OSL dating of pre-terraced and terraced landscape: Land transformation in Jerusalem's rural hinterland

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 21 (2018) 575–583

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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep

OSL dating of pre-terraced and terraced landscape: Land transformation in Jerusalem's rural hinterland

T

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Yuval Gadota, , Yelena Elgart-Sharona, Nitsan Ben-Melecha, Uri Davidovichb, Gideon Avnic, Yoav Avnid, Naomi Poratd a

The Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, P.O.B. 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel Department of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel c Israel Antiquities Authority, P.O.B. 586, Jerusalem 9100402, Israel d Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Israel Street, Jerusalem 9550161, Israel b

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Land use OSL dating Jerusalem Terrace construction

The recent success in dating dry farming terraces by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) enables scholars to evaluate for the first time construction events of terraces in their true social and economic context. Presented here are 36 new ages from two study areas located along the Upper Soreq catchment, highlands of Jerusalem, Israel. Field operations were targeted at locating Bronze Age and Iron Age agricultural activities while evaluating possible methodological limitations in using OSL for dating terraces. The results convincingly show that in the Mediterranean highland environment, soil erosion and rebuilding activities have only a mild impact on the resulting OSL dating. When combining the new ages with the ~60 ages that were published previously in the study area, it is possible to conclude that in the more favorable ecological niches of the highlands of Jerusalem terraces began ca 2400–2200 years ago. This was followed by two or three waves of wide-scale terracing, taking place mainly in the last 800 years. Finally, we were able to recognize a unique ecological niche that preserved ancient (ca 2500 years old) pre-terracing activities as it was not densely covered by later terraces.

1. Introduction

An in-depth study of ancient terraces within their true social context is dependent however on reliable dating, an aim that is notoriously difficult to achieve. Archaeology depends on stratigraphy and on in situ dateable material in order to date layers and features. When dealing with landscape features such as terraces, there are major difficulties regarding both absolute and relative dating, since the palimpsest nature of human exploitation of the landscape limits the use of these basic dating tools (Roberts and Jacobs, 1992: 347–348; Wilkinson, 2003). Consequently, scholars must search for alternative dating methods. Recent scholarship has raised the option of using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) for dating terrace construction (Davidovich et al., 2012; Kinnaird et al., 2017). This dating method identifies the last time the soil was exposed to light and so can be utilized for dating soil movement, whether natural or anthropogenic. In recent years OSL has been applied for dating a range of man-made features in the landscape (Fuch and Wagner, 2005; Walsh, 2014: 93; Ackermann et al., 2014; Davidovich et al., 2014; Dunseth et al., 2017; Kinnaird et al., 2017). The aims of this study are twofold: First to consolidate the value of

The construction of bench terraces for the conduct of dry farming constitutes a major point-of-no-return in human alteration of the natural environment (Bevan and Conolly, 2011). In the Mediterranean basin, terraces became one of the most defining features of the scenery, the result of prolonged formation processes. Using terrace walls for artificial creation of arable plots was a major technological innovation that has led to the complete alteration of the natural terrain. It is thus not surprising that terraces attract the attention of scholars from a range of disciplines covering geomorphological and hydrological processes (Arnaez et al., 2015), ecological modelling and human-environment interplay (Bevan et al., 2013; Tarolli et al., 2014), as well as human subsistence strategies and social history (Gibson, 2003; Wilkinson, 2003). For the archaeologist, terrace construction mirrors socio-economic processes related to organization of rural labor, economic decision-making and, possibly, carrying capacities and demographic trends (Gadot et al., 2016a).

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Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Y. Gadot), [email protected] (Y. Elgart-Sharon), [email protected] (U. Davidovich), [email protected] (G. Avni), [email protected] (Y. Avni), [email protected] (N. Porat). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.036 Received 1 May 2018; Received in revised form 28 July 2018; Accepted 13 August 2018 2352-409X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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the second millennium BCE and that had almost completely collapsed terraces. At the same time we searched for positive evidence of an alternative subsistence strategy that may have been applied by Bronze and Iron Age settlers prior to the adaption of wide scale terracing. If dry farming terrace construction began only in the second part of the first millennium BCE, and since there is no doubt that a significant human settlement had already begun in the second millennium BCE, an explanation for the existence strategy of human permanent settlement in the highlands must be proffered.

