The Early Iron Age at Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Jordan Valley

Abstract

The present monograph by Teresa Bürge deals with the material culture of the city of Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the northern part of the Jordan Valley. The basis and starting point is an extremely well-preserved domestic compound dating from the early Iron Age – one of the most controversial periods of the Eastern Mediterranean: it follows the political and economic collapse of the Late Bronze Age and results in a re-structuration of the political and social organization, which – due to the present state of research – is well documented only for the later Iron Age. In addition to a detailed examination of the architecture, the find material, its contexts, the relative and absolute chronology, and the possible function of the building, the study aims at an integration of the evidence from Tell Abu al-Kharaz into a broader picture. Special attention is devoted to the economy and social organization of the early Iron Age town, to aspects of tradition versus innovation, and patterns of economic contacts and migration. Therefore, the study contributes to a better understanding of processes of continuity and change in social and political organization and cross-cultural relations of pre- and protohistoric societies.