Papers by Roey Nickelsberg
'Atiqot, 2024
The southern Levantine coast was settled continuously for three millennia, from the Neolithic per... more The southern Levantine coast was settled continuously for three millennia, from the Neolithic period until its abandonment in Early Bronze Age II, in sharp contrast to inland sites that developed into urbanized cities. This study examines this phenomenon by investigating the pottery production component of the economic systems of two contemporary EB I villages: a shoreline coastal site that was abandoned (Dor South) and an inland site that evolved into an urban center ('En Esur). This pilot ceramic petrography examination shows two distinct strategies, with 'En Esur producing pottery primarily from local raw materials and Dor South relying mainly on imported pottery, potentially weakening the once-resilient coastal system.
Antiquity, 2024
Sedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to th... more Sedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to the Early Bronze Age Ib phase (c. 7000-3100 BC). Sites dating to the Early Pottery Neolithic (c. 6400-5500 BC) are scarce, however, potentially reflecting the effects of the 8.2ka climatic event. Here, the authors present the investigations at the submerged site of Habonim North off the Carmel Coast. Typological and radiocarbon dating indicate an Early Pottery Neolithic occupation and evidence for continuity of subsistence and economic strategies with both earlier and later Neolithic cultures. The results indicate the resilience of coastal communities in the face of significant climatic uncertainty and contribute to understanding human responses to environmental change.
Antiquity, 2024
Sedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to th... more Sedentary occupation of the southern Levantine coast spans from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C to the Early Bronze Age Ib phase (c. 7000-3100 BC). Sites dating to the Early Pottery Neolithic (c. 6400-5500 BC) are scarce, however, potentially reflecting the effects of the 8.2ka climatic event. Here, the authors present the investigations at the submerged site of Habonim North off the Carmel Coast. Typological and radiocarbon dating indicate an Early Pottery Neolithic occupation and evidence for continuity of subsistence and economic strategies with both earlier and later Neolithic cultures. The results indicate the resilience of coastal communities in the face of significant climatic uncertainty and contribute to understanding human responses to environmental change.
Excavations at Tel Kabri III
Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 2020
Levant
A study of pithoi production technology at the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri, I... more A study of pithoi production technology at the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri, Israel, utilized experimental and analytical methods. Pithoi from two phases of the palace were produced using local alluvial raw material, by coil/slab technique, and finished on a slow wheel. Firing at c. 600°C for a short duration seems to be related to the potters’ knowledge of the limitations of the raw material used, further indicating no significant environmental effect despite growing palatial demand. Differences in pithos rims, sizes and contexts may relate to various consumption patterns in the earlier and later phases of activity at the palace.
Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 2020
During the 2017 excavation season at Tel Kabri, Iron Age remains
were found cutting into the west... more During the 2017 excavation season at Tel Kabri, Iron Age remains
were found cutting into the western part of the Middle Bronze
Age palace. These remains consisted of a segment of a large
structure and a series of sizable pits. Similar Iron Age remains
were unearthed during previous soundings in Areas D and F of
the excavation and were loosely dated to the Iron Age II. The
ceramic assemblage from these soundings demonstrated a
disproportionate number of imports and cooking pots, which
prompted the excavators to suggest that the lower settlement
was engaged in the processing of agricultural products connected
to the nearby forts located elsewhere on the tell. A recent reexamination of the pottery from the previous excavations suggest
that the forts could have only existed during the Iron Age IIA and
IIC. Our examination of the pottery indicates that the imports can
be dated to the Iron Age IIA, while the large number of cooking
pots should mostly be dated to the Iron Age IIC. We would
therefore like to suggest a new interpretation for the function of
the lower settlement at Kabri during the Iron Age II in relation to
the forts and the political reality in the Galilee at that time.
Levant, 2018
A study of pithoi production technology at the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri, I... more A study of pithoi production technology at the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri, Israel, utilized experimental and analytical methods. Pithoi from two phases of the palace were produced using local alluvial raw material, by coil/slab technique, and finished on a slow wheel. Firing at c. 600°C for a short duration seems to be related to the potters’ knowledge of the limitations of the raw material used, further indicating no significant environmental effect despite growing palatial demand. Differences in pithos rims, sizes and contexts may relate to various consumption patterns in the earlier and later phases of activity at the palace.
