Ilan Sharon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ilan Sharon

Confronting the Past, 2006

Tel Beth-Shemesh: A Border Community in Judah, 2016

Many artefacts, such as wheel-produced ceramics, are intended to be axially symmetric. Therefore,... more Many artefacts, such as wheel-produced ceramics, are intended to be axially symmetric. Therefore, the boundaries of their intersections by planes that are perpendicular to the axis of rotation should he perfect circles (we shall use the term "horizontal .sections "for these sections). However, these ideally symmetric objects may suffer deformations when still on the wheel, or during the diying and firing stages. Asa result, the afore-mentioned sections will deviate from perfect circles. In traditional archaeological publications which rely on band drawn single profiles, this information is completely lost-the drawn profile can only represent an average profile. The introduction of accurate mea.iuring devices such as 3D scanning cameras (Leymarie et al., 2001: Rardan et ai. 2001: Sablalnig & Menard. 1996) has made 3D representations of pottery available. Using these data, it is nowpo.ssible to deduce the deformations of wheel-produced potteiy. A systematic study of these deformations may reveal the technological flaws that induced them, and might possibly be used to characterize workshops methods and production patterns. Our goal here is to provide a simple and convenient method to describe and quantify deformations of ceramics. The combination of an objective and accurate method together with high resolution 3D reconstructions is the key of this research. This enables us to zoom-in into the morphology of the vessels and deduce archaeologically meaningful insights.

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2014

This paper presents the results of a study of the cultural and economic changes from a longue dur... more This paper presents the results of a study of the cultural and economic changes from a longue durée perspective as reflected in the animal remains from a nearly continuous occupation spanning the early Iron Age through the Roman period at Tel Dor, a harbor town on Israel's Carmel coast. Such long-term zooarchaeological analyses are currently rare. Focusing on the choice of food, as well as on animal exploitation methods/strategies, the paper asks whether changes through time can be explained in economic or cultural terms, whether they can be correlated with changes in the site's material culture, whether they reflect some change in the site's population, or should be explained in terms of the adoption of new cultural norms. The results demonstrate that during a millennium and a half of Dor's existence, there was very little change in most patterns of animal exploitation and consumption. The only apparent change was in the increase in pig remains between the early Iron Age and the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In view of the constancy in all other exploitation characteristics, and in light of other data from Dor, the paper suggests that this change does not reflect a change in the site's population but rather the adoption of new norms.

Tel Aviv, 2009

... DOi 10.1179/204047809x439460 Notes on Iron IIA 14C Dates from Tell el-Qudeirat (Kadesh Barnea... more ... DOi 10.1179/204047809x439460 Notes on Iron IIA 14C Dates from Tell el-Qudeirat (Kadesh Barnea) Ayelet Gilboa,a Timothy AJ Jull,b Ilan Sharonc and Elisabetta Boarettod,e ... 84 AyElETGIlBoA, TImoThy AJ Jull, IlAn ShAron and ElISABETTA BoArETTo ...

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2009

... Lior Regev Sana Shilstein Steve Weiner Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel YiftahSh... more ... Lior Regev Sana Shilstein Steve Weiner Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel YiftahShalev Haifa University Haifa, Israel 11an Sharon Hebrew University of Jemsalem Jemsalem, Israel John Berg Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. Davis, California ...

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008

Secondary pit deposits in historical occupations of Near Eastern mounds are usually regarded as u... more Secondary pit deposits in historical occupations of Near Eastern mounds are usually regarded as uninteresting and are seldom analyzed. We used an integrated approach to study all the artifacts as well as the sediments in a pit at Tel Dor, on Israel's Carmel coast, dating to the 7th c. ...