OSL dating in studying archaeological landscapes and their evolution, and second to highlight a different mode of landscape exploitation for farming other than terracing. 1.1. Research history “The Formation of Terraced Landscapes in the Judean Highlands, Israel,” is a project whose aim is to use OSL dating for recognizing the introduction of terrace construction in order to evaluate the reasons for their construction (Gadot et al., 2015). The opening/first stage of research was method development that included ground surveys and the excavation of 10 test pits (Davidovich et al., 2012). It tested the possible contribution of OSL coupled with standard excavations as a major tool for dating dry farming terraces. Distinct events of soil movement, whether natural or by man, were recognized. The research was then expanded to two other regions in the highlands of Jerusalem, Mount Eitan and N. (Nahal; an ephemeral stream in Hebrew) Refa'im (see Gadot et al., 2015, 2016a, 2016b). Results collected from these study areas led us to assert that, at least in the highlands of Israel, wide-scale terracing began roughly 2200 years ago, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and that most of the terraces seen today in the landscape date to the past 800 years (Davidovich et al., 2012; Gadot et al., 2015, 2016a, 2016b; Porat et al., 2017). Since it is clear that the highlands were already permanently settled during the second millennium BCE (Middle Bronze Age), long before known terracing activities, these findings contradict the paradigm that permanent settlement in the highlands depends on the ability to terrace the slopes (Finkelstein, 1995; Gibson, 2001). The implication of these results led us to evaluate different factors that may affect the validity of the method (and see concerns raised by Gibson, 2015). Soil movements and concurrent bleaching could result from various natural processes and/or human-induced actions which are not necessarily related to the activity of interest (Avni et al., 2006; Gibson, 2015). We first evaluated whether the terrace walls examined have undergone continuous reconstruction, resulting in soil recycling and erasure of earlier terrace construction events. On Mount Eitan (Fig. 1) we indeed found many terraces with OSL ages spanning close to 700 years, indicating that they had been constructed and repaired continuously over the centuries (Gadot et al., 2016a). However, another study based on the Mount Eitan data showed that recycling of soil during repair and rebuilding always leaves a trace of older, unbleached grains in the OSL record (Porat et al., 2017), allowing us to recognize older episodes of terrace building even in younger terrace soils. The possibility of complete bleaching of all soil grains was therefore ruled out. We then examined the possibility that the soil held by the terraces had eroded downslope when the walls collapsed during episodes of no maintenance. The results of a study conducted along the western slopes of N. Shemuel (and see Fig. 2) show that the main body of terraces there was first built ~800 years ago and maintained until 180–100 years ago, after which they were abandoned and subsequently degraded. Since then 30–45% of soil volume was lost to erosion, however steady-state was reached at a relatively high slope of 65%, stabilized by vegetation (Porat et al., 2018). Though further study is in place, it seems to us that in a Mediterranean environment soil erosion does not explain the disappearance of entire periods from the OSL record. Another scenario that might have shaped the results gained in past field operations is that built terraces, constructed and operative during the last 700 years, conceal older building events. On Mount Eitan we indeed found terraces constructed in two or more phases separated by centuries or even a millennium. Only excavation down to bedrock exposed these early phases (Gadot et al., 2016a). To find older terraces dating to periods earlier than the Hellenistic era, we may need to examine collapsed terraces that have not been in use in the last millennium. To address the possible effects of this scenario, we designed archaeological field work in areas that were intensively exploited since