Tel Kabri Canaanite Palace by Roey Nickelsberg
For years there has been much speculation surrounding the abandonment of the Middle Bronze Age II... more For years there has been much speculation surrounding the abandonment of the Middle Bronze Age IIB palace of Tel Kabri, ca. 1700 BCE. There are no weapons, hoards of money and jewelry, or visible evidence for fire, which rules out hostile attack or conquest. There are also no indications of drought or environmental degradation that might have forced the inhabitants to vacate the site, nor mass graveyards to indicate a pandemic. The current study uses micro-geoarchaeological methods to show that the demise of the palace was rapid, with walls and ceilings collapsing at once prior to abandonment. Macroscopic data (stratigraphic and structural) from five excavation seasons were reexamined, showing that at least nine Potential Earthquake Archaeological Effects (PEAEs) are found and associated with the last occupation phase of the site's palace. All lines of evidence point to the possibility that an earthquake damaged the palace, possibly to a point where it was no longer economically viable to repair. This conclusion is compounded by the discovery of a 1-3 m wide trench that cuts through the palace for 30 m, which may be the result of ground shaking or liquefaction caused by an earthquake. This study shows the importance of combining macro-and micro-archaeological methods for the identification of ancient earthquakes, together with the need to evaluate alternative scenarios of climatic, environmental, and economic collapse, as well as human-induced destruction before a seismic event scenario can be proposed.
Newest by Roey Nickelsberg
PLOS ONE, 2020
For years there has been much speculation surrounding the abandonment of the Middle Bronze Age II... more For years there has been much speculation surrounding the abandonment of the Middle Bronze Age IIB palace of Tel Kabri, ca. 1700 BCE. There are no weapons, hoards of money and jewelry, or visible evidence for fire, which rules out hostile attack or conquest. There are also no indications of drought or environmental degradation that might have forced the inhabitants to vacate the site, nor mass graveyards to indicate a pandemic. The current study uses micro-geoarchaeological methods to show that the demise of the palace was rapid, with walls and ceilings collapsing at once prior to abandonment. Macroscopic data (stratigraphic and structural) from five excavation seasons were reexamined, showing that at least nine Potential Earthquake Archaeological Effects (PEAEs) are found and associated with the last occupation phase of the site's palace. All lines of evidence point to the possibility that an earthquake damaged the palace, possibly to a point where it was no longer economically viable to repair. This conclusion is compounded by the discovery of a 1-3 m wide trench that cuts through the palace for 30 m, which may be the result of ground shaking or liquefaction caused by an earthquake. This study shows the importance of combining macro-and micro-archaeological methods for the identification of ancient earthquakes, together with the need to evaluate alternative scenarios of climatic, environmental, and economic collapse, as well as human-induced destruction before a seismic event scenario can be proposed.
Conference Presentations by Roey Nickelsberg
The coast of the Carmel is a treasure trove for the study of submerged Pottery Neolithic sites. D... more The coast of the Carmel is a treasure trove for the study of submerged Pottery Neolithic sites. During the last 30 years such sites have been the focus of research primarily conducted though underwater survey and less through underwater excavations.
The site of Habonim North, a recently discovered submerged Pottery Neolithic site, was chosen as a case study to thoroughly investigate, through archaeological excavations, questions of human adaptation to coastal condition as well as to climate change during the Holocene. This site is situated on the eastern slope of a submerged Kurkar ridge ca. 150 meters west of the current coastline at a depth of ca. 2.5 -3 meters sea water (msw). The first season of excavation was conducted in 2020 as part of the collaboration between the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of Haifa and The Scripps Center for Maritime Archaeology, University of California San Diego supported by the Koret Foundation. In order to retrieve as much information as possible the excavation combined methods from stratigraphic land excavations, underwater excavation, manual sediment coring and 3D photogrammetry. The materials retrieved were analyzed with a variety of methods including micro-geoarchaeology, ceramic typology and petrography, archaeobotany, radiocarbon dating, palynology, and archaeozoology. Here we present preliminary results of the first season of excavations and offer initial insights about the ancient coastal environment, Pottery Neolithic human subsistence practices and human utilization of coastal resources.
Talks by Roey Nickelsberg
The 46th Israeli Congress of Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, 2021, 2021
Underwater surveys in the Dor Lagoon have identified a wrecked cargo of marble slabs and addition... more Underwater surveys in the Dor Lagoon have identified a wrecked cargo of marble slabs and additional architectural stone items, as well as three stone anchors. Preliminary dating of the site points to the fourth-to- seventh centuries CE. The cargo showed signs of previous use, indicating that the ship may have been involved in the spolia trade. The nearly homogeneous cargo of marble differs from regional maritime traffic patterns of mixed goods, and suggests shipping patterns unique to stone cargoes.
