New Radiocarbon Dating from Late Bronze and Iron Age Gezer and Its Implications

ABSTRACT The recent publication of a substantial radiocarbon (14C) dataset and Bayesian chronological model for Tel Gezer between the thirteenth and ninth centuries BCE has raised considerable interest, since this site is among the largest Bronze and Iron Age cities of south-central Israel and historically well attested in Egyptian, biblical, and Assyrian sources. The dates came from short-lived organic materials in the Tandy excavation area on the southern edge of the mound, where a continuous occupation sequence was uncovered. The article in PLoS ONE showed that the radiocarbon results have substantial implications for assessing the feasibility of various proposed connections between certain strata and events described in textual sources, or wider archaeological phenomena. This essay is a summary of the main outcomes of the newly published 14C research. There is no doubt that the new dataset puts a valuable new piece of evidence on the table for a wide range of issues.