1.2. The Upper Soreq catchment We chose to concentrate our efforts on the formation of the agricultural landscape along the upper reaches of N. Soreq – a major river draining the northwestern region of the Jerusalem highlands – and its many tributaries (Fig. 1). We focused on a 6 km stretch of the river (Fig. 2), an area that includes the river's main channel as well as five short tributaries that join it from the north, northwest and west: Atarot, Shemuel, Luz, Halilim and Arza. Together they form the upper Soreq catchment. The Soreq main channel is moderately wide, ranging from 50 m in the east and broadening to 220 m in the west. The width of the tributaries ranges between 20 and 40 m, in all cases wide enough to be cultivated. The slopes are mostly moderate, with only small cliffs that are entirely bare of soil. N. Soreq is located within the Mediterranean climate zone. The rainy season lasts from October to May, while most of the precipitation falls between December and March, and the average annual rainfall is ca. 550 mm. Summer (June–September) is hot and dry, and the average daily maximum temperature reaches 29 °C. The surrounding mountains are composed of thick sedimentary carbonate sequence (limestone, dolomite, chalk and marl) of the Upper Cretaceous Judea Group, and along the Soreq a series of faults have led to the exposure of different formations at varying levels (Sneh and Avni, 2011; Fig. 3). Along the slopes of Shemuel tributary, for example, it is possible to encounter on the same elevation different formations such as Keslaon, Beit Me'ir, Moza, Aminadav, Kefar Shaul and Weradim. The tributary is a mosaic of different slope angles, soil types and thickness, vegetation and finally agricultural activities. The effect the various rock formations had on the development of agricultural strategies is most vividly seen when one compares the Halilim and Shemuel tributaries (Fig. 3). The slopes of N. Halilim are underlain by Beit Meir and Keslaon formations which are naturally stepped and were completely terraced (Fig. 4). N. Shemuel tributary, on the other hand, is characterized by steep and irregular slopes underlain by several rock formations (Fig. 3), and its slopes were only sporadically terraced (Fig. 5). Furthermore, outcrops of Aminadav and Weradim formations are not covered with soil, which is restricted to small and shallow pockets. Traditionally these pockets are considered uncultivable but, as we show below, it is exactly these environments that preserve the activities of pre-terracing agriculture (and see Davidovich et al., 2006). Surveys and excavations prove that the upper reaches of N. Soreq served as Jerusalem's breadbasket since the Iron Age, if not earlier. Three hundred and forty-four archaeological sites were surveyed and/ or excavated within the Soreq catchment, including large settlement sites, villages, farmsteads, isolated buildings and agricultural and industrial installations (for an updated reference list see Elgart-Sharon, 2017). Permanent settlements located within the river's drainage basin appear for the first time during the Neolithic Period and continue up to the present, with four excavated settlement sites known from the Middle Bronze Age, and others from the Persian (N = 6), Hellenistic (N = 6), Roman (N = 9), Byzantine (N = 9), Early Islamic (N = 6), Medieval (N = 9) and Ottoman (N = 5) periods. The late Iron Age (8th–6th centuries BCE) marks a peak in agricultural activities along the river, where eleven settlement sites, numerous winepresses, isolated buildings and stone piles located along the river's main channel and along its tributaries were found (Davidovich et al., 2006; Gadot, 2015). 576

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Fig. 1. Location map showing the studied areas in the Jerusalem Highlands. Each red circle represents an excavation area with two or more excavated pits. The main channels of Kesalon, Soreq and Refa'im valleys are indicated. Inset: The eastern Mediterranean and the study area (black circle). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 2. Contour map showing the topography of the upper Soreq catchment, the studied streams (dashed rectangles) and other locations mentioned in the text. N. Nahal; H. - Hirbet (a ruin). 577

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Fig. 3. Geological maps of N. Halilim and N. Shemuel surroundings (left and right, respectively) showing the Upper Cretaceous rock formations exposed along the slopes. Studied reaches are shown as rectangles. Square grid is 1 × 1 km. (after Sneh and Avni, 2011).

along with the renewal of the old terrace walls located inside the newly formed enclosures. Evidence that these plots made use of old abandoned terraces is based on the fact that the same terrace wall continues outside of the fenced plot (Fig. 6a), however, the outer segment is collapsed while the segment inside the plot is still standing. N. Shemuel is located farther east and its eastern slope is characterized by wide bedrock exposures with scatters of small earth pockets (Supplementary material V2). Clearly these outcrops were exploited for agriculture, as can be deduced from the many stone heaps – the result of field clearance, and the existence of at least four rock-cut winepresses. Parts of the lower slopes were terraced, especially on the western side, but these are short walls and their construction demanded that their builders hew the rock from the back of the step and position large volumes of soil in order to create a wide enough step. By now almost all the walls are collapsed. Eleven pits were excavated in the two study zones. Table 1 presents the location and nature of 11 of the pits that are relevant for this study and Figs. 4a–b and 5 show their spatial distribution. In N. Halilim we focused on terrace walls, collapsed or standing. All the walls were of type 1 as defined by Davidovich et al., 2012: (Fig. 6). At N. Shemuel a variety of other agricultural features were excavated and dated, such as a stone pile related to field clearance, soil fill into a rock-cut winepress and a 40 cm deep soil pocket locked in between bedrock outcrops. These features were typologically dated by other scholar to the Iron Age

