There’s no better way to prepare for the future than to look into the past. This summer, 8 YU students were privileged to accompany Dr. Jill Katz and 130 archaeologists on a dig in Tell-es Safi, Israel. Tell-es Safi is located about half way between Jerusalem and Ashkelon. Previous archeological evidence suggests that Tell-es Safi is ancient Canaanite and Philistine city of Gath, and home of the giant Goliath.
The word Tell, as in Tell-es Safi, originates from the biblical word for a ruined settlement, as seen in Joshua 8:28. However, in modern terms, a Tell is a site in which many layers of strata from different time periods have been deposited on top of each other over many years. In our case there are many layers, each of which represents a different era. These eras are classified by periods of construction, living, destruction, abandonment or rebuilding that together make one layer in the strata. As this cycle is repeated multiple times multiple layers in the ground are exposed, which is how a Tell received its namesake.
As a general principal, archaeologists aim to discover information about previous cultures and that’s exactly what they did. They not only uncovered materials that ancient people have used, they also studied the ecology and environment surrounding the area, as well. Using these tactics, archaeologists, including the individuals on the dig at Tell-es Safi, hope to gather as much information as possible about these cultures and use the information to create a more comprehensive picture of the lifestyle and culture of pre-modern civilizations.
The head of the dig, Bar Ilan University’s Professor Aren M. Maeir, explains “one of the primary ways the archaeologists on Tell-es Safi study the lives of the ancient people of Gath is through identifying pottery.” He contextualized that “using indicative pottery found at the site, our archaeological team is able to reveal exactly which period of time each strata of the Tell is reached. One of the ways to do so is to analyze shards of pottery to tell the difference in the time period that they were created due to the change in technology.”
Intern archaeologists were able to learn this first hand. For example, bowl shapes from the Late Bronze Age (1500 BCE – 1200 BCE) differ in shape from those of the Iron Age IIB (800 BCE – 600 BCE) due to different cooking techniques that were developed over the years. Following this trend, Philistine and Canaanite jugs can be differentiated from one another based on burn marks on the pottery. This is because the way that food was cooked changed over different eras and fire would reach different parts of the jug. SCW senior and Jewish Education major, Rachel Margolin, commented on the subject: “I have always been interested in learning about history but the dig gave me a chance to actually see and touch history first hand.” She was not alone in these sentiments. The other seven students on the dig felt the same way. “It was cool to be a part of linking the past to the future,” said Margolin.
While the historical perspective gained from the pottery finds this year is fascinating, the Archaeological Science, or microarchaeological aspects of the dig have been extremely successful as well. The excavation had many specialists in the field including botanists, zooarchaeologists, pollen experts, phytolith experts, and geomorphologists. These experts dealt with a large range of analyses from carbon 14 dating to metallurgy to archaeobotany flotation. The combined efforts and perspective by these specialists resulted in a better understanding of the way ancient Philistines lived.
In the zooarchaeological labs located at Tell-es Safi, the different types of animals were studied in order to study many aspects of the ancient cultures including diet, religious rituals, and labor techniques. By identifying the animals of the people who lived in a certain area, archaeologists are able to confirm which type of culture occupied the territory during that period. Archaeologists identify the various species of animals using many different types of analyses including physically measuring bones and teeth and comparing them to modern osteological data as well as genetic analysis through extraction of DNA from the bones. These discoveries have led to a broader perspective on the different cultures that occupied these areas. Interestingly, archaeologists have found that areas known to have been inhabited by Philistines have a much higher percentage of pig bones than areas that were determined have been settlements of Jewish people, which provides interesting insight into the way those cultures lived.
Using the information gained from this summer and previous years, the Tel-es Safi dig has proven to be extremely valuable. It has given archaeologists the ability to ascertain a unique perspective on the ancient cultures that inhabited the area.