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Radiocarbon Chronology of the Ancient Settlement in the Golan Heights Area, Israel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Danuta Michalska Nawrocka ,
Danuta Joanna Michczyńska ,
Anna Pazdur  and
Justyna Czernik
Danuta Michalska Nawrocka*
Affiliation:
Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute of Geology, Department of Dynamic and Regional Geology, ul. Makow Polnych 16, 61-606 Poznań, Poland
Danuta Joanna Michczyńska
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, Department of Radioisotopes, Radiocarbon Laboratory, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Anna Pazdur
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics, Department of Radioisotopes, Radiocarbon Laboratory, Silesian University of Technology, Krzywoustego 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Justyna Czernik
Affiliation:
Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, ul. Rubiez 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland
*
Corresponding author. Email: danutamich@go2.pl
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Abstract

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Carbonate binders from mortars and plasters as well as charcoal fragments sampled at the ancient settlement of Hippos (Sussita) have been subjected to radiocarbon dating by gas proportional counting (GPC) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Hippos is situated on the east coast of the Sea of Galilee (32°46′N, 35°39′E) at the top of a hill in the Golan Heights area, Israel. According to historical-archaeological data, the town had functioned since the 3rd century BC until AD 749, when it eventually crumbled into ruins after an earthquake. The appropriate sample selection and preparation based on the results of petrographic observations permitted us to distinguish different phases involved in the expansion of the settlement. More than 200 samples were taken from the settlement and subjected to petrographic and chemical analyses. Of the 200 total samples, about 20 were selected for dating. Here, we present the first 10 results of 14C dating carried out for Hippos. The oldest sample dated thus far gave an age corresponding with the 2nd century BC to 1st century AD—probably indicating an old Roman temple, on the base of which the North-West church (NWC) was later erected. The next dates extend up to the 8th century AD, the age related to the last phase of settlement inhabitation. Research is continuing as new excavations take place.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 625 - 637
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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