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008

The presence of many phytolith-rich layers in late Bronze and Iron Age deposits at Tel Dor, Israe... more The presence of many phytolith-rich layers in late Bronze and Iron Age deposits at Tel Dor, Israel, are indicative of specific locations where plants were concentrated. Detailed studies of six of these phytolith-rich layers and associated sediments from Tel Dor show that the phytoliths were derived mainly from wild and domestic grasses. The most common domestic grass was the cereal Triticum aestivum (bread wheat). Three of these layers have a microlaminated microstructure, associated dung spherulites and phosphate nodules; characteristics that all point to the phytolith-rich layers having formed from dung in animal enclosures. In two of the layers, the microlaminated structure is absent while dung spherulites and phosphate nodules are present, suggesting that these too originate from dung that was not deposited in an enclosure. The sixth layer is microlaminated but does not contain spherulites. We thus cannot suggest a parsimonious explanation of its observed properties. Concentrations of burnt phytoliths are present in three locations, implying that dung was either burnt in situ or the ashes from burnt dung were redeposited. The transformation of dung accumulations into phytolith-rich layers involves a loss of organic material and hence a significant reduction in sediment volume, which is clearly apparent in the stratigraphy of some of the locations examined. The volume reduction can be observed in the macrostratigraphy and has important implications with regard to macrostratigraphic interpretation. The presence of abundant phytolith-rich layers on the tell has significant implications for the concept of 'urbanism' during these periods.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007

Many of the sediments analysed from Tel Dor (Israel) show structural alterations indicating that ... more Many of the sediments analysed from Tel Dor (Israel) show structural alterations indicating that they were exposed to high temperatures. This observation is consistent with the abundant evidence for use of pyrotechnology from the earliest exposed Middle Bronze Age strata through the Roman period. Such structurally altered sediments may well represent one of the more widespread and durable records of pyrotechnology, and as such could be invaluable for reconstructing past human activities. The specific aims of this research are therefore to develop the means for identifying local sediments that were altered by different pyrotechnological activities and to elucidate the varying circumstances whereby sediments were exposed to high temperatures in a Late Bronze and Iron Age 1 section. We first characterize natural sediments sampled on and in the proximity of the tell and monitor their transformations due to exposure to high temperatures in an oven and in open fires, focusing in particular on the transformations of the clay mineral components of mud-brick materials. The analytical techniques used include micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. Using the temperature ''calibrated'' data, we confirm that large volumes of sediments at Tel Dor were exposed to high temperatures. In Area G, we identify three fundamentally different ways that heat-affected sediments were produced and accumulated: (1) In the Late Bronze Age (Phases 11e12) the sediments were heated to temperatures between 800 and 900 C and were then deposited in the area under investigation. A plausible scenario is that these sediments were exposed to heat from ovens or kilns; (2) During the early Iron Age (Phase 10) the heat-affected sediments (heated above 1000 C) formed in close association with casting pits for the working of copper-containing (bronze) objects. (3) During Phase 9 of the Iron Age, heat-affected sediments were produced in situ at this location due to a major conflagration. The temperatures reached around 1000 C. This study shows that analysis of high temperature exposed sediments may be an invaluable means of reconstructing fire-associated activities, even when the actual installations have not been identified during the excavation or were not preserved.

CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions, 2018

for their help with proofreading. In addition, we thank the Brill editors, and especially the edi... more for their help with proofreading. In addition, we thank the Brill editors, and especially the editors of the Digital Biblical Studies series, Claire Clivaz and David Hamidović, who patiently supported us in this wonderful project. Finally, the co-editors, Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Amy Rebecca Gansell, and Alessandro di Ludovico, sincerely thank the authors for their close collaboration and for having agreed to join us in this adventure toward the advancement of the humanities for both educational and scientific purposes. More than anything else, this project would never have been successful without the strong support of our families (including Vanessa's numerous cats and dogs), friends, and peers, of whom we are deeply appreciative.

Confronting the Past

... Smith, Ruhama Bon-fil, and Talia Goldman for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this ... more ... Smith, Ruhama Bon-fil, and Talia Goldman for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article, and Ruhama Bonfil, Talia Goldman, and ... at its high-est point (first excavated by James L. Starkey and pub-lished by Tufnell [1953], subsequently probed by Aharoni [1975], and ...

