This two-volume book presents cutting-edge archaeological research, primarily as practiced in the Eastern Mediterranean region. These volumes' key foci are inspired by the work of Thomas E. Levy. Volume 1 provides an in-depth look at new archaeological research in the southern Levant (primarily in modern Israel and Jordan) inspired by Levy's commitment to understanding social, political, and economic processes in a long-term or "deep time" perspective. Volume 2 focuses on new research in several key areas of 21st century anthropological archaeology and archaeological science.
Volume 1 is organized around two major themes: 1) the later prehistory of the southern Levant, or the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age, and 2) new research in biblical archaeology, or the historical archaeology of the Iron Age. Each section contains a combination of new perspectives on key debates and studies introducing new research questions and directions.
Volume 2 is organized around five major themes: 1) the archaeology of the Faynan copper ore district of southern Jordan, a key region for archaeometallurgical research in West Asia where Levy conducted field research for over a decade, 2) new research in archaeometallurgy beyond the Faynan region, 3) marine and maritime archaeology, focusing on issues of trade and environmental change, 4) cyber-archaeology, an important 21st century field Levy conceived as "the marriage of archaeology, engineering, computer science, and the natural sciences," and 5) key issues in anthropological archaeological theory. In addition to presenting the reader with an up-to-date view of research in each of these areas, the volume also has chapters exploring the connections between these themes, e.g. the maritime trade of metals and cyber-/digital archaeological approaches to metallurgy.
The work contains contributions from both up-and-coming early career researchers and key established figures in their fields. This book is an essential reference for archaeologists and scholars in related disciplines working in the southern Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean.
About the Author: Erez Ben-Yosef is Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. He directs the Central Timna Valley Project in southern Israel, where he and his team have unearthed evidence of intense copper production from the time of David and Solomon. His research focuses on ancient technologies, especially metal production, and on the archaeological sciences. Ben-Yosef studied archaeology and geology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA, BSc, MSc) and archaeology and anthropology at the University of California, San Diego (MA, PhD). His postdoctoral research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography focused on the ancient copper mines of Cyprus and the application of slag material in geomagnetic research. Ben-Yosef won multiple awards and research grants, including a Fulbright Fellowship, an ERC - Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG), and the Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research (2018). Since August 2020 he serves as a member of the Archaeological Advisory Board of Israel's Ministry of Culture. In 2022 he was elected as a member of The Israel Young Academy, the leading body of Israeli academics under 45 years old.
Ian W. N. Jones is a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California San Diego and will be postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Near Eastern Archaeology at La Sierra University beginning in Spring 2023. His research explores the political-economy and environmental impacts of resource extraction, particularly copper production and agriculture, in the southern Levant during the late 1st and 2nd millennia AD. He is Field Director of the Balu'a Regional Archaeology Project Islamic Village Excavations, which is investigating shifts in the agricultural economy of central Jordan during the 2nd millennium AD.
