Excavations at Jericho

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WHEN IN I952 political conditions made it possible to resume active archaeological work in Palestine, the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem decided to undertake a further series of excavations at Jericho. In addition to the interest of the site from its association with Biblical history, Professor John Garstang's excavations in 1935-6 had shown that in the heart of the mound lay important remains of the Neolithic period, and further examination of both of these aspects of its history was very desirable. The Palestine Exploration Fund has throughout been associated with the School as a sponsor of the enterprise, and the two bodies have now been joined by the British Academy; a large number of universities, museums, and societies, including the Royal Anthropological Institute, have contributed to the excavation funds. In Jordan, the American School of Oriental Research has collaborated in the excavations. Every assistance has been given by the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan. The results of the three seasons' work already carried out have provided important evidence for all periods from the Late Chalcolithic to the Late Bronze Age, roughly from the 4th millennium B.C. to the I4th century B.C. Before the Late Chalcolithic lies an earlier Chalcolithic phase, a Neolithic phase with pottery, and a pre-pottery Neolithic phase. It is concerning the Neolithic that the excavations have produced results of particularly outstanding importance, and the present article is concerned with that period alone, as being of especial interest to readers of this JOURNAL. The site of ancient Jericho is an oval-shaped mound on the outskirts of the modern oasis, at the foot of the mountains forming the western edge of the great Jordan Rift. It lies at a level of goo feet below sea level, with the mountains to the west rising to 2500 feet above sea level within a distance of about 15 miles. Across the flat trough of the Jordan Valley, some iO miles wide, the mountains of Moab and Gilead rise equally abruptly to a similar height. The reasons which gave Jericho its importance through millennia are twofold. At the foot of the mound a strong perennial spring gushes out, today irrigating the modern oasis. The soil of the Jordan Valley is very fertile with irrigation, and the abundant water supply, coupled with the fertility of the soil and a sub-tropical climate, provided conditions very favourable to primitive agriculture. Secondly, the site lies on one of the two most important routes from the uplands to the east, and the desert behind them, into coastal Palestine. From these steppe and desert areas bands of nomads have from the dawn of history and long before surged out at intervals to establish a footing in the Fertile Crescent, of which Palestine forms part. Jericho, as guardian of the gateway, must at all periods have had to look to her defences, and the excavations have shown the results of the incursions of many such nomad bands, and the succession of strong city walls built to oppose them. The mound today rises some 70 feet above the spring at its foot. Garstang's (I935, 1936) excavations revealed, deep in the mound at the north-east end, a level characterized by Neolithic pottery, and beneath it a deep deposit earlier than the appearance of pottery.