Papers by Ayelet Dayan
Hungarian Archaeology
The goal of the research project described and discussed here is the meticulous assessment of the... more The goal of the research project described and discussed here is the meticulous assessment of the tombs and cemetery sections investigated in two geographically fairly restricted regions: Western Galilee and the broader area of Caesarea Philippi, both lying in the former Late Roman province of Phoenicia. With the generous support of the Israel Antiquities Authority, we were granted access to several mortuary assemblages that have remained unpublished or were only partially published. The meticulous assessment of these assemblages provides a unique opportunity for studying mortuary practices in the Eastern Mediterranean on a micro-regional level as well as for tracing changes through half a millennium at a finer resolution. We expect to gain a deeper understanding of the region’s mortuary traditions and their change as well as of local attitudes to death among the region’s pagan and pagan-turned-Christian population across half a millennium.
Magyar Régészet
Az itt bemutatott új kutatási program az elmúlt egy évszázadban feltárt sírkamrák és temetőrészle... more Az itt bemutatott új kutatási program az elmúlt egy évszázadban feltárt sírkamrák és temetőrészletek vizsgálatát tűzte ki céljául két, földrajzi értelemben viszonylag behatárolt térségben: az egykor Phoenicia késő ókori tartományába eső Nyugat-Galileában és Caesarea Philippi tágabb környezetében elhelyezkedő lelőhelyeken. Ehhez az Izraeli Régészeti Hatóság (Israel Antiquities Authority) támogatásának köszönhetően számos olyan síregyüttes feldolgozására kaptunk engedélyt, amelyeket ásatóik eddig nem, vagy csak részben tettek közzé. Ezek elemzése egyedi kutatási lehetőséget kínál azáltal, hogy a kelet-mediterrán térség temetkezési szokásainak alakulását egy fél évezreden keresztül mikroregionális szinten követhetjük végig. A vizsgálatoktól a régió pogány, majd kereszténnyé lett lakossága körében a temetkezési szokásrendszerben és a halálról történő gondolkodásban mintegy fél évezred során bekövetkezett változások pontosabb megértését várjuk.
Antiguo Oriente, 2020
Remains from the Late Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Ayubic and Mamluk periods were identified in ar... more Remains from the Late Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Ayubic and Mamluk periods were identified in archaeological excavations at the Gan Ha-Darom site. Two major stages of settlement in the Byzantine and Middle Ages were exposed in the excavations. Early remains were revealed indicating that a farmhouse or a monastery existed in the 4th–6th centuries CE, which includes a mosaic-paved chapel decorated with geometric designs and remains of at least four installations, probably winepresses. At the time, the site also served as an agricultural hinterland and an industrial zone, evidenced by an elaborate winepress that was exposed c. 120 m south of the farmhouse/monastery. In one of its collecting vats was built as secondary stage potterykiln. This article will discuss the industrial zone and the elaborate winepress.
Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significan... more Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significant role in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and intensive beekeeping was noted in Israel during the Biblical period when apiaries were first identified. This study investigates the origins of this extensive beekeeping through organic residue analysis of pottery from prehistoric sites in the southern Levant. The results suggest that beehive products from likely wild bees were used during the Chalcolithic period as a vessel surface treatment and/or as part of the diet. These functions are reinforced by comparison to the wider archaeological record. While the true frequency of beeswax use may be debated, alternatives to beehive products were seemingly preferred as wild resources contrasted with the socio-economic system centred on domesticated resources, controlled production and standardization. Bee products only became an important part of the economic canon in the southern Levant several millennia ...
Additional TICs of the samples from Neve Yam, Tel Tsaf, Tel Bene Beraq (South) and Tsomet Shoket ... more Additional TICs of the samples from Neve Yam, Tel Tsaf, Tel Bene Beraq (South) and Tsomet Shoket that were mentioned in the text
Overview of the sites investigated in this study that showed evidence for beeswax
Royal Society Open Science, 2021
Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significan... more Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significant role in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and intensive beekeeping was noted in Israel during the Biblical period when apiaries were first identified. This study investigates the origins of this extensive beekeeping through organic residue analysis of pottery from prehistoric sites in the southern Levant. The results suggest that beehive products from likely wild bees were used during the Chalcolithic period as a vessel surface treatment and/or as part of the diet. These functions are reinforced by comparison to the wider archaeological record. While the true frequency of beeswax use may be debated, alternatives to beehive products were seemingly preferred as wild resources contrasted with the socio-economic system centred on domesticated resources, controlled production and standardization. Bee products only became an important part of the economic canon in the southern Levant several millennia ...
