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The collection of 3D point data is a common bottleneck for archaeological excavations despite an increasing range of powerful spatial data collection technologies. Total stations often require a dedicated operator, and they are optimal for excavation-level data collection over relatively short line-of-site distances. Precision Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) require reliable communication with constellations of distant satellites and may not be accurate enough for all data recording contexts. A new category of spatial data collection hardware, called Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS), or “indoor GPS,” has the potential to provide a more cost-effective and efficient approach to the collection of point data during excavations by making 3D point data collection widely available and accessible. Additionally, such systems may allow greater detail in digital field data recording by enabling the collection of shape data via continuous recording. In this article, we present one such IPS system—the Marvelmind IPS—discuss its potential value and limitations, and provide a case study of a field test of the system at the Chalcolithic (4600–3600 BC) site of Horvat Duvshan, Israel.

In the southern Levant, fundamental changes in economic organization, mortuary practices, and settlement patterns took place during the 5th to early 4th millennium b.c.e., or the Chalcolithic perio...

How is it possible in this moment of museum decolonization, critical examination of museum ethics and practice, calls for repatriations and reparations, and restorative justice, that a brand new mu...

Looting of archaeological sites and thefts from cultural institutions in the Middle East is driven by an international demand for artifacts. Despite the efforts of Ministries of Culture, Department...

How do archaeologists, governments, law enforcement, and a local non-governmental organization react to a hole in the ground—a hole that is the direct result of archaeological site looting? Whatever the response, the aim is the same: the protection of Jordanian cultural heritage through a curtailing of archaeological looting. New to the standard suite of responses are unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs). A comprehensive approach to the landscape, which includes UAV flyovers, ground truthing, oral interviews, collaborative efforts with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and local cultural heritage organizations, is essential to safeguarding and documenting what remains of a series of Early Bronze Age sites (3600–2000bc) along the Dead Sea Plain in Jordan. This is an examination of the (w)hole picture—individual and institutional responses to looters’ holes—diverse reactions with the common goal of preserving and protecting Jordanian cultural heritage.

This chapter assesses the protection of cultural heritage in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In their initial days of statehood, most postcolonial entities did not alter the basic institutional arrangements of colonial law and administration. In the MENA region, this resulted in the adoption of laws and policies related to the protection and preservation of cultural heritage, which included elements from earlier Ottoman laws and by-laws, British and French Mandatory laws and ordinances, and the legislative efforts of the colonial powers of France and Italy. Subsequently, in postcolonial MENA, nation states began adopting the 1970 UNESCO Convention with the aim of protecting their cultural resources and at the same time asserting themselves as legitimate States who care about culture. UNESCO efforts were also aimed at fostering greater parity between nations, with the intention of eliminating or at least ameliorating colonial legacies of inequality and misappropriation.

The emergence of social complexity in the Southern Levant during the Chalcolithic (c. 4500–3600 cal. BC) was intimately tied to intensification in animal management. For the first time, secondary products such as milk and wool were intensively exploited, supplying communities with increasingly diverse foodstuffs and raw materials for craft production and exchange, but the precise herding practices underlying these new production strategies are unknown. Here, we explore the role of multi-species livestock pasturing through carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of animal bones from Marj Rabba (Har Hasha’avi, West) in the Lower Galilee (ca. 4600–4200 cal. BC). Isotopic results suggest different pasturing/foddering of sheep compared with goats. Cattle were largely pastured locally, but high δ13C values in some animals indicate access to the Jordan River Valley (the Ghor in Arabic), where major Chalcolithic settlements were situated. This may indicate some cattle were moved along regional Chalcolithic exchange networks established for other prestige objects, such as copper. Finally, we provide evidence for moderate 15N enrichment in pigs relative to herbivorous livestock indicates. Possible interpretations include consumption of nuts (esp. acorns), household refuse containing animal protein, and/or fattening pigs on grain. Although an interpretation that requires further exploration, grain foddering of pigs would complement the zooarchaeological data for early slaughter, which suggests intensive meat production at Marj Rabba. It might also help explain why pig husbandry, as a drain on grain stockpiles, was gradually abandoned during the Bronze Age. Taken together, the isotopic and zooarchaeological data indicate an economy in transition from a non-specialized, household-based Neolithic economy to one in which the production of agrarian wealth, including animal secondary products, was beginning to emerge.

Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. mid-seventh through fourth millenna B.C.E.). General syntheses rarely include more than cur...

Summary:A 2018 workshop on the White Mountain Apache Tribe lands in Arizona examined ways to enhance investigations into cultural property crime (CPC) through applications of rapidly evolving methods from archaeological science. CPC (also looting, graverobbing) refers to unauthorized damage, removal, or trafficking in materials possessing blends of communal, aesthetic, and scientific values. The Fort Apache workshop integrated four generally partitioned domains of CPC expertise: (1) theories of perpetrators’ motivations and methods; (2) recommended practice in sustaining public and community opposition to CPC; (3) tactics and strategies for documenting, investigating, and prosecuting CPC; and (4) forensic sedimentology—uses of biophysical sciences to link sediments from implicated persons and objects to crime scenes. Forensic sedimentology served as the touchstone for dialogues among experts in criminology, archaeological sciences, law enforcement, and heritage stewardship. Field visits to CPC crime scenes and workshop deliberations identified pathways toward integrating CPC theory and practice with forensic sedimentology’s potent battery of analytic methods.

Endangered today, gazelles were both economically and symbolically important to the peoples of the ancient Near East. In various contexts, the gazelle has represented liminality, death, and rebirth. Gazelles held special significance in the southern Levant, where archaeologists have documented cases, spanning 20,000 years, of ritual behavior involving gazelle body parts. What roles did gazelles play during the Chalcolithic (ca. 4500–3600 B.C.), a period of both decreased hunting and ritual intensification? In this article, we discuss a unique find of burned gazelle feet at the site of Marj Rabba (northern Israel). The feet were found within a well-constructed building that was used for rituals and included two articulated human feet. The gazelle foot bones, the majority of which derive from adult male mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella), appear to reflect the remains of intentionally destroyed skins or severed limbs. This unique find highlights the evolving symbolic importance of gazelles, perhaps as forc...

Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. late 7th–4th millennia B.C.). Agropastoralists expanded into areas previously only sparsely occupied and secondary animal products played an increasingly important economic role. In the arable parts of the southern Levant, the olive in particular became increasingly significant and may have played a part in expanded exchange contacts in the region. Technological expertise developed in craft production, and the volume and diversity of status goods increased, particularly in funerary contexts. Mortuary and other ritual practices became increasingly pronounced. General study syntheses, however, rarely include more than a cursory mention of the more arid regions of the southern Levant (i.e., Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and Syria). Recent investigations indicate that intensive exploitation of the regions may date to these late prehistoric periods, yet this evidence has been difficult to attribute to specific chronological period or cultural affiliations. The Eastern Badia Archaeological Project investigates two regions for a potential florescence of building and occupation during the late prehistoric periods in the eastern desert of Jordan.

Whether sponsored by academic institutions, governments, international agencies, or private landowners, the results of archaeological investigations are the same: the production of knowledge and an accumulation of things. The material manifestations (artifacts and samples) and the accompanying daily notes, digital records, maps, photographs, and plans together comprise a comprehensive record of the past. Once these items have been amassed, they are deposited in dig houses, magazines, museums, repositories, storage containers, and sometimes in personal basements and garages to be held in perpetuity. Across the globe, storage (here implying curation and permanent care) is one of the most pressing issues facing archaeology today. The following examines the curation crisis and some of the traditional and innovative solutions to the storage wars, arguing that rather than something that is viewed as a time-consuming, costly afterthought; curation should be an integral part of archaeological praxis.

