The Economic Base of Early Bronze Age Hesi

Tell el-Hesi is a large and important Early Bronze Age site located about 25 km east of Gaza. Much of this twenty-five-acre site was a single-period late EBIIIA fortified city. This makes the site unique in its region. These remains were one focus of excavation by the Joint Archaeological Expedition...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Toombs, Lawrence E. 1919-2007 (Author) ; Blakely, Jeffrey A. 1952- (Author) ; Anderson, Roger W. 1948-2014 (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group [2020]
In: Palestine exploration quarterly
Year: 2020, Volume: 152, Issue: 4, Pages: 283-303
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Environment (Art) / Tell el-Hesi / Bronze Age / Stratigraphy
IxTheo Classification:HD Early Judaism
HH Archaeology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Tell el-Hesi is a large and important Early Bronze Age site located about 25 km east of Gaza. Much of this twenty-five-acre site was a single-period late EBIIIA fortified city. This makes the site unique in its region. These remains were one focus of excavation by the Joint Archaeological Expedition to Tell el-Hesi during its 1977, 1979, 1981, and 1983 seasons. Almost forty years of post-excavation analysis have yet to yield a final report, and now all original leaders in this research are either inactive or have died. The final effort of these researchers was to prepare this brief manuscript that provides their stratigraphic overview of the changing economic base that supported the EB city. This article represents the final thoughts of those who excavated the materials, and it will serve as the interpretive model to be tested as a new generation of scholars moves to publish the final report. Ultimately, they concluded that Hesi was constructed de novo along Wadi el-Hesi, which at that time was a flowing stream, the populace being supported by mixed herding and grain agriculture in which cattle played a key role. After some years, however, the stream’s flow declined, and cattle ceased to be a key element in the herds. They assumed that as herding declined grain production became increasingly important in supporting the economic well-being of the city.
ISSN:1743-1301
Contains:Enthalten in: Palestine exploration quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/00310328.2020.1829875