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that ha... more Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that have been developed in the last years for the study of sun-dried and heated mud bricks. This research analyzed for the first time the chain of operational processes involved in the manufacture of heated mud bricks in the Neolithic of the Southern Levant. Heated mud bricks (and associated soil/sediment controls) were studied from four Neolithic sites in Israel; the submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) site of Atlit-Yam, the coastal PPNC site of Bene Beraq, the submerged late Pottery Neolithic/ Early Chalcolithic (PN/EC) site of Neve Yam and the coastal PN/EC site of 'Ein Asawir. In all sites, the bricks have been found in open areas within the settlements, in semi-circular concentrations of either pits or piles. The bricks have been characterized macroscopically (shape, size, color pattern) and a variety of micro-geoarchaeological techniques have been used to characterize the mud brick materials (and control soils/sediments) from the four sites. These included, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH analysis, calcite content measurements, Loss on Ignition (LOI), phytolith analysis, and petrography. The results show that all bricks have been produced from sediments from the sites' vicinities. PPNC mud bricks are generally devoid of any type of temper and have been heated to a relatively wide range of high temperatures (600-900°C) under heterogeneous atmospheric conditions. PN/EC mud bricks are enriched in calcite and include vegetal temper, and have been heated to a relatively narrow range of temperatures (500-700°C) that is lower than that observed in PPNC mud bricks, and under standard oxidizing conditions. The grass component of temper in the PN/EC bricks may originate from emmer wheat, based on phytolith morphological analysis. Interestingly, FTIR criteria for heated clay minerals preserve underwater for millennia, and so do phytolith assemblages; these observations indicate that micro-geoarchaeological proxies can (and should) be utilized in studies of marine submerged prehistory. Overall, a diachronic perspective on the operational chain of PPNC and PN/EC mud bricks, from raw material procurement through tempering, moulding and firing is provided, which may be translated into developing pyrotechnological practices in light of increasing social complexity during the Neolithic. We propose that purposeful tempering by emmer wheat (agricultural byproducts) may be related to socioeconomic factors such as symbolic addition of domestic surplus and that temper diversity in the PN/EC may also mirror sedentary life where domestic waste accumulated on local soil/sediment and thus incorporated into mud bricks. Furthermore, we propose that the more standardized pyrotechnological characteristics of PN/EC bricks are related to increased social control over this skill/craft.
Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 2021
The present paper publishes the archaeological remains of a monastery church excavated in 1958 at... more The present paper publishes the archaeological remains of a monastery church excavated in 1958 at Khirbet er-Ras (Kefar Truman), Israel. The description of the architectural remains, including the three-aisled basilica and the structures surrounding it, is based on the archival documentation. This is followed by the detailed description and analysis of the church's mosaic pavements, preserved in the nave and in both side-aisles, with special emphasis on the mosaic decoration of the nave's central panel, set as a carpet design made up of florets enclosed by outlined scales, whose Levantine parallels are reviewed. In contrast to the sixth-century CE date proposed in previous reports, the setting of the floor is here placed into the third quarter of the fifth century CE based on Leah Di Segni's palaeographic date of the mosaic's inscription located in front of the sanctuary area. Using this revised date as a springboard for further discussion, a less linear stylistic de...
‘Atiqot, 2021
The excavation conducted on 3 Ha-Yarqon Street, Bene Beraq, c. 150 m southeast of Naḥal Ha-Yarqon... more The excavation conducted on 3 Ha-Yarqon Street, Bene Beraq, c. 150 m southeast of Naḥal Ha-Yarqon, yielded remains dating from Middle Bronze Age II and the Byzantine, Early Islamic and Ottoman periods within two excavation areas.
The finds attest to activity at the site during MB IIA–B, possibly including the production of store jars as attested by the exposure of many such vessels and a pottery kiln dating from this period. Until now, only large tells were known from this period in this region. Therefore, it seems that the site was a small satellite site located along Naḥal Ha-Yarqon, contemporary with the large cities of Afeq-Antipatris, Yafo and Tel Gerisa. The finds from the Late Roman–Byzantine periods included many antilia vessels, pointing to the existence of an antilia well nearby. Activity at the site ceased between the Early Islamic and Ottoman periods, when an irrigation system was operated for the irrigation of orchards. Finds unrelated to architectural elements include basalt stone vessels and flint
items.
Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 2021
The present paper publishes the archaeological remains of a monastery church excavated in 1958 at... more The present paper publishes the archaeological remains of a monastery church excavated in 1958 at Khirbet er-Ras (Kefar Truman), Israel. The description of the architectural remains, including the threeaisled basilica and the structures surrounding it, is based on the archival documentation. This is followed by the detailed description and analysis of the church's mosaic pavements, preserved in the nave and in both side-aisles, with special emphasis on the mosaic decoration of the nave's central panel, set as a carpet design made up of florets enclosed by outlined scales, whose Levantine parallels are reviewed. In contrast to the sixth-century CE date proposed in previous reports, the setting of the floor is here placed into the third quarter of the fifth century CE based on Leah Di Segni's palaeographic date of the mosaic's inscription located in front of the sanctuary area. Using this revised date as a springboard for further discussion, a less linear stylistic development of mosaic floors covered by floral semis ornaments embedded in plain and outlined scales is suggested.
