considered in this work because the associated material culture is meager and incompletely published.
“The dates from arid zones in the south, published by Avner and Carmi (2001), are not considered in this work as the material culture connected with them is meager and incompletely published.”
From Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology (2012) · cites this paper as Avner and Carmi 2001
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Research works printed but not linked: 14
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Cited by
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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
- Avner, U., & Carmi, I.
- Affiliations
- Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (IL)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Venue
- Radiocarbon
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2001
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1203-1216
- ISSN
- 0033-8222 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-5755
- OpenAlex
- W2485150656
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Radiocarbon (publishedVersion)
- UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeological and Geological Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Archaeology and Historical Studies
- Keywords
- settlement patterns, desert archaeology, Negev, Sinai, Late Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, radiocarbon dating, desert populations, Neolithic to Bronze Age transition
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