In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Excavations at Tel Kabri: The 2005–2011 Seasons ed. by Assaf Yasur-Landau and Eric H. Cline
  • Susan L. Cohen
Excavations at Tel Kabri: The 2005–2011 Seasons. Edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau and Eric H. Cline.
Leiden: Brill, 2020. Pp. viii + 342. Hardback, $248.
ISBN: 978-90-04-42571-2. E-book, $248. ISBN: 978-90-04-42572-9.

The volume under review is the final report of the most recent excavations at Tel Kabri. In it, the editors have presented the standard components of a traditional field report (e.g., stratigraphy, ceramic and faunal analyses, small finds, etc.) with additional chapters that present results of materials idiosyncratic to the site (e.g., painted plaster) and other scientific studies (e.g., organic residue analysis). The unifying theme(s) of the report, as stated in the research goals in the introduction (1), are examinations of the political and economic system of the Kabri palace and its external connections together with discussions of the physical and environmental analyses brought to bear on these questions.

The preliminary introductory chapter of the volume sets out the goals of the project, the methodologies used in the field, the primary excavation personnel, and it provides a summary/overview of each field season from 2005–2011 (no excavations were conducted in 2010, see p. 16). The site stratigraphy for each of the main excavation areas appears in this chapter (Table 1.1, on p. 3), with links to stratigraphy established in previous excavations. To date, while the stratum numbers of each excavation area are roughly the same, the excavators have not yet established a site-wide stratigraphic phasing, perhaps because this might be set out more properly when other areas outside the palace complex have been investigated more thoroughly. Chapter 2 then presents the history of archaeological excavation at Tel Kabri, from the first visit by Conder and Kitchner in the 1870s, to its early investigation in the 1950s, through Kempinski’s seasons of excavation at the site, and smaller IAA excavations, up to the commencement of the excavation project detailed in this volume.

Following these two introductory chapters, the volume is divided into four sections: stratigraphy and architecture, the finds, environmental and physical studies, and conclusions. Part I, “Stratigraphy and Architecture,” contains four chapters, each of which presents the excavation results from a different area of the palace: Area D-West, Area-D North, Area D-South 1, and Area D-South 2/F. Each excavation area receives a thorough discussion and detailed description of the stratigraphic relationships, with appropriate cross-references to various finds and locus/basket numbers, and each discussion is further illustrated with architectural plans and photos showing key stratigraphic relationships or other archaeological elements. However, while comprehensive, these illustrations unfortunately are sometimes difficult to use; although they are very clearly labeled, many of the photos are dark or otherwise lacking in sufficient contrast and/ or resolution, which tends to obscure the details needed for close stratigraphic observation. Appendices placed at the end of each chapter provide a list of loci for each of the four excavation areas. This enables the reader to quickly find locus information while reading the chapter itself; however, the lack of one comprehensive locus list for all excavated areas may prove more difficult should an individual need to find data regarding a particular locus that has been referenced from outside this volume. In addition, rather than listing the loci in each appendix in numerical order, these are arranged instead by excavation season, which, again, may prove difficult for a reader [End Page 415] who might be looking for specific data without wanting to peruse the whole volume.

Following the discussion of stratigraphy and architecture, Part II, “The Finds,” contains chapters on the ceramics (Chs. 7A–7D), the painted plaster (Chs. 8A–8B), miscellaneous finds (Ch. 9A), and one scarab (Ch. 9B). The discussion of the pottery is divided into two chapters: Chapter 7A presents the ceramics from the exploratory season in 2005, while Chapter 7B then discusses the material from the other excavation seasons. The chapters follow slightly different organizational formats, as the former presents pottery by locus, while the latter discusses the ceramics by...

pdf