ANTIGUO ORIENTE, 2021
Remains from the Late Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Ayubic and Mamluk periods were identified in ar... more Remains from the Late Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Ayubic and Mamluk periods were identified in archaeological excavations at the Gan Ha-Darom site. Two major stages of settlement in the Byzantine and Middle Ages were exposed in the excavations. Early remains were revealed indicating that a farmhouse or a monastery existed in the 4th–6th centuries CE, which includes a mosaic-paved chapel decorated with geometric designs and remains of at least four installations, probably winepresses. At the time, the site also served as an agricultural hinterland and an industrial zone, evidenced by an elaborate winepress that was exposed c. 120 m south of the farmhouse/monastery. In one of its collecting vats was built as secondary stage potterykiln. This article will discuss the industrial zone and the elaborate winepress.
Excavation of the Southern Cemetery of Jaffa (5th Century B.C.–13th Century C.E.), 2020
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that ha... more Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that have been developed in the last years for the study of sun-dried and heated mud bricks. This research analyzed for the first time the chain of operational processes involved in the manufacture of heated mud bricks in the Neolithic of the Southern Levant. Heated mud bricks (and associated soil/sediment controls) were studied from four Neolithic sites in Israel; the submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) site of Atlit-Yam, the coastal PPNC site of Bene Beraq, the submerged late Pottery Neolithic/ Early Chalcolithic (PN/EC) site of Neve Yam and the coastal PN/EC site of 'Ein Asawir. In all sites, the bricks have been found in open areas within the settlements, in semi-circular concentrations of either pits or piles. The bricks have been characterized macroscopically (shape, size, color pattern) and a variety of micro-geoarchaeological techniques have been used to characterize the mud brick materials (and control soils/sediments) from the four sites. These included, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH analysis, calcite content measurements, Loss on Ignition (LOI), phytolith analysis, and petrography. The results show that all bricks have been produced from sediments from the sites' vicinities. PPNC mud bricks are generally devoid of any type of temper and have been heated to a relatively wide range of high temperatures (600-900°C) under heterogeneous atmospheric conditions. PN/EC mud bricks are enriched in calcite and include vegetal temper, and have been heated to a relatively narrow range of temperatures (500-700°C) that is lower than that observed in PPNC mud bricks, and under standard oxidizing conditions. The grass component of temper in the PN/EC bricks may originate from emmer wheat, based on phytolith morphological analysis. Interestingly, FTIR criteria for heated clay minerals preserve underwater for millennia, and so do phytolith assemblages; these observations indicate that micro-geoarchaeological proxies can (and should) be utilized in studies of marine submerged prehistory. Overall, a diachronic perspective on the operational chain of PPNC and PN/EC mud bricks, from raw material procurement through tempering, moulding and firing is provided, which may be translated into developing pyrotechnological practices in light of increasing social complexity during the Neolithic. We propose that purposeful tempering by emmer wheat (agricultural by-products) may be related to socioeconomic factors such as symbolic addition of domestic surplus and that temper diversity in the PN/EC may also mirror sedentary life where domestic waste accumulated on local soil/sediment and thus incorporated into mud bricks. Furthermore, we propose that the more standardized pyrotechnological characteristics of PN/EC bricks are related to increased social control over this skill/craft.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020
Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that ha... more Technological and social practices can be deciphered by deployment of multiple techniques that have been developed in the last years for the study of sun-dried and heated mud bricks. This research analyzed for the first time the chain of operational processes involved in the manufacture of heated mud bricks in the Neolithic of the Southern Levant. Heated mud bricks (and associated soil/sediment controls) were studied from four Neolithic sites in Israel; the submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) site of Atlit-Yam, the coastal PPNC site of Bene Beraq, the submerged late Pottery Neolithic/ Early Chalcolithic (PN/EC) site of Neve Yam and the coastal PN/EC site of 'Ein Asawir. In all sites, the bricks have been found in open areas within the settlements, in semi-circular concentrations of either pits or piles. The bricks have been characterized macroscopically (shape, size, color pattern) and a variety of micro-geoarchaeological techniques have been used to characterize the mud brick materials (and control soils/sediments) from the four sites. These included, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH analysis, calcite content measurements, Loss on Ignition (LOI), phytolith analysis, and petrography. The results show that all bricks have been produced from sediments from the sites' vicinities. PPNC mud bricks are generally devoid of any type of temper and have been heated to a relatively wide range of high temperatures (600-900°C) under heterogeneous atmospheric conditions. PN/EC mud bricks are enriched in calcite and include vegetal temper, and have been heated to a relatively narrow range of temperatures (500-700°C) that is lower than that observed in PPNC mud bricks, and under standard oxidizing conditions. The grass component of temper in the PN/EC bricks may originate from emmer wheat, based on phytolith morphological analysis. Interestingly, FTIR criteria for heated clay minerals preserve underwater for millennia, and so do phytolith assemblages; these observations indicate that micro-geoarchaeological proxies can (and should) be utilized in studies of marine submerged prehistory. Overall, a diachronic perspective on the operational chain of PPNC and PN/EC mud bricks, from raw material procurement through tempering, moulding and firing is provided, which may be translated into developing pyrotechnological practices in light of increasing social complexity during the Neolithic. We propose that purposeful tempering by emmer wheat (agricultural by-products) may be related to socioeconomic factors such as symbolic addition of domestic surplus and that temper diversity in the PN/EC may also mirror sedentary life where domestic waste accumulated on local soil/sediment and thus incorporated into mud bricks. Furthermore, we propose that the more standardized pyrotechnological characteristics of PN/EC bricks are related to increased social control over this skill/craft.