These circumstances turn N. Soreq into a key for testing hypotheses regarding human environmental choices and the validity of OSL dating as a means for dating man-made features in the landscape. By using OSL dating of soils we are able to unfold the process of the creation of farmed land that took place along the Upper-Soreq catchment and demonstrate similar processes that were taking place in other highlands regions.

2. Materials and methods 2.1. Archaeology Two study areas were selected for excavation and further analysis, representing two very different environments within the Soreq catchment. The first is N. Halilim, with extensively terraced slopes by long and continuous terrace lines (Supplementary material V1). A ground survey allowed us to recognize two, possibly three stages of terrace construction (Fig. 4). Some of the terraces have completely collapsed, with only the remaining soil highlighting where the wall once stood. Some of the collapsed terraces are located very close to an existing terrace, suggesting that while one terrace collapsed, a new step was built using a slightly different topographic line. A more easily identified stage of building is the construction of fenced plots; two such plots were mapped. Walls built perpendicular to the slope were used as fences,

Fig. 4. Aerial photos showing the excavation areas in N. Halilim (white circles) on the north-east (a) and south-west (b) banks. Dotted black lines delineate terraces and fence plots. 578

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Fig. 5. Aerial photos showing the excavation areas (white squares) on the east bank of N. Shemuel. The stream is shown as a blue line. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

determine the optimal measurement temperatures. Equivalent doses (De) were measured on 1–2 mm aliquots using the single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol (Murray and Wintle, 2000) with a cleaning step (heating to 280 °C for 40 s) added at the end of each run. For most samples 18–19 aliquots were measured, and these were augmented by more aliquots if the dose distribution was scattered (Table 2). Overdispersion (OD; a measure of intra-sample scatter beyond that expected from instrumental noise) was used to assess the degree of bleaching the sample underwent prior to deposition in the terrace. Samples with normal dose distributions and an OD value of roughly 20% or less indicated sufficient bleaching. The Central Age Model was used to calculate the most significant De (Galbraith and Roberts, 2012). The complementary sediment sample was dried and a split (~50 g) was powdered for chemical analyses of U, Th [measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) mass spectroscopy] and K (measured by ICP optical emission spectroscopy). Cosmic dose was estimated from burial depth (Prescott and Hutton, 1994), assuming it has not changed significantly over time. Moisture contents were estimated according to Rosenzweig and Porat (2015). The dose rates of local limestone and dolomite bedrock on the one

(Amit and Yezerski, 2001; Davidovich et al., 2006). As far as we know, this is the first time an attempt to date these features by OSL has been made. Following excavation, we extracted 36 soil samples for OSL dating. A description of the excavation strategy and the laboratory procedures can be found in Gadot et al. (2016a, 2016b: 401–404). 2.2. OSL dating Under an opaque cover (a blanket), pit sections were cleaned from any exposed sediment that might have been compromised by sunlight. Samples were collected mostly by drilling horizontally into the cleaned section and the sediment placed immediately into light-tight black plastic bags. In cases where drilling was not possible, e.g. for units with high gravel contents, samples were collected using a trowel while under the blanket. A complementary sediment sample was taken from each sample location for moisture content and dose rate measurements. In the laboratory, quartz in the size range of 90–125 μm was extracted and purified for OSL measurements using routine laboratory procedures (Table 2). The purified quartz was deposited on 9.8 mm aluminum discs using SilcoSpray as an adhesive. Dose recovery tests over a range of preheat and cutheat temperatures were carried out to