Abstract: The introduction of computerized recording and measurement of archaeological ceramic ve... more Abstract: The introduction of computerized recording and measurement of archaeological ceramic vessels opens new channels of research, some of which we introduce and discuss in the present contribution. In particular, we show that the accurate measurements of wheel produced pottery provide information on the deviations from the ideal cylindrical symmetry which are due to faults in various stages of the production process. We present a systematic method to quantify two kinds of deviations from perfect symmetry: the uniformity of the profiles of cross-sections and the deformations of horizontal sections. We propose that they may be considered as indicators of the technological skill of the producers, in a way which was not possible hitherto in archaeological research.

A crucial step in any typological analysis is the determination of the prototypes according to wh... more A crucial step in any typological analysis is the determination of the prototypes according to which the assemblage is to be classified. Two conflicting requirements dictate this choice: the number of prototypes should be minimal to allow an efficient classification. At the same time, the set of prototypes should be comprehensive so that the essential variability of the original assemblage is reproduced by the prototypes. This problem is especially complex when the assemblage consists of ceramic vessels of the same genre such as e.g., storage jars, cooking pots or drinking cups. Here, we present a computerized method to identify an optimal set of prototypes, which is based on the analysis of pottery profiles considered as planar curves. The profiles are clustered according to their correlations, and the correlation tree yields a preliminary set of types, whose number is much smaller than the number of profiles in the original assemblage, and which is based on the dominant but distin...

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

Near Eastern Archaeology

... Between 1925 and 1980, Ja'acov Leibowitz and Claudine Dauphin conducted ... more ... Between 1925 and 1980, Ja'acov Leibowitz and Claudine Dauphin conducted archaeological work off the tell, chiefly in a Roman theater to its north, and in a Byzantine church to the east; Avner Raban excavated the harbor and other ... by Noa Raban-Gerstel, University of Haifa ...

Journal of Archaeological Science

The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute find... more The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute finds poses two challenges for archeologists of historical periods: it is costly and time consuming, and it puts into question the value of data collected in excavations where sieving was conducted minimally or not at all. That hand picking causes loss of data pertaining to microfaunal remains is indisputable, but the extent of information loss regarding larger fauna is not as clear. In order to evaluate these challenges for macrofaunal remains, we carried out, for the first time, a comprehensive sieving experiment at Tel Dor, a multi-layered complex site, the most prominent site type in historical periods. We examine the effects of wet sieving on the macro-and microfauna frequencies, and discuss its implications in terms of the interpretations of the faunal assemblages and the choice of excavations' collection protocols. We demonstrate that while sieving has a substantial effect on microfauna frequencies, it has a limited effect on those of the macrofauna. We also suggest that faunal assemblages of livestock animals that were hand collected or partially sieved, are valid for comparison with sieved assemblages. Finally, we call for an explicit presentation of the retrieval protocol in site reports and other studies, differentiating clearly between sieved and un-sieved material, and raise some points for future discussion.

Free access until June 30: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317300511 Abs... more Free access until June 30: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317300511 Abstract: The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute finds poses two challenges for archeologists of historical periods: it is costly and time consuming, and it puts into question the value of data collected in excavations where sieving was conducted minimally or not at all. That hand picking causes loss of data pertaining to microfaunal remains is indisputable, but the extent of information loss regarding larger fauna is not as clear. In order to evaluate these challenges for macrofaunal remains, we carried out, for the first time, a comprehensive sieving experiment at Tel Dor, a multi-layered complex site, the most prominent site type in historical periods. We examine the effects of wet sieving on the macro- and microfauna frequencies, and discuss its implications in terms of the interpretations of the faunal assemblages and the choice of ...