Archaeology is the production of knowledge through an accumulation of stuff: both the physical manifestations of the past and the associated archaeological recording materials. This stuff allows for hypotheses, reconstructions, and – at times – speculation about the lives of ancient ancestors. If excavation is the prevailing raison d’etre of archaeology and the result is an accrual of artefacts and samples, along with the accompanying daily notes, digital records, maps, photographs, and plans, then the current conundrum is what to do with the archaeological stuff once it has been removed from the ground. With space for storage at a premium, the care and curation of stuff is one of the most urgent dilemmas facing archaeology and museums. Solving the crisis in curation requires creative thinking and collaborative efforts aimed at protecting the stored archaeological stuff. Not merely putting artefacts into boxes, or finding places to house those boxes, at the core of responding to the crisis are the ethical obligations of a discipline to the material generated by fieldwork. Curation should be an integral part of archaeological work rather than something carried out grudgingly or because law demands it. This chapter examines potential innovative endeavours (an unusual programme from Jordan to distribute Early Bronze Age tomb groups) and imaginative solutions, some of which may include revisiting past, often controversial, strategies for addressing the curation crisis.

Palestine is a state in limbo—they lack full formal recognition as a sovereign land but possess a unique nation-state status that incorporates elements of a unified national consciousness and basic civil institutions albeit with limited autonomy. Palestine’s ambiguous political status is starkly illustrated by its convoluted territorial control, and nowhere is this more clearly attested than in the jurisdiction of archaeological sites and the display of artifacts in museums. The legislative colonial legacies of the Ottoman, the British Mandate, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, Israeli military orders, and the 1995 Oslo II Accords, which carved the Occupied Territories into a complex mosaic of areas—A, B, and C— have resulted in fractured oversight of heritage sites and objects. A case study focused on Herodium provides a fascinating lens for examining the efficacy of law and the administration of archaeological and object management in a contested landscape.

A rapidly expanding array of innovative technologies, combined with traditional techniques, allow more sophisticated photographic and photogrammetric techniques to document and analyze archaeologic...

From January to March of 2011 the Follow the Pots project embarked on a field project at the Early Bronze Age site of Fifa on the Dead Sea Plain in Jordan. Fieldwork embodied a two-part approach to...

Through an examination of representations of cultural heritage in miniature this paper tackles the recurrent question of how culture, the nation, and the past are presented to the public. Exploring how this is achieved at the microcosm of Mini Israel, an outdoor park midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv where you can "see it all small" (Shapira 2003: 1), we conclude that Mini Israel offers visitors (foreign or local) what they want; an unthreatening version of the Holy Land, where differences in ethnicities, religions, and political groups are abridged in a pristine environment free from conflict and strife. At Mini Israel displays include the commercial, the contemporary, and the ancient, depicting what is "beautiful, good, important and special" (Shapira 2003: 2). We argue that the selection of sites in miniature is a reflection of tourism trends, financial motives, and visitor preference, rather than a reflection of facts on the ground.

Rather than recount a specific archaeological project and its community relationships, in the following, I consider the competing claims for archaeological objects by the various groups associated with the illegal and legal trade in antiquities. For nearly a decade I have examined the efficacy of cultural heritage laws in the protection of eastern Mediterranean archaeological landscapes. More specifically, I am interested in the contentious issues surrounding legalized antiquities markets as a means of protecting the archaeological past. In order to assess the value of various legal instruments I attempt to engage with the communities who claim an interest in the buying, selling, protection or appreciation of antiquities. The list of communities is long, varied and often at odds with each other. Reconciling these competing claims is a Herculean task, but one worthy of investigation as questions of inclusion, responsibilities and ownership of cultural heritage are at the forefront of an engaged archaeology.

document fifty-five new sites in the area, many of them quite large. The sites date from Early Dynastic through Islamic times. An ancient bed of the Euphrates can be seen quite clearly in this area and represents the eastern extension of the river bed that once flowed beside Eridu. Many of the thirdand second millennium BCE sites that we identified were located along this ancient branch of the Euphrates, extending our knowledge of Mesopotamian settlement closer to the Perisan Gulf. We might have expected that these sites, given their remote location, would have escaped the looting that affected so much of the south. However, the draining of the marshes removed the water that had once protected them and here too we found evidence of the work of the looters, although not to the same extent as in the desert. These looting holes revealed the importance of these sites, including one hole that uncovered part of the facade of another temple, like that at Zabalam, decorated with half columns with spiral and date-palm trunk motifs.