Fig. 6. Pits J1 (a., looking north) and J5 (b., looking west) in N. Halilim after excavations. The stone fence (W202) separates the two pits. Note how Terrace Wall W203 (in a.) was built only up to the fence and the soil to the east of the fence is not supported by a wall. White - OSL samples and ages (in years before 2016). Walls are marked with a prefix W. Broad, white arrows show the north. 579

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Table 1 Excavated squares (pits) at the different study areas. Location and pit number

Excavated feature

N. Halilim, Northern slope K1 Collapsed terrace K2 Built terrace N. Halilim, Southern slope J1 Built terrace inside stone fenced plot J2 Collapsed terrace J3 Built terrace inside fenced plot J4 Collapsed terrace burying an earlier terrace wall J5 Collapsed terrace and stone fence N. Shmuel Eastern slope L1 Small terrace wall burying an earlier terrace wall L2 Terraces supporting road and a plot fence L4 Soil pocket L5 Stone pile L6 Rock cut wine press

Number of OSL samples

Table 2 OSL ages listed by areas and excavation squares. For full laboratory details see Supplementary Table S1. Ages are given in years before 2016 with 1σ errors, and the range is in calendar years. Ages before Common Era are in italics.

Figure

Lab code 4 4 1

Fig. 6

1 2 4

Fig. 9

4

Fig. 6

5

Fig. 8b

Nahal Halilim K1 SRQ-1 1083 SRQ-2 1510 SRQ-3 1359 SRQ-4 1610 K2 SRQ-5 1349 SRQ-6 1554 SRQ-7 1372 SRQ-7a 1230 J1 SRQ-8 1567 J2 SRQ-15 1745 J3 SRQ-13 1220 SRQ-14 2105 J4 SRQ-16 1222 SRQ-17 1560 SRQ-18 1267 SRQ-19 1686 J5 SRQ-9 1326 SRQ-10 1286 SRQ-11 1191 SRQ-12 1053

4 2 2 3

Dose rate (μGy/a)

Fig. 8a

hand, and the sediment component of the terrace fills on the other, differ substantially, as the host rock is almost devoid of radioactive elements whereas the sediment is rich in these. This implies that the gamma dose received by samples taken within 20 cm of a rock mass (bedrock or terrace wall) was contributed by varying proportions of rocks and soil sediment. To account for that, several samples of host rock from different areas were collected for chemical analyses and their gamma dose rates calculated (Table S1). For samples within 20 cm of the host rock, gamma dose rates were modelled with reference to the relative volumes of sediment and host rock surrounding the sample. This lowered dose rates for some samples by 10–20%.

The OSL results from the two study areas are presented in Fig. 7, Table 2 and Table S1. As in the earlier studies, performance tests show that the OSL-based ages are reliable (see details in Gadot et al., 2016a, 2016b: 409). The ages range from 7500 to 300 yr (years ago, before 2016), a range similar to that previously found in terraced landscapes in the region (Davidovich et al., 2012; Gadot et al., 2016a, 2016b). However, the proportion between old (earlier than the Medieval period) and young ages differs. Whereas in Mount Eitan only roughly 20% of the ages are older than 900 years, in N. Halilim and N. Shemuel more than 60% fall in this time range. The results from N. Shemuel can be divided into three very clear periods of land-use (Fig. 7b). The results from N. Halilim are more dispersed and show several major periods of intensive exploitation (Fig. 7a). The earliest soils from both streams were dated to 7500–5500 yr, similar to ages of natural soils reported from the terraced slope of Ramat Rahel and from the northern slope of Mount Eitan (Davidovich et al., 2012: 198–199; Gadot et al., 2016a, 2016b: 409–10). Unlike those old soils who were very distinct in their dark brown color, blocky structure, clay cutans and low carbonate content, the soils from N. Shemuel and N. Halilim are similar in appearance to younger, most likely anthropogenic soils. At this stage of the research the definition of the soils as natural is based on their stratigraphic association at the contact with bedrock and their apparent age. Two soil samples taken from the base of Pit J5 directly above the bedrock highlight this issue: they were dated to ca. 3400 yr, a period of known human settlement (Middle-Late Bronze Age) in the area (Fig. 6). The terrace wall in this square has collapsed and so the stratigraphic association between the wall and the early soils cannot be reconstructed. Defining whether these