Confronting the Past, 2006

Tel Beth-Shemesh: A Border Community in Judah, 2016

Many artefacts, such as wheel-produced ceramics, are intended to be axially symmetric. Therefore,... more Many artefacts, such as wheel-produced ceramics, are intended to be axially symmetric. Therefore, the boundaries of their intersections by planes that are perpendicular to the axis of rotation should he perfect circles (we shall use the term "horizontal .sections "for these sections). However, these ideally symmetric objects may suffer deformations when still on the wheel, or during the diying and firing stages. Asa result, the afore-mentioned sections will deviate from perfect circles. In traditional archaeological publications which rely on band drawn single profiles, this information is completely lost-the drawn profile can only represent an average profile. The introduction of accurate mea.iuring devices such as 3D scanning cameras (Leymarie et al., 2001: Rardan et ai. 2001: Sablalnig & Menard. 1996) has made 3D representations of pottery available. Using these data, it is nowpo.ssible to deduce the deformations of wheel-produced potteiy. A systematic study of these deformations may reveal the technological flaws that induced them, and might possibly be used to characterize workshops methods and production patterns. Our goal here is to provide a simple and convenient method to describe and quantify deformations of ceramics. The combination of an objective and accurate method together with high resolution 3D reconstructions is the key of this research. This enables us to zoom-in into the morphology of the vessels and deduce archaeologically meaningful insights.

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2014

This paper presents the results of a study of the cultural and economic changes from a longue dur... more This paper presents the results of a study of the cultural and economic changes from a longue durée perspective as reflected in the animal remains from a nearly continuous occupation spanning the early Iron Age through the Roman period at Tel Dor, a harbor town on Israel's Carmel coast. Such long-term zooarchaeological analyses are currently rare. Focusing on the choice of food, as well as on animal exploitation methods/strategies, the paper asks whether changes through time can be explained in economic or cultural terms, whether they can be correlated with changes in the site's material culture, whether they reflect some change in the site's population, or should be explained in terms of the adoption of new cultural norms. The results demonstrate that during a millennium and a half of Dor's existence, there was very little change in most patterns of animal exploitation and consumption. The only apparent change was in the increase in pig remains between the early Iron Age and the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In view of the constancy in all other exploitation characteristics, and in light of other data from Dor, the paper suggests that this change does not reflect a change in the site's population but rather the adoption of new norms.

Tel Aviv, 2009

... DOi 10.1179/204047809x439460 Notes on Iron IIA 14C Dates from Tell el-Qudeirat (Kadesh Barnea... more ... DOi 10.1179/204047809x439460 Notes on Iron IIA 14C Dates from Tell el-Qudeirat (Kadesh Barnea) Ayelet Gilboa,a Timothy AJ Jull,b Ilan Sharonc and Elisabetta Boarettod,e ... 84 AyElETGIlBoA, TImoThy AJ Jull, IlAn ShAron and ElISABETTA BoArETTo ...

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2009

... Lior Regev Sana Shilstein Steve Weiner Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel YiftahSh... more ... Lior Regev Sana Shilstein Steve Weiner Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel YiftahShalev Haifa University Haifa, Israel 11an Sharon Hebrew University of Jemsalem Jemsalem, Israel John Berg Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. Davis, California ...

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008

Secondary pit deposits in historical occupations of Near Eastern mounds are usually regarded as u... more Secondary pit deposits in historical occupations of Near Eastern mounds are usually regarded as uninteresting and are seldom analyzed. We used an integrated approach to study all the artifacts as well as the sediments in a pit at Tel Dor, on Israel's Carmel coast, dating to the 7th c. ...

