Excavating to Excess? Implications of the Last Decade of Archaeology in Israel
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v14i1.76Abstract
For the first time, there exists a database about all archaeological fieldwork carried out in the state of Israel during the last decade. Documenting a total of 2200 excavation projects (excluding surveys), it shows that the numbers of all types of projects are constantly and sharply rising: the 153 excavations in 1989 more than doubled in 1998 to 333. Yet final publications lag far behind-an illogical situation, if archaeology is reckoned to be a scientific activity. A related problem, not yet discussed in Israel, is that archaeological sites are not an endless resource, and for too long we have been treating ancient sites as did American bison-hunters in the nineteenth century. Thus a radical measure is needed: to stop unnecessary excavations. While it is impossible to halt salvage excavations, a moratorium on new licenses for a few years is feasible. Only if we can restrain our burning desire to excavate so much will we be able to divert funds towards earlier projects, and their publication.References
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Shanks, H. (ed.) 1996 Archaeology’s Publication Problem. Washington D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society.
1999 Archaeology’s Publication Problem 2. Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society.
Sharon, I. 1999 Don’t standardize: reports as an adjustable prism for viewing the past. In Shanks 1999: 109-45
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Stem, E. (ed.) 1993 The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
1999 Archaeological fieldwork as related to publication. In Shanks 1999: 17-21.
Van den Brink, E., and R. Gophna in press Shoham. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports. Jerusalem: IAA.
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1956 Archaeology from the Earth. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Wilson, R.L., and G. Loyola (eds.) 1984 Rescue Archaeology : Papers from the First New World Conference on Rescue Archaeology. Washington: The Preservation Press.
Zimmerman, L.J. 1997 Ethics and archaeology. In Meyers 1997: 269-73.
Ben Tor, A. (ed.) 1992 The Archaeology of Ancient Israel. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Braun, E. 1992 Objectivity and salvage excavation policy in Mandate Palestine and the state of Israel: an appraisal of its effects on understanding the archaeological record. In T. Shay and J. Clotter (eds.), The Limitations of Archaeological Knowledge. Université de Liège, Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques 49: 29-37. Liège: Université de Liège.
1997 Yiftah’el: A Salvage and Rescue Excavation at a Prehistoric Village in the Lower Galilee/Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 2. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority.
Buccellati, G. 1998 Review of H. Shanks (ed.), Archaeology's Publication Problem (Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1996). Near Eastern Archaeology 61(2): 118-21.
Callow, P. 1985 An unlovely child: the problem of unpublished archaeological research. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 4: 95-106.
Celan, P. 1996 Selected Poems. Translated with an Introduction by M. Hamburger. St Ives: Penguin.
Cleere, H. 1984 Publication and dissemination of the results of rescue archaeology. In Wilson and Loyola 1984: 213-28.
Cohen, R. 1997 Israel Antiquities Authority. In Meyers 1997: 189-90.
Dever, W.G. 1981 Archaeological method in Israel: a continuing revolution. Qadmoniot 53-54: 15-21. (in Hebrew)
Ford, R.I. 1984 Ethics and the museum archaeologist. In E.L. Green (ed.), Ethics and Values in Archaeology, 133-42. London: Free Press.
Frere, S.S. (for the Ancient Monuments Board for England, Committee for Rescue Archaeology) 1975 Principles of Publication in Rescue Archaeology. London: Department of the Environment.
Gal, Z. 1996 Ecological aspects of archaeology in Israel. Qadmoniyot 112: 120-22. (in Hebrew)
Gal Z., H. Smithline and S. Shalem 1999 New iconographic aspects of Chalcolithic art: preliminary observations on finds from the Peqi’in Cave. ‘Atiqot 37: 1*-16*.
Hadjisavvas, S., and V. Karageorghis (eds.) 2000 The Problem of Unpublished Excavations. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities, Leventis Foundation.
Harif, A. 1995 Whither Israeli archaeology? Archaeologya 4: 72-79. (in Hebrew)
Herzog, Z. 1996 The publication of archaeological excavation. Eretz Israel 25: 158-65. (in Hebrew)
1999 With time, we are getting worse (English trans. of Herzog 1996), In Shanks 1999: 87-110.
Joffe, A.H. 1999 Review of H. Shanks (ed.), Archaeology’s Publication Problem (Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1996). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 58: 279-81.
Jones, B. 1984 Past Imperfect: The Story of Rescue Archaeology'. London: Heinemann.
Kenyon, K.M. 1964 Beginning in Archaeology. (First published 1952). London: J.M. Dent.
King, T.E. 1983 Professional responsibility in public archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropobgy 12: 143-64.
Levy, T.E. (ed.) 1995 The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. London: Leicster University Press.
Levy, T.E., J.D. Anderson, M. Waggoner, N. Smith, A. Muniz and R.B. Adams 2001 Digital archaeology 2001: GIS based excavation recording in Jordan. The SAA Archaeological Record 1:23-29.
Lipe, W.D. 1974 A conservation model for American archaeology. Kiva 39: 213-45.
Magen, Y. 1997 Preface. In Reports and Studies of Excavations in Judea and Samaria. Atiqot 32. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, (in Hebrew)
Mazar, A. 1990 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000-586 B.C.E. New York: Doubleday.
Meyers, E.M. (ed.) 1997 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Oren, R., and N. Scheftelowitz 1998 The Tel Te’enim and Sha’ar Ephraim Project. Tel Aviv 25: 52-115.
Rabinovich, A. 1994 Inside the Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical Archaeology Review 20(2): 40-45.
Rahtz, P.A. 1974 Rescue Archaeology. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Reich, R. 1995 Invitation to Archaeology. Tel Aviv: Devir. (in Hebrew)
Renfrew, C., and P. Bahn 1991 Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. London: Thames and Hudson.
Shanks, H. (ed.) 1996 Archaeology’s Publication Problem. Washington D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society.
1999 Archaeology’s Publication Problem 2. Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society.
Sharon, I. 1999 Don’t standardize: reports as an adjustable prism for viewing the past. In Shanks 1999: 109-45
Smith, R.H. 1974 Ethics in field archaeology. Journal of Field Archaeology 1: 376-83.
Stem, E. 1987 The Bible and Israeli archaeology. In L.G. Perdue, L.E. Toombs and G.L. Johnson (eds.), Archaeology and Biblical Interpretation: Essays in Memory o/D.G. Rose, 31-40. Atlanta: J. Knox Press.
Stem, E. (ed.) 1993 The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.
1999 Archaeological fieldwork as related to publication. In Shanks 1999: 17-21.
Van den Brink, E., and R. Gophna in press Shoham. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports. Jerusalem: IAA.
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1956 Archaeology from the Earth. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Wilson, R.L., and G. Loyola (eds.) 1984 Rescue Archaeology : Papers from the First New World Conference on Rescue Archaeology. Washington: The Preservation Press.
Zimmerman, L.J. 1997 Ethics and archaeology. In Meyers 1997: 269-73.
Published
2001-09-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Kletter, R., & De-Groot, A. (2001). Excavating to Excess? Implications of the Last Decade of Archaeology in Israel. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 14(1), 76-85. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v14i1.76
