Graham Philip
Biographic Data
| ID | 3599739 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Graham Philip |
| GIVEN NAMES | Graham |
| FAMILY NAME | Philip |
| SIGNATURE | PHILIP G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6023-3928 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 49 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 290 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 48 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1932 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Dariali: The 'Caspian Gates' in the Caucasus from Antiquity to the Age of the Huns and the Middle Ages
The Huns, invading through Dariali Gorge on the modern-day border between Russia and Georgia in AD 395 and 515, spread terror across the late antique world. Was this the prelude to the apocalypse? Prophecies foresaw a future Hunnic onslaught, via the same mountain pass, bringing about the end of the world. Humanity’s fate depended on a gated barrier deep in Europe’s highest and most forbidding mountain chain. Centuries before the emergence of suc…
Understanding the Form and Timing of Damage to Archaeological Sites During the Syrian Conflict by Combining Evidence From Remote Sensing With Ground Observation
Satellite remote sensing is used widely to monitor damage to archaeological sites in conflict areas, including in Syria. On‐the‐ground assessments have been fewer in number, and the degree to which remote sensing assessments reflect what is happening on the ground has not been extensively tested. Using data from 19 archaeological sites in northwest Syria, we present a case study comparing the strengths of satellite remote sensing and ground obser…
Abila of the Decapolis in Northern Jordan During the Early Byzantine Period
The beginning of the Byzantine period at Abila of Decapolis in northern Jordan was marked by a significant increase in population compared to the preceding Roman period. This increase was examined through the lens of inward migration, which was subsequently investigated via the utilization of strontium isotope analysis on 15 dental enamel samples collected from 15 individuals recovered from three Early Byzantine tombs at Abila. The results show t…
Climate change and early urbanism in Southwest Asia
During the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (c. 6500–4000 BP), the Fertile Crescent in Southwest Asia saw the earliest development of cities anywhere in the world. Climate and environmental factors are generally considered to be significant in these changes because in pre‐industrial societies they directly relate to food production and security. The emergence of cities also coincides with a decoupling of settlement and climate trends, sugge…
Local-scale environmental gradients in ‘snail-shell’ stable isotopes from Holocene Jordanian archaeological sites
Reconstructing environments around archaeological sites is complicated by past land management practices and regional-scale climate proxies that can be contradictory and are often located at a distance from the sites themselves. Here we explore environmental information from fossil snail shells which, even when few in number on an archaeological site, may prove invaluable in constructing site-specific data. The palaeoecology of fossil snails and …
The characterisation of ceramic production from the central Levant and Egyptian trade in the Pyramid Age
A recent petrographic study of ceramic jars from Giza imported into Egypt during the 4th Dynasty of the Pyramid Age (c. 2613–2494 BCE) identified the original production zone as the Lebanese coast generally between Beirut and Tripoli, including the region of Byblos. The jars and their contents were imported to Egypt by maritime trade expeditions conducted at the behest of the Egyptian state. This study analyses a selection of these ceramic sample…
Potential of deep learning segmentation for the extraction of archaeological features from historical map series
Historical maps present a unique depiction of past landscapes, providing evidence for a wide range of information such as settlement distribution, past land use, natural resources, transport networks, toponymy and other natural and cultural data within an explicitly spatial context. Maps produced before the expansion of large-scale mechanized agriculture reflect a landscape that is lost today. Of particular interest to us is the great quantity of…
Ceramic studies and petrographic analysis in Levantine archaeology, the limitations of current approaches
By way of an introduction to this volume, we look to provide a brief review of recent approaches to ceramic studies in Levantine archaeology, and to the way that the results of laboratory-based investigations have been integrated within these. As we are interested in using ceramic data to address questions that extend beyond single-site studies, we pay particular attention to the information potential offered by the large-scale integration of cer…
The development of integrated regional economies in the Early Bronze Age Levant
This paper uses new petrographic and geochemical data (ICP-AES and -MS analyses) taken from samples of ‘Combed Ware’ jars occurring at sites on the Lebanese coast, the Bekaa Valley, the Orontes Valley around Homs and the North Jordan Valley, to investigate the production and distribution of these vessels in the Levant during the Early Bronze Age. The evidence points to the existence of integrated regional interaction zones that can be identified …
Drinking on the periphery
This paper explores the late 3rd millennium BC goblet corpus from Tell Nebi Mend in the upper Orontes Valley, Syria, by comparing the form, size, petrographic and chemical composition of these drinking vessels. The available evidence suggests that Tell Nebi Mend belongs to its own distinct ceramic-culture province, which shares a greater affinity with the Beqa‘ Valley and the Black Wheel-made Ware of the southern Levant than with the traditional …
Ceramics, society and economy in the northern Levant
One of the primary aims of the Computational Research on the Ancient Near East (CRANE), funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is to create a framework for the int...
