Yasur-Landau Assaf, Cline Eric H., Rowan Yorke M. (eds.). The Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present

Cambridge University Press, 2019. — 676 p.The volume offers a comprehensive introduction to the archaeology of the southern Levant (modern day Israel, Palestine and Jordan) from the Paleolithic period to the Islamic era, presenting the past with chronological changes from hunter-gatherers to empires. Written by an international team of scholars in the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, and bioanthropology, the volume presents central debates around a range of archaeological issues, including gender, ritual, the creation of alphabets and early writing, biblical periods, archaeometallurgy, looting, and maritime trade. Collectively, the essays also engage diverse theoretical approaches to demonstrate the multi-vocal nature of studying the past. Significantly, The Social Archaeology of the Levant updates and contextualizes major shifts in archaeological interpretation.Assaf Yasur-Landau is associate professor at the University of Haifa, a Fulbright Scholar, and head of the laboratory for Coastal Archaeology and Underwater Survey. He co-directs the Tel Kabri excavations and the Tel Dor underwater excavations. His book, The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age (Cambridge, 2010), has appeared in English and Spanish (2012).
Eric H. Cline is professor of classics and anthropology and director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University.
Yorke M. Rowan is Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame and Research Associate with the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute.