Is Archaeology Reliable?
Tel Batash (biblical Timnah) in the Sorek Valley.
“Samson went down to Timnah . . .” (Judg. 14)
(Courtesy RØHR Productions, Ltd.)
(I excavated here from 1981 – 1983)
Narrowing the scope
Archaeology has many areas of specialization from early man to near modern times. The discipline broadly deals with the material remains of human cultures in many periods; an archaeologist, therefore, must specialize.
When I use the term archaeology in this website, I’m referring specifically to the survey, excavation, and study of the human material cultures of Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Transjordan, and ancient Canaan in the thousand-year period from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BC) to the end of the Iron I period (c. 1000 BC).
There are now many sub disciplines within the field that are continually expanding our understanding of how ancient people lived.
Narrowing the scope
Archaeology has many areas of specialization from early man to near modern times. The discipline broadly deals with the material remains of human cultures in many periods; an archaeologist, therefore, must specialize.
When I use the term archaeology in this website, I’m referring specifically to the survey, excavation, and study of the human material cultures of Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Transjordan, and ancient Canaan in the thousand-year period from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BC) to the end of the Iron I period (c. 1000 BC).
There are now many sub disciplines within the field that are continually expanding our understanding of how ancient people lived.
Tel Batash (biblical Timnah) in the Sorek Valley.
“Samson went down to Timnah . . .” (Judg. 14)
(Courtesy RØHR Productions, Ltd.)
(I excavated here from 1981 – 1983)
How do archaeologists date a site’s occupation levels?
A common feature of the landscape of the Near East are the ubiquitous mounds called tels (Hebrew) or tells (Arabic). These are layer cakes of ancient mudbrick towns built one upon another through many centuries of occupation (sometimes thousands of years). Archaeologists who excavate such multi-occupation sites concentrate on identifying and dating each successive layer of habitation (called strata). These strata are generally dated by the discovery within the stratum of diagnostic artifacts known to exist during a distinct period. The most commonly dated artifact is pottery—since it is so durable. A broken diagnostic sherd (a rim, a handle, or a base) is often sufficient to identify the original vessel and the period when it was in use.
Is archaeological dating reliable?
Yes, but it is not always precise. A large database of reliably dated artifacts has been accumulating for a century in the Near East (particularly in Israel). Distinctive artifacts (e.g., pottery) are known to have existed during relatively narrow periods within a geographic region. After a period of popularity styles were displaced by later forms.
The discovery within an archaeological stratum of certain distinctive artifacts that were popular for a period indicates when the stratum was occupied. Assemblages of several types of artifacts with differing periods of use may further narrow the dating window when a stratum was occupied. Especially important to archaelogists are destruction levels that may seal evidence of a specific date of the destruction in light of other evidence.
Archaeological dating of evidence is neutral and without an agenda. The careful scholar must be alert to claims some archaeologists about their findings that go beyond what the data can show; archaeologists do make mistakes, they operate on assumptions, and they have agendas. For that reason, publication of archaeological findings is the means by which others can vet the findings of their colleagues.
Why archaeology must be the gatekeeper of the historically possible
Archaeological dating is usually the only means of determining the duration of an occupational stratum. If a biblical event occurred at a town (whose site has been reliably identified), the projected date of the biblical event must fall within a period when the archaeological evidence shows that the site was occupied. Archaeological evidence is often the only objective means of determining if a biblical event could have happened at a site at a projected time.
Iron I Pottery Assemblage at Shiloh
(Photo courtesy of Isael Finkelstein)
A case study
For an example of how stratigraphy and typology can be used in biblical dating see the next article, “Jericho: A Case Study.”