New Agendas in Remote Sensing and Landscape Archaeology in the near East
Editor’s Introduction
As Levant does not normally publish papers covering the Balkans and the Aegean, it seemed appropriate that the Editor provide some context for this decision. In this case, we felt that it was worth...
From Above and on the Ground
The EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa) project is a collaboration between the Universities of Leicester, Oxford and Durham; it is funded by the Arcadia Fund and the Cultural Protection Fund. This paper explores the development of the EAMENA methodology, and discusses some of the problems of working across such a broad region. We discuss two main case studies: the World Heritage site of Cyrene illustrates how the p…
Shifting identities
Edgar Peltenburg (1942–2016)
Eddie's death came as a surprise to all but his immediate friends and family. He had always been fit and active, and like many others, I had assumed that he would be around for years, as a reliable...
Climatic changes and social transformations in the Near East and North Africa during the ‘long’ 4th millennium BC
This paper explores the possible links between rapid climate change (RCC) and social change in the Near East and surrounding regions (Anatolia, central Syria, southern Israel, Mesopotamia, Cyprus and eastern and central Sahara) during the ‘long’ 4th millennium (∼4500–3000) BC. Twenty terrestrial and 20 marine climate proxies are used to identify long-term trends in humidity involving transitions from humid to arid conditions and vice versa. The f…
Settlement in the Upper Orontes Valley from the Neolithic to the Islamic Period
This paper presents the main developments in settlement organization in the Orontes Valley around the modern city of Homs from the Neolithic through to the Islamic period. Data drawn from ten seasons of fieldwork undertaken by the project “Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria (1999-2010)” are used to delineate the main developments in settlement distribution and organization in each of three contrasting landscape units. …
Making the Dead Visible
Archaeobotanical remains from late 6th/early 5th millennium BC Tel Tsaf, Israel
Contextualizing Early Urbanization
This paper employs data from selected sample survey areas in the northern Fertile Crescent to demonstrate how initial urbanization developed along several pathways. The first, during the Late Chalcolithic period, was within a dense pattern of rural settlement. There followed a profound shift in settlement pattern that resulted in the formation of large walled or ramparted sites (‘citadel cities’) associated with a more dynamic phase of urbanizati…
Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Landscapes of Settlement and Mobility in the Middle Euphrates
Urbanization occupies an ambiguous position in the development of the Middle Euphrates region of Turkey and Syria, in part because the area frequently formed a contested region between other stronger Early Bronze Age polities. This paper aims to review evidence from a series of archaeological surveys to illustrate trends in settlement during the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. Re-analysis of survey data from three exemplar regions in the Middle Euphra…
Pre-Classical Activity in the Basalt Landscape of the Homs Region, Syria
The article presents new evidence for activity of 4th and 3rd millennium BC date, from the basaltic landscape west of the Orontes River, near modern Homs, which provides an indication of the nature and extent of human activity at this time outside the main riverine basins. Through a consideration of the potential of the landscape, an analysis of the form, distribution and function of the main categories of structural evidence, and of the associat…
Beyond the Ubaid
The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (Utarp)
Contextualizing Early Urbanization
This paper employs data from selected sample survey areas in the northern Fertile Crescent to demonstrate how initial urbanization developed along several pathways. The first, during the Late Chalcolithic period, was within a dense pattern of rural settlement. There followed a profound shift in settlement pattern that resulted in the formation of large walled or ramparted sites (‘citadel cities’) associated with a more dynamic phase of urbanizati…
The Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant
This paper seeks to explore ways in which a landscape perspective might shed new light on the nature of the social and economic changes detectable in the archaeological record of the Early Bronze Age (EBA) of the southern Levant. The discussion focuses upon key anthropogenic landscape elements, in particular the construction of walled settlements and visible burial monuments, and the impact of important agricultural changes both upon the experien…
Tales of the City? ‘Urhanism’ in the Early Bronze Age Levant from Mediterranean and Levantine Perspectives
Over the last century, scholars have proposed many models for understanding the rise of urbanism and the nature of urban society throughout the Mediterranean and the Levant. As part of this dialogue, the papers assembled here represent the result of a session held at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in New Orleans (April 2001) to explore recent paradigms for understanding the question of urbanism, specifi cally from a Levantine perspe…
