Archeological Geology of Tel Yin'am, Galilee, Israel

Tel Yin'am, in Lower Galilee, was almost continually inhabited from Neolithic through Late Roman-Early Christian times. The settlement was placed on an alluvial fan at the base of a basalt fault scarp; this location provided good water, abundant pre-sized building stones, and fertile soil. Vesicular basalt was used for grinders, scoria for scrubbers, and chert for cutting implements. A quantitative unit for evaluating pavement wear is introduced. A factory area dating from the 13th century B.C. is believed to be an iron smeltery because of slag properties, reconstructed reducing furnaces with lime used as flux, and the presence of fragments of iron ore and ochre-smeared jars. A well-preserved Mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) has also been unearthed. Soils in the tell show distinct development of a calcic horizon in the past 1300 years. Calichification was so rapid because of the CaCO3 derived from ashes of wood used for fuel. The tell was abandoned late in the 6th century A.C., probably because of a drying climate and the fall of the water table within the alluvial fan

Alluvial fan · Alluvium · Archaeology · Basalt · Excavation · Fault (geology · Fault scarp · Geochemistry · Geography · Horizon · Lime · Scoria · Sedimentary rock · Volcano · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Geology · Paleontology

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