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Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project
Site plan of Tel Jezreel. Clicking on the image to enlarge
Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project
(2003-2009)
Dr Charlotte Whiting (CBRL) and Prof Bill Finlayson (CBRL).
Project Sponsors: CBRL, The Russell Trust, The Dr M. Aylwin Cotton Foundation
and The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust
Introduction to the Project
The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and
Publication Project aims to bring to publication the excavations at Tel Jezreel
(1990 - 1996)directed by Mr John Woodhead on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in
Jerusalem (BSAJ) with Prof David Ussishkin.
As both of the original excavators
have moved on to other fields of interest, the CBRL, as the successor body to
the former BSAJ, has undertaken the task of producing a final report. The
current post-excavation and publication project was therefore begun in September
2003 under the direction of Prof Bill Finlayson and Dr Charlotte Whiting, jointly
in consultation with John Woodhead.
As the regional headquarters of the
CBRL, the Amman office functions as the main base for the project. The
excavation archive has been gathered there, and the institute supplies workspace
and facilities. The finds which still require specialist reports are stored in
the CBRL office in Jerusalem - the Kenyon Institute. Upon completion of the
project, the final report on the excavations at Tel Jezreel will be published in
the CBRL Monographs series.
Top
The Site and Excavations
Tel
Jezreel occupies the brow of a hill overlooking to the north and east the plain
of Esdraelon or Jezreel, at the point where it becomes the valley of Jezreel,
falling away south-eastwards into the Jordan rift valley. Tel Jezreel is roughly
rectangular in shape, being ca. 350m long and 170m wide, covering an area of ca.
15 acres. The site is multi-period, with material from the Chalcolithic to the
recent past, the most important material being represented by the Iron Age, and
with a significant Crusader element.
Excavations were conducted between
1990 and 1996 in a total of eight areas (see plan of the site above for their
location). The most significant results of these seven seasons of work were the
excavation of the medieval church on the site and the uncovering of substantial
Iron Age remains. These included a large enclosure surrounded by a moat with a
six-chambered gate and monumental corner towers. Based on the limited stratigraphical evidence published so far and in accordance with the pottery,
this monumental compound has been broadly dated to the 10th and 9th
centuries BC.
Three preliminary reports, a number
of articles on figurines and weights, inscriptions, seal impressions, pipes, and
medieval burials, as well as some interim notes on the Bronze and Iron Age
pottery, the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age material, and the Classical to Ottoman
pottery have been published. In addition, some post-excavation analysis was
completed before the present project, including bringing together the site
archive in Amman and producing a Data Structure Report, various specialist
studies (lamps and coins), and the preparation of papers on some aspects of the
site history. However, a substantial number of tasks remain to be undertaken,
including the basic account of the excavation and stratigraphy and a range of
specialist studies. Outstanding specialist reports include studies of the
plaster and mortar,
faunal and botanical remains and shell.
Top
Periods and Principal Remains
present at Tel Jezreel
|
Chalcolithic |
Chipped Stone |
Analysis Jan/Feb 2005 |
|
Bronze Age |
Pottery, Chipped Stone |
Analysis Jan/Feb 2005 |
|
Iron Age |
Pottery, Architecture, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Ground Stone
|
- Pottery analysis Jan/Feb 2005 |
|
Roman /Byzantine |
Pottery, Architecture, Glass, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal
and Ceramic Small Finds, Mortar and Plaster, Ceramic Building Materials,
Ground Stone, Worked Stone |
- Pottery reports completed 2004
- Glass analysis Jan/Feb 2005
- Worked Stone report completed 2004 |
|
Medieval |
Pottery, Architecture, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and
Ceramic Small Finds, Glass, Mortar and Plaster, Ground Stone, Human
Remains, Worked Stone |
- Pottery report completed 2004
- Human Remains reports completed 2004
- Worked Stone report completed 2004 |
|
Post-Medieval |
Pottery, Architecture, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and
Ceramic Small Finds, Glass |
Pottery report completed
2004 |
Progress so Far
2003/2004
-
Completion of the final report on the
excavation of the medieval church (Charlotte Whiting)
-
Completion
of the final report on the worked stone from Area E (Andrew Skelton and
Charlotte Whiting)
-
Completion
of the final report on the medieval Christian cemetery of the site (Matthew
Bradley)
-
Conversion
of the excavation archive into electronic format held in a Microsoft Access
Project Database
-
Completion
of final reports on the Classical to Ottoman period pottery (Tony Grey)
-
Completion of the final report on the
Classical to early Islamic lamps (Anna de Vincenz)
2004/2005
-
Completion
of the final report on the chipped stone (Anne Pirie)
-
Completion
of the final report on the Classical glass (Daniel Keller)
-
Completion
of the final report on the stamped amphora handles (Donald Ariel)
-
Translation
of all remaining site diaries in Hebrew
-
Illustrations for publication of
Classical glass, Bronze and Iron Age pottery
2005/2006
-
Completion of the final report on the
Small Finds (Ina Kehrberg-Ostrasz)
-
Completion of the final report on the
Ground Stone (Yorke Rowan)
-
Completion of the Project Database (C.
Edwards, J. Fraser, K. McRae, A. Poepjes)
-
Completion on illustrations of Lithic
and Ground Stone Artefacts (K. McRae, C. Schofield)
-
Report on the Faunal Remains from Areas
C and E held in Cyprus (Paul Croft)
-
Reports on the stratigraphy of Areas C,
G, F and H (Charlotte Whiting)
Publications
Bradley, M. (2006) The Medieval Christian Cemetery at
Tel Jezreel, Levant, 38: 33-35.
Mitchell, P. (2006) Child Health
in the Crusader Period Inhabitants of Tel Jezreel, Israel, Levant, 38:
37-44.
Whiting, C. (2004) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project,
CBRL Newsletter, 2004, 30-31.
Whiting, C. (2005) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and
Publication Project, CBRL Newsletter, 2005, 49-50
Whiting, C. (2006) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and
Publication Project, CBRL Bulletin, 2006, 39-41
Archival
Material Available for Consultation at the CBRL
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