Hoards of the early and middle Bronze ages in the Levant
The presence of hoards in the Bronze Age Levant is a phenomenon that has been largely overlooked. Although less striking than European hoards and concentrated on, rather than away from, settlements, their very existence requires comment. The current article moves away from previous discussions of object‐typology and date, and attempts to show that apparently dissimilar groups of material represent different facets of a single phenomenon. A marked…
Corona satellite photography
The declassification of CORONA high-resolution space photography has made a valuable new resource available for the study of ancient landscapes. Using a recent case-study from Syria, examples are given of various ways in which CORONA imagery can significantly enhance regional survey work
Satellite imagery as a resource in the prospection for archaeological sites in central Syria
Both IKONOS and CORONA satellite imagery are currently being employed by the research project Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria, as the primary deskbased means of detecting non‐tell archaeological sites, a category that has generally been underrepresented in traditional tell‐centered surveys in the Middle East. Satellite imagery provides a highly effective means of prospecting for ancient settlement remains on the mar…
Evaluation of Corona and Ikonos high resolution satellite imagery for archaeological prospection in western Syria
Satellite surveys in Syria have made use of imagery recorded some 30 years apart. By comparing the earlier pictures (Corona) with the later (Ikonos), sites captured on the former can be accurately located by the latter. The comparison also reveals the stark implications for archaeology as large parts of west Asian landscape change from a state of 'benign neglect' to active redevelopment. Based on their experience in the Homs survey, the authors h…
A provenance study of Jordanian basalt vessels of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I Periods
Les propriétés chimiques et pétrographiques de préparations dérivées de seize récipients en basalte datant du Chalcolithique au Bronze Ancien I ont été étudiées lors de leur observation au microscope et à la fluorescence X. Le but était de comparer ces résultats avec ceux obtenus lors d'analyse de morceaux de basalte de sources diverses afin de savoir si la confection de ces mêmes récipients était purement locale, ou, au contraire, le fait d'un c…
Making the Dead Visible
Archaeobotanical remains from late 6th/early 5th millennium BC Tel Tsaf, Israel
Complexity and Diversity in the Southern Levant during the Third Millenium BC
Archaeologists have generally viewed the appearance of Khirbet Kerak Ware (KKW) in the southern Levant in the early 3rd millennium BC in terms of a movement into the area of population groups of east Anatolian origin. However, there are serious theoretical and empirical objections to this position. It is suggested that by concentrating upon KKW as a macro-level phenomenon, scholars have neglected to consider the existence of significant inter-com…
Potential of deep learning segmentation for the extraction of archaeological features from historical map series
Historical maps present a unique depiction of past landscapes, providing evidence for a wide range of information such as settlement distribution, past land use, natural resources, transport networks, toponymy and other natural and cultural data within an explicitly spatial context. Maps produced before the expansion of large-scale mechanized agriculture reflect a landscape that is lost today. Of particular interest to us is the great quantity of…
Cypriot Bronzework in the Levantine World
The present paper represents and attempt to consider one aspect of Cypriot Bronze Age material culture within a socio-economic perspective, rather than from the more traditional typological standpoint. The range of metal weapons found on Cyprus during the Early and Middle Cypriot periods is discussed, and suggestions made about possible reasons for the patterns observed. A comparison is then made with metal weapons from neighboring regions, showi…
Fourth Millennium Bc Silver From Tell Esh‐shuna, Jordan
Analytical and contextual details are given for a piece of silver sheet recovered by dry‐sieving from a fourth millennium B.C. deposit at Tell esh‐Shuna in the north Jordan Valley. Analysis proved that the fragment was composed of a silver‐gold‐copper alloy. The possible origin of such aurian silver artefacts is considered in the light of current geological evidence, and alternative mechanisms for their appearance reviewed, taking into considerat…
Jawa and Tell Um Hammad — Two Early Bronze Age Sites in Jordan
Compte-rendu du contenu des rapports de fouilles de Jawa et de Tell Um Hammad (âge du Bronze) publies par A. G. V. Betts en 1991 et 1992 : Excavations at Jawa 1972-1986 (1991. Pp xiii, 397. Edimburgh University Press) et Excavations at Tell Um Hammad. The early assemblages (EB I-II) (1992. Pp xiv, 425. Edimburgh Press University)