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008

The presence of many phytolith-rich layers in late Bronze and Iron Age deposits at Tel Dor, Israe... more The presence of many phytolith-rich layers in late Bronze and Iron Age deposits at Tel Dor, Israel, are indicative of specific locations where plants were concentrated. Detailed studies of six of these phytolith-rich layers and associated sediments from Tel Dor show that the phytoliths were derived mainly from wild and domestic grasses. The most common domestic grass was the cereal Triticum aestivum (bread wheat). Three of these layers have a microlaminated microstructure, associated dung spherulites and phosphate nodules; characteristics that all point to the phytolith-rich layers having formed from dung in animal enclosures. In two of the layers, the microlaminated structure is absent while dung spherulites and phosphate nodules are present, suggesting that these too originate from dung that was not deposited in an enclosure. The sixth layer is microlaminated but does not contain spherulites. We thus cannot suggest a parsimonious explanation of its observed properties. Concentrations of burnt phytoliths are present in three locations, implying that dung was either burnt in situ or the ashes from burnt dung were redeposited. The transformation of dung accumulations into phytolith-rich layers involves a loss of organic material and hence a significant reduction in sediment volume, which is clearly apparent in the stratigraphy of some of the locations examined. The volume reduction can be observed in the macrostratigraphy and has important implications with regard to macrostratigraphic interpretation. The presence of abundant phytolith-rich layers on the tell has significant implications for the concept of 'urbanism' during these periods.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007

Many of the sediments analysed from Tel Dor (Israel) show structural alterations indicating that ... more Many of the sediments analysed from Tel Dor (Israel) show structural alterations indicating that they were exposed to high temperatures. This observation is consistent with the abundant evidence for use of pyrotechnology from the earliest exposed Middle Bronze Age strata through the Roman period. Such structurally altered sediments may well represent one of the more widespread and durable records of pyrotechnology, and as such could be invaluable for reconstructing past human activities. The specific aims of this research are therefore to develop the means for identifying local sediments that were altered by different pyrotechnological activities and to elucidate the varying circumstances whereby sediments were exposed to high temperatures in a Late Bronze and Iron Age 1 section. We first characterize natural sediments sampled on and in the proximity of the tell and monitor their transformations due to exposure to high temperatures in an oven and in open fires, focusing in particular on the transformations of the clay mineral components of mud-brick materials. The analytical techniques used include micromorphology, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry. Using the temperature ''calibrated'' data, we confirm that large volumes of sediments at Tel Dor were exposed to high temperatures. In Area G, we identify three fundamentally different ways that heat-affected sediments were produced and accumulated: (1) In the Late Bronze Age (Phases 11e12) the sediments were heated to temperatures between 800 and 900 C and were then deposited in the area under investigation. A plausible scenario is that these sediments were exposed to heat from ovens or kilns; (2) During the early Iron Age (Phase 10) the heat-affected sediments (heated above 1000 C) formed in close association with casting pits for the working of copper-containing (bronze) objects. (3) During Phase 9 of the Iron Age, heat-affected sediments were produced in situ at this location due to a major conflagration. The temperatures reached around 1000 C. This study shows that analysis of high temperature exposed sediments may be an invaluable means of reconstructing fire-associated activities, even when the actual installations have not been identified during the excavation or were not preserved.

CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions, 2018

for their help with proofreading. In addition, we thank the Brill editors, and especially the edi... more for their help with proofreading. In addition, we thank the Brill editors, and especially the editors of the Digital Biblical Studies series, Claire Clivaz and David Hamidović, who patiently supported us in this wonderful project. Finally, the co-editors, Vanessa Bigot Juloux, Amy Rebecca Gansell, and Alessandro di Ludovico, sincerely thank the authors for their close collaboration and for having agreed to join us in this adventure toward the advancement of the humanities for both educational and scientific purposes. More than anything else, this project would never have been successful without the strong support of our families (including Vanessa's numerous cats and dogs), friends, and peers, of whom we are deeply appreciative.

Confronting the Past

... Smith, Ruhama Bon-fil, and Talia Goldman for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this ... more ... Smith, Ruhama Bon-fil, and Talia Goldman for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article, and Ruhama Bonfil, Talia Goldman, and ... at its high-est point (first excavated by James L. Starkey and pub-lished by Tufnell [1953], subsequently probed by Aharoni [1975], and ...