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Papers by Roey Nickelsberg
were found cutting into the western part of the Middle Bronze
Age palace. These remains consisted of a segment of a large
structure and a series of sizable pits. Similar Iron Age remains
were unearthed during previous soundings in Areas D and F of
the excavation and were loosely dated to the Iron Age II. The
ceramic assemblage from these soundings demonstrated a
disproportionate number of imports and cooking pots, which
prompted the excavators to suggest that the lower settlement
was engaged in the processing of agricultural products connected
to the nearby forts located elsewhere on the tell. A recent reexamination of the pottery from the previous excavations suggest
that the forts could have only existed during the Iron Age IIA and
IIC. Our examination of the pottery indicates that the imports can
be dated to the Iron Age IIA, while the large number of cooking
pots should mostly be dated to the Iron Age IIC. We would
therefore like to suggest a new interpretation for the function of
the lower settlement at Kabri during the Iron Age II in relation to
the forts and the political reality in the Galilee at that time.
Tel Kabri Canaanite Palace by Roey Nickelsberg
Newest by Roey Nickelsberg
Conference Presentations by Roey Nickelsberg
The site of Habonim North, a recently discovered submerged Pottery Neolithic site, was chosen as a case study to thoroughly investigate, through archaeological excavations, questions of human adaptation to coastal condition as well as to climate change during the Holocene. This site is situated on the eastern slope of a submerged Kurkar ridge ca. 150 meters west of the current coastline at a depth of ca. 2.5 -3 meters sea water (msw). The first season of excavation was conducted in 2020 as part of the collaboration between the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of Haifa and The Scripps Center for Maritime Archaeology, University of California San Diego supported by the Koret Foundation. In order to retrieve as much information as possible the excavation combined methods from stratigraphic land excavations, underwater excavation, manual sediment coring and 3D photogrammetry. The materials retrieved were analyzed with a variety of methods including micro-geoarchaeology, ceramic typology and petrography, archaeobotany, radiocarbon dating, palynology, and archaeozoology. Here we present preliminary results of the first season of excavations and offer initial insights about the ancient coastal environment, Pottery Neolithic human subsistence practices and human utilization of coastal resources.
Talks by Roey Nickelsberg
were found cutting into the western part of the Middle Bronze
Age palace. These remains consisted of a segment of a large
structure and a series of sizable pits. Similar Iron Age remains
were unearthed during previous soundings in Areas D and F of
the excavation and were loosely dated to the Iron Age II. The
ceramic assemblage from these soundings demonstrated a
disproportionate number of imports and cooking pots, which
prompted the excavators to suggest that the lower settlement
was engaged in the processing of agricultural products connected
to the nearby forts located elsewhere on the tell. A recent reexamination of the pottery from the previous excavations suggest
that the forts could have only existed during the Iron Age IIA and
IIC. Our examination of the pottery indicates that the imports can
be dated to the Iron Age IIA, while the large number of cooking
pots should mostly be dated to the Iron Age IIC. We would
therefore like to suggest a new interpretation for the function of
the lower settlement at Kabri during the Iron Age II in relation to
the forts and the political reality in the Galilee at that time.
The site of Habonim North, a recently discovered submerged Pottery Neolithic site, was chosen as a case study to thoroughly investigate, through archaeological excavations, questions of human adaptation to coastal condition as well as to climate change during the Holocene. This site is situated on the eastern slope of a submerged Kurkar ridge ca. 150 meters west of the current coastline at a depth of ca. 2.5 -3 meters sea water (msw). The first season of excavation was conducted in 2020 as part of the collaboration between the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of Haifa and The Scripps Center for Maritime Archaeology, University of California San Diego supported by the Koret Foundation. In order to retrieve as much information as possible the excavation combined methods from stratigraphic land excavations, underwater excavation, manual sediment coring and 3D photogrammetry. The materials retrieved were analyzed with a variety of methods including micro-geoarchaeology, ceramic typology and petrography, archaeobotany, radiocarbon dating, palynology, and archaeozoology. Here we present preliminary results of the first season of excavations and offer initial insights about the ancient coastal environment, Pottery Neolithic human subsistence practices and human utilization of coastal resources.