Understanding the Form and Timing of Damage to Archaeological Sites During the Syrian Conflict by Combining Evidence From Remote Sensing With Ground Observation
Satellite remote sensing is used widely to monitor damage to archaeological sites in conflict areas, including in Syria. On‐the‐ground assessments have been fewer in number, and the degree to which remote sensing assessments reflect what is happening on the ground has not been extensively tested. Using data from 19 archaeological sites in northwest Syria, we present a case study comparing the strengths of satellite remote sensing and ground obser…
Local-scale environmental gradients in ‘snail-shell’ stable isotopes from Holocene Jordanian archaeological sites
Reconstructing environments around archaeological sites is complicated by past land management practices and regional-scale climate proxies that can be contradictory and are often located at a distance from the sites themselves. Here we explore environmental information from fossil snail shells which, even when few in number on an archaeological site, may prove invaluable in constructing site-specific data. The palaeoecology of fossil snails and …
Cypriot Bronzework in the Levantine World
Mixed Data Cluster Analysis
Lanier and Science
The Golden Age of the New Orleans Theater
Mixed Data Cluster Analysis
Hoards of the early and middle Bronze ages in the Levant
The presence of hoards in the Bronze Age Levant is a phenomenon that has been largely overlooked. Although less striking than European hoards and concentrated on, rather than away from, settlements, their very existence requires comment. The current article moves away from previous discussions of object‐typology and date, and attempts to show that apparently dissimilar groups of material represent different facets of a single phenomenon. A marked…
Tin, Arsenic, Lead
Thirteen Syro-Palestinian copper-alloy weapons from good EB-MB and MB I contexts were analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry, in order to amplify our knowledge of copper metallurgy around 2000 B.C. The results raise several important points regarding alloying practices, and the factors governing alloy selection. Regional differences in alloy use within the southern Levant during the EB-MB period are clarified, while a hitherto unsuspecte…
Cypriot Bronzework in the Levantine World
Cypriot Bronzework in the Levantine World
The present paper represents and attempt to consider one aspect of Cypriot Bronze Age material culture within a socio-economic perspective, rather than from the more traditional typological standpoint. The range of metal weapons found on Cyprus during the Early and Middle Cypriot periods is discussed, and suggestions made about possible reasons for the patterns observed. A comparison is then made with metal weapons from neighboring regions, showi…
Preliminary Report on the Second (1992) Season of Excavations at Tell esh-Shuna North
Excavations continued at Tell esh-Shuna in 1992. In Area D a series of rectilinear buildings were exposed underlying Chalcolithic pits and open areas. In Area A several later EB I buildings including one potentially substantial example were uncovered. A midden area of this period included evidence relating to metallurgical activity. Overlying these entities were four very large walls that probably relate to an EB structure of monumental character…
A provenance study of Jordanian basalt vessels of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I Periods
Les propriétés chimiques et pétrographiques de préparations dérivées de seize récipients en basalte datant du Chalcolithique au Bronze Ancien I ont été étudiées lors de leur observation au microscope et à la fluorescence X. Le but était de comparer ces résultats avec ceux obtenus lors d'analyse de morceaux de basalte de sources diverses afin de savoir si la confection de ces mêmes récipients était purement locale, ou, au contraire, le fait d'un c…
Preliminary Report on the Third (1993) Season of Excavations at Tell esh-Shuna North
The 1993 season at Tell esh-Shuna completed excavation of Chalcolithic levels in Area D. These consisted of at least two major occupation phases, possibly early Chalcolithic in date. Early and late EB I levels were excavated in Area A. A significant distinction exists between early and late EB I ceramic assemblages. Important differences may also exist in the nature of craft production, some subsistence practices and possibly in architecture, bet…
Jawa and Tell Um Hammad — Two Early Bronze Age Sites in Jordan
Compte-rendu du contenu des rapports de fouilles de Jawa et de Tell Um Hammad (âge du Bronze) publies par A. G. V. Betts en 1991 et 1992 : Excavations at Jawa 1972-1986 (1991. Pp xiii, 397. Edimburgh University Press) et Excavations at Tell Um Hammad. The early assemblages (EB I-II) (1992. Pp xiv, 425. Edimburgh Press University)
The Ancient Near East C. 300–30 B.C
Fourth Millennium Bc Silver From Tell Esh‐shuna, Jordan
Analytical and contextual details are given for a piece of silver sheet recovered by dry‐sieving from a fourth millennium B.C. deposit at Tell esh‐Shuna in the north Jordan Valley. Analysis proved that the fragment was composed of a silver‐gold‐copper alloy. The possible origin of such aurian silver artefacts is considered in the light of current geological evidence, and alternative mechanisms for their appearance reviewed, taking into considerat…