Abstract: The introduction of computerized recording and measurement of archaeological ceramic ve... more Abstract: The introduction of computerized recording and measurement of archaeological ceramic vessels opens new channels of research, some of which we introduce and discuss in the present contribution. In particular, we show that the accurate measurements of wheel produced pottery provide information on the deviations from the ideal cylindrical symmetry which are due to faults in various stages of the production process. We present a systematic method to quantify two kinds of deviations from perfect symmetry: the uniformity of the profiles of cross-sections and the deformations of horizontal sections. We propose that they may be considered as indicators of the technological skill of the producers, in a way which was not possible hitherto in archaeological research.

A crucial step in any typological analysis is the determination of the prototypes according to wh... more A crucial step in any typological analysis is the determination of the prototypes according to which the assemblage is to be classified. Two conflicting requirements dictate this choice: the number of prototypes should be minimal to allow an efficient classification. At the same time, the set of prototypes should be comprehensive so that the essential variability of the original assemblage is reproduced by the prototypes. This problem is especially complex when the assemblage consists of ceramic vessels of the same genre such as e.g., storage jars, cooking pots or drinking cups. Here, we present a computerized method to identify an optimal set of prototypes, which is based on the analysis of pottery profiles considered as planar curves. The profiles are clustered according to their correlations, and the correlation tree yields a preliminary set of types, whose number is much smaller than the number of profiles in the original assemblage, and which is based on the dominant but distin...

Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

Near Eastern Archaeology

... Between 1925 and 1980, Ja'acov Leibowitz and Claudine Dauphin conducted ... more ... Between 1925 and 1980, Ja'acov Leibowitz and Claudine Dauphin conducted archaeological work off the tell, chiefly in a Roman theater to its north, and in a Byzantine church to the east; Avner Raban excavated the harbor and other ... by Noa Raban-Gerstel, University of Haifa ...

Journal of Archaeological Science

The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute find... more The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute finds poses two challenges for archeologists of historical periods: it is costly and time consuming, and it puts into question the value of data collected in excavations where sieving was conducted minimally or not at all. That hand picking causes loss of data pertaining to microfaunal remains is indisputable, but the extent of information loss regarding larger fauna is not as clear. In order to evaluate these challenges for macrofaunal remains, we carried out, for the first time, a comprehensive sieving experiment at Tel Dor, a multi-layered complex site, the most prominent site type in historical periods. We examine the effects of wet sieving on the macro-and microfauna frequencies, and discuss its implications in terms of the interpretations of the faunal assemblages and the choice of excavations' collection protocols. We demonstrate that while sieving has a substantial effect on microfauna frequencies, it has a limited effect on those of the macrofauna. We also suggest that faunal assemblages of livestock animals that were hand collected or partially sieved, are valid for comparison with sieved assemblages. Finally, we call for an explicit presentation of the retrieval protocol in site reports and other studies, differentiating clearly between sieved and un-sieved material, and raise some points for future discussion.

Free access until June 30: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317300511 Abs... more Free access until June 30: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317300511 Abstract: The understanding that fine mesh sieving is the optimal procedure for the recovery of minute finds poses two challenges for archeologists of historical periods: it is costly and time consuming, and it puts into question the value of data collected in excavations where sieving was conducted minimally or not at all. That hand picking causes loss of data pertaining to microfaunal remains is indisputable, but the extent of information loss regarding larger fauna is not as clear. In order to evaluate these challenges for macrofaunal remains, we carried out, for the first time, a comprehensive sieving experiment at Tel Dor, a multi-layered complex site, the most prominent site type in historical periods. We examine the effects of wet sieving on the macro- and microfauna frequencies, and discuss its implications in terms of the interpretations of the faunal assemblages and the choice of ...