In both western Turkey and the Levant, archaeology has a long history, with the rise in interest and discovery beginning in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While many have focused on the history of excavations in both of these areas, we approach historical analyses from a different perspective. Utilizing the voices of local actors, this article aims to understand the social reactions of local communities to the increasingly prominent role of people practicing archaeology — archaeologists, diplomats, explorers — through the lens of the antiquities trade over the last two centuries. Interlacing examples from Lydia and the Levant, we provide an overview of archaeological praxis and then offer the positions of the participants, gathered from archival and published materials as well as more recent interviews, conversations, and correspondences.

This is a commentary on a series of papers presented in the Imperial Intersections: archaeologists, war and violence session at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The session addressed issues surrounding archaeology, war and violence and the ethical responsibilities of archaeological practitioners. The papers in this volume have created more questions than answers, but as with all ethical scenarios, I was inspired to think and to examine critically aspects of archaeology that may have eluded past contemplation. In attempting to find commonalities and themes in the submissions I realized that almost every paper is concerned with the production of knowledge—how much access should there be; who should have access to knowledge; how should knowledge be disseminated; and when and if the knowledge should be reproduced. The central debate of “in whose best interest is this knowledge produced” is also explored in this review?

Does the demand for archaeological artefacts in the legal marketplace in Israel increase the looting of archaeological sites in the region? Through the course of investigating this question it became apparent that while consumer demand may be at the heart of the trade in antiquities, the nature and driving forces behind looting are far more complex than is often understood. The motivations for looting involve notions of nationalism, the forces of globalism, conflicting preservation and management plans, colonialism, and long-entrenched traditional practices. It is an examination of this complexity (i.e. the multiple forms of and incentives for looting), which forms the focus of this paper. This is an exploration of the multivocality of the various agents who make it possible for objects to transcend borders.

For 20 years (1974–1993), the “Antiquities Market” section of the Journal of Field Archaeology provided news and commentary on the illicit traffic in antiquities and on issues of cultural heritage relevant to field archaeologists from around the world. Much has happened in more recent years; military conflict, natural disaster;development, political or religious extremism, calculated looting, and the illicit sale of antiquities all combine to jeopardize the very existence of archaeology. The commodification of material culture is among the most pressing issues on the archaeological agenda. Links between collecting and looting continue to be hotly debated, and recent investigations illustrate how archaeological research may also unintentionally spur looting. Legislative efforts attempt to curb the plunder of sites and the illicit sale of antiquities. What is clear from the various efforts and questions is that globalization is bringing us closer together,and that we need a concentrated internationa...

edited by Lawrence Rothfield, Lanham, MD, AltaMira Press, 2008, 340 pp., US$29.95 (paperback), ISBN 0‐7591‐1099‐9 In April 2003, images of the looting and destruction of the Iraq Museum and the Ira...

The nature of the Dynasty 0-Dynasty I Egyptian presence in southern Israel has been a source of debate since the excavations of Tel Erani on the fringe of the northern Negev in the 1950s when numerous Egyptian artifacts were discovered. Since then, a wide range of models have been used to characterize the nature of Egyptian-Canaanite relations. These models include warfare/conquest, commercialization, distance parity, and world systems. The recent Nahal Tillah Regional Archaeology Project has provided a wealth of new empirical data to help clarify the nature of this interaction. Large-scale exposures on the Halif Terrace have revealed a wide range of Egyptian artifacts including epigraphic finds, evidence of Egyptian food consumption patterns, amulets, ceramics, an Egyptian-style mortuary structure, and more. The data from these new excavations require a reexamination of previously held assumptions concerning the dynamics of Egyptian-Canaanite interaction ca. 3500 to 3000 B. C. E.

This article reveals the interplay between cultural heritage and identity formation. It discusses how considerations of cultural heritage and the interpretation of the past among local populations are understood vis-à-vis archaeological tourism, the looting of archaeological sites, and the daily interaction between local populations and archaeologists (foreign and national). Under this, the article presents an examination of the values attributed to looted artefacts by the assorted publics associated with illegal trade in antiquities. It reveals the values of a looted object to the looter, the local populace, the government employee, the archaeologist (both local and foreign), the dealer, the law-maker, the collector, the museum, and the tourist. This study addresses the ethnographic, criminological, and legal theory, based on which it provides an understanding of the values of looted objects and the competing demands for those contested items from the Middle East.