Complexity and Diversity in the Southern Levant during the Third Millenium BC
Archaeologists have generally viewed the appearance of Khirbet Kerak Ware (KKW) in the southern Levant in the early 3rd millennium BC in terms of a movement into the area of population groups of east Anatolian origin. However, there are serious theoretical and empirical objections to this position. It is suggested that by concentrating upon KKW as a macro-level phenomenon, scholars have neglected to consider the existence of significant inter-com…
Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria
This report describes the results of the first and second seasons of field work by an interdisciplinary research team studying the landscape history of the upper Orontes Valley near Homs in western Syria. Initial discussions address the value of survey data to Syrian archaeology, the research aims of the project and describe the survey area. The project methodology, which includes a combination of both extensive and intensive survey methods, is o…
Corona satellite photography
The declassification of CORONA high-resolution space photography has made a valuable new resource available for the study of ancient landscapes. Using a recent case-study from Syria, examples are given of various ways in which CORONA imagery can significantly enhance regional survey work
Copper Metallurgy in the Jordan Valley from the Third to the First Millennia BC
This paper investigates Bronze and Iron Age metallurgy in the Levant while recognizing that metal artefacts were employed within a world in which social, economic and technological factors were closely intertwined. This theme is addressed through the investigation of sixty-eight copper-base artefacts from the site of Pella in the Jordan Valley, taken from contexts spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the early Iron Age. Data arising from a co…
The Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant
This paper seeks to explore ways in which a landscape perspective might shed new light on the nature of the social and economic changes detectable in the archaeological record of the Early Bronze Age (EBA) of the southern Levant. The discussion focuses upon key anthropogenic landscape elements, in particular the construction of walled settlements and visible burial monuments, and the impact of important agricultural changes both upon the experien…
Tales of the City? ‘Urhanism’ in the Early Bronze Age Levant from Mediterranean and Levantine Perspectives
Over the last century, scholars have proposed many models for understanding the rise of urbanism and the nature of urban society throughout the Mediterranean and the Levant. As part of this dialogue, the papers assembled here represent the result of a session held at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in New Orleans (April 2001) to explore recent paradigms for understanding the question of urbanism, specifi cally from a Levantine perspe…
Economy and Exchange in the East Mediterranean during Late Antiquity
Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria. Report on Work Undertaken during 2001–2003
This report presents a summary of the methods and some preliminary results of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary research team studying the landscape history of the upper Orontes Valley near Homs in western Syria. The particular focus of the project is to document long-term interrelationships between settlement and landscape in two adjacent but divergent regions. Geomorphological fieldwork on the Pleistocene and Holocene environments is considered…
Bâb edh-Dhrâʿ
Satellite imagery as a resource in the prospection for archaeological sites in central Syria
Both IKONOS and CORONA satellite imagery are currently being employed by the research project Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria, as the primary deskbased means of detecting non‐tell archaeological sites, a category that has generally been underrepresented in traditional tell‐centered surveys in the Middle East. Satellite imagery provides a highly effective means of prospecting for ancient settlement remains on the mar…
Evaluation of Corona and Ikonos high resolution satellite imagery for archaeological prospection in western Syria
Satellite surveys in Syria have made use of imagery recorded some 30 years apart. By comparing the earlier pictures (Corona) with the later (Ikonos), sites captured on the former can be accurately located by the latter. The comparison also reveals the stark implications for archaeology as large parts of west Asian landscape change from a state of 'benign neglect' to active redevelopment. Based on their experience in the Homs survey, the authors h…
The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (Utarp)
Archaeology (42 works) · History (35 works) · Geography (34 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (33 works) · Ancient history (24 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (23 works) · Bronze Age (19 works) · History (16 works) · Archaeological Research and Protection (15 works) · Ancient Near East History (12 works)