והנגב יהודה מדבר המלח, ים מצדה, גדי, עין המדבר: אל הכמיהה ב. הביזאנטית ... more והנגב יהודה מדבר המלח, ים מצדה, גדי, עין המדבר: אל הכמיהה ב. הביזאנטית בתקופה גדי עין בכפר הכנסת בית ליד מגורים בתי -הדס גדעון לפסה"נ) 37-40( אנטיגונוס מתתיהו של ומטבעותיו גדי בעין ממערה ברונזה טבעת -פרחי יואב מגב הדרך -שטיבל וגיא מרום נמרוד פרחי, יואב ג'קסון-טל, רות בר-נתן, רחל פורת, רועי דוידוביץ', אורי וצפירה בדר מצדי וחפירות למצדה ההר מלשון -הרומית התקופה מן דרך הלוחית?): (מעלה צפי נקב -פורת ורועי דוידוביץ' אורי דוד, בן חיים רבת-מואב אל המלח ים -129 תמר בעין נבטית קבורה ממערת (שעטנז) ופשתן צמר מחוטי אריגים -שמיר אורית הלועזי בחלק 53*-60* עמ' מסורות, ההלניסטית: בתקופה ביהודה השליט המעמד של הפרטיים הגנים עיצוב -אביסף שני רונה וחידושים השפעות ט י יא טו כא 1 17 29 51 63 75 89 93 103 129 149 היישוב תולדות להבנת ותרומתן מקורות סוגים, הביזנטית: שבטה של הבניין אבני -יוסף בן ארז וסביבותיו הקטן והממצא הארכיטקטוניים הפריטים עדות ג.
Preliminary reports by Ayelet Dayan
Various types of tombs, built installations and installations hewn in kurkar bedrock, dating from... more Various types of tombs, built installations and installations hewn in kurkar bedrock, dating from the Persian period (sixth century BCE) to the modern era.
Short final reports by Ayelet Dayan
Archaeological documentation in a building in the Old City of Jaffa
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Papers by Ayelet Dayan
The finds attest to activity at the site during MB IIA–B, possibly including the production of store jars as attested by the exposure of many such vessels and a pottery kiln dating from this period. Until now, only large tells were known from this period in this region. Therefore, it seems that the site was a small satellite site located along Naḥal Ha-Yarqon, contemporary with the large cities of Afeq-Antipatris, Yafo and Tel Gerisa. The finds from the Late Roman–Byzantine periods included many antilia vessels, pointing to the existence of an antilia well nearby. Activity at the site ceased between the Early Islamic and Ottoman periods, when an irrigation system was operated for the irrigation of orchards. Finds unrelated to architectural elements include basalt stone vessels and flint
items.
Preliminary reports by Ayelet Dayan
Short final reports by Ayelet Dayan
The finds attest to activity at the site during MB IIA–B, possibly including the production of store jars as attested by the exposure of many such vessels and a pottery kiln dating from this period. Until now, only large tells were known from this period in this region. Therefore, it seems that the site was a small satellite site located along Naḥal Ha-Yarqon, contemporary with the large cities of Afeq-Antipatris, Yafo and Tel Gerisa. The finds from the Late Roman–Byzantine periods included many antilia vessels, pointing to the existence of an antilia well nearby. Activity at the site ceased between the Early Islamic and Ottoman periods, when an irrigation system was operated for the irrigation of orchards. Finds unrelated to architectural elements include basalt stone vessels and flint
items.