The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Central Transjordan: The Baq`ah Valley Project

The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Central Transjordan: The Baq`ah Valley Project, 1977-1981

by Patrick E. McGovern (University of Pennsylvania Museum Monograph 65.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1986)

“McGovern turns the results of a relatively modest excavation into a monumental research report, which can in many ways serve as a model for archaeological reporting . . . deserves to be in every archaeological and anthropological library.”—Journal of the American Oriental Society

“McGovern is to be commended for the writing and editing of a near-perfect archaeological report of a group of burial caves in the Baq’ah Valley near Amman. It is comprehensive and far-ranging, thoroughly research and up-to-date, well designed and coherently written. . . . A monumental research report, which can in many ways serve as an model for archaeological reporting . . . deserves to be in every archaeological and anthropological library.”—Journal of the American Oriental Society

A critical transition period in the archaeology and history of Palestine—the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age—is described in detail from the perspective of a group of sites in the Baq’ah Valley. A major emphasis is on how scientific techniques, including magnetic location of undisturbed burial deposits and analytical reconstruction of very early industries, can be effectively integrated into an archaeological project. Contrary to traditional views, the evidence supports a relatively peaceful development within a single cultural tradition rather than the intrusion of a new people or segment of the existing population, by invasion, migration, or revolt.