Late Bronze Age Settlement Patterns

Dr. Kevin Wilson

Outline

Introduction

1. Discussion of the nature of historical materials

   1. Textual

   2. Archaeological

   3. Necessity of other methods when texts and archaeological data are lacking

2. Background of the Late Bronze Age on the Karak Plateau

3. Discussion of the method of surface survey

4. Methodological questions

   1. Identification of sites

   2. Classification of sites

5. Settlement pattern on the Karak Plateau in the Late Bronze Age

Conclusion

Photo 1 – shows pottery on the surface of a site being surveyed. Such pottery allows archaeologies to determine during which periods the site was occupied.

Photo 2 – shows a fairly representative ruin. This small ruin is located on the western edge of the plateau.

Photo 3 – a view of ‘Ai, a modern settlement. The pottery found in the town indicates that this site was also settled in antiquity. Such sites often cannot be excavated, as doing so would require displacing people currently living on the site.

Photo 4 – surveyors examining a small tomb on the north-east edge of the plateau. Although such sites do not indicate settlement, the do provide information about the material culture of the area.

Map 1 – this map shows the Karak Plateau with all of the Late Bronze Age sites plotted. The elevation line around the edge of the plateau is the 800 m elevation. Large circles represent sites with five or more pieces of pottery in the Late Bronze Age, while those with fewer than five are marked as small circles.

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