Age (years b. 2016)

Age range (calendar years)

± ± ± ±

41 68 67 75

1.54 0.67 2.32 0.61

± ± ± ±

0.04 0.03 0.08 0.03

1420 ± 70 440 ± 30 1700 ± 100 380 ± 30

560–640 CE 1550–1600 CE 210–410 CE 1610–1660 CE

± ± ± ±

65 60 59 59

1.09 0.59 0.57 0.77

± ± ± ±

0.04 0.02 0.02 0.03

810 380 420 630

50 20 20 40

1160–1260 CE 1620–1650 CE 1570–1620 CE 1350–1430 CE

± ± ± ±

± 62

0.79 ± 0.05

510 ± 40

1480–1550 CE

± 62

9.7 ± 0.16

5560 ± 220

3760–3330 BCE

± 52 ± 80

3.36 ± 0.06 0.71 ± 0.04

2760 ± 130 340 ± 20

870–610 BCE 1660–1700 CE

± ± ± ±

52 58 56 59

2.75 2.28 3.23 3.11

± ± ± ±

0.09 0.10 0.09 0.10

2250 1460 2550 1850

290–190 BCE 470–640 CE 670–400 BCE 80–260 CE

± ± ± ±

63 45 46 36

4.54 1.77 0.37 3.63

± ± ± ±

0.18 0.09 0.02 0.14

3420 ± 210 1370 ± 80 310 ± 20 3440 ± 170

1620–1190 BCE 560–720 CE 1690–1720 CE 1600–1250 BCE

67 49 106 120 103

4.00 1.90 3.57 3.16 4.08

± ± ± ± ±

0.09 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.14

2540 1250 2280 1700 2580

650–400 BCE 710–820 CE 420–100 BCE 200–440 CE 750–370 BCE

61 93 93

1.48 ± 0.05 1.38 ± 0.04 2.54 ± 0.08

850 ± 40 620 ± 30 1340 ± 80

1120–1210 CE 1360–1430 CE 600–760 CE

103 102

3.93 ± 0.08 2.05 ± 0.07

2400 ± 160 1320 ± 100

530–220 BCE 600–790 CE

108 86

2.28 ± 0.09 0.71 ± 0.04

1380 ± 110 370 ± 30

530–740 CE 1620–1670 CE

42 54 38 63

0.36 2.28 2.35 12.3

290 ± 30 1510 ± 70 2060 ± 100 7500 ± 520

1700–1750 CE 440–580 CE 140 BCE-60 CE 6020–5000 BCE

Nahal Shmuel East L1 SRQ-21 1570 ± SRQ-22 1518 ± SRQ-23 1567 ± SRQ-24 1865 ± SRQ-25 1582 ± L6 SRQ-26 1740 ± SRQ-27 2219 ± SRQ-28 1901 ± L5 SRQ-30 1643 ± SRQ-31 1551 ± L4 SRQ-32 1649 ± SRQ-33 1917 ± L2 SRQ-34 1269 ± SRQ-35 1511 ± SRQ-36 1143 ± SRQ-37 1637 ±

3. Results

De (Gy)

± ± ± ±

0.03 0.07 0.08 0.7

± ± ± ±

± ± ± ± ±

120 90 140 90

120 60 160 120 190

soils are natural or were placed and used by people should not be based on their age or relation to the rock surface and there is a need for an independent marker. In future studies we will search for possible chemical, biological or micromorphological markers that will allow us to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic soils. The ages from N. Shemuel cluster into three periods (Fig. 7b). The earliest group includes four ages that range between 2600 and 2200 yr. These ages are mostly associated with a short terrace wall that fenced and supported soils to create a small plot that can sustain two-three fruit trees and should not be understood as part of wide-scale terracing (Pit L1; Fig. 8b). Another sample in this group is from a 25 cm thick layer of dense, dark brown soil located at the base of a stone pile, the result of field clearance (Pit L5; Fig. 8a). A second cluster of ages between 1700 and 1400 yr falls within the Roman and Byzantine periods. The ages are associated with the construction of a road (Pit L2), the rebuilding of the small terrace wall (Pit L1) and a possible exploitation 580

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Fig. 7. Distribution of OSL ages from the study areas and proposed clusters (shaded boxes). Ages are arranged in rank order with horizontal bars representing ± 1σ errors. a. From N. Halilim. A sample dated to ~5500 yr is not shown. Very short apparent breaks are marked with a question mark. b. From N. Shemuel. Two shaded circles are from a wine press and are not directly related to fields. A sample dated to ~7500 years is not shown.

