Radiocarbon chronology of the EB I–II and II–III transitions at Tel Bet Yerah, and its implications for the nature of social change in the southern Levant

Abstract

A closely controlled radiocarbon sequence for the EB I–III, compiled over six seasons of excavations at Tel Bet Yerah, Israel, provides new information on the EB I–II and II–III transitions. These dates support the possibility of a decades-long overlap between some late EB I and early EB II sites and indicate a mid- to late 29th-century cal BC date for the introduction of Khirbet Kerak Ware in the southern Levant. South Levantine EB II is shown to co-extend neatly with the First Dynasty of Egypt.