4. Discussion

of an earth pocket in between rock outcrops (Pit L4). The abandonment of a rock-cut winepress, dated to 1300 yr (Pit L6) attests its last possible time of use. Finally, the age from the upper soil layer inside the clearance pile, 1300 yr, indicates a second episode of stone clearance. The third group of ages falls into the Early Ottoman period, roughly around 300 yr, and includes sporadic activities such as the building of long superficial fences (Pit L2) and a lime kiln (to be published elsewhere). A similar but more nuanced and varied pattern was revealed at N. Halilim, where all the ages are associated with terrace walls (Fig. 7a). The earliest ages positively associated with agricultural activities date to 2600–2400 yr (Pits J3 and J4; Fig. 9). The spatial distribution of the two pits from which these early dates were recorded hints at the possibility that the entire southern slope was terraced. The slope was terraced again in the Late Roman and Late Byzantine-Early Islamic periods (Pits J4 and J5). The last cluster includes nine ages that originated from both slopes, ranging between 790 and 310 years, which serve as an indication for rebuilding of the walls (Pits K1, K2, J2 and J5). The latest activity recorded dates to ca. 300 years ago and includes the creation of the enclosed plots by adding fences, as can be seen from sample SRQ-11 in Pit J5 (Fig. 6b), taken from the soil under the stones of the fence.

As predicted, work at both N. Halilim and N. Shemuel revealed cycles of land exploitation earlier than 700 yr; some of these we interpret as evidence for pre-terracing activities. Of the 20 dated soil samples from N. Halilim, 30% of the ages fall between 2240 and 1370 yr and are clearly associated with terrace walls, compared to only 15% at Mount Eitan (Gadot et al., 2016a: Fig. 26) and a single age from N. Refa'im (Gadot et al., 2016b: Fig. 10) from that time span. Nahal Shemuel shows an even more significant cluster of earlier ages (40%) but these are not always associated with terrace construction. The cluster of earlier ages is not only the outcome of methodology but also a true reflection of the different nature of the regions examined. The centrality of N. Soreq for the sustainability of Jerusalem is evident in the number of early ages found and in the longer list of represented periods. At the same time Mount Eitan, a more isolated region which is harder to utilize, was only sporadically exploited and mostly for the subsistence of the rural population resident on the mountain and not for surplus in support of Jerusalem's urban administration. Its more intensive exploitation began only in the last 700 years. In light of our results, it becomes clear that the sustainability of

Fig. 8. Excavation results at N. Shemuel. a. Pit L5 showing a stone clearance pile excavated down to bedrock. b. Pit L1 showing a terrace wall (W303). OSL sample locations and ages are in white (ages in years before 2016). 581

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We suggest recognizing a unique attempt to exploit soil pockets in between the hard bedrock for scattered orchards during the Iron Age period (see already Davidovich et al., 2006: 50). The stone clearance pile can tentatively be associated with this activity while the association of the rock-cut winepress remains hypothetical. Similar activities may have taken place in other parts of the highland. A parallel single early age was recorded at N. Halilim and a second single age was published from Mt. Eitan (Gadot et al., 2016a: Table 2, ETA55). The clustering of additional ages around this period gives more weight to what might have appeared until now as a singular event, and it seems that together they mark an intensification in land exploitation that took place during the latter part of the Iron Age and the Persian period. The intensification goes hand in hand with the growing number of activity sites noted above and in other studies (Gadot, 2015). The nature of most sites – isolated buildings and agricultural installations – may suggest that it was not a demographic growth but rather a change in land exploitation system. Interestingly a similar phenomenon took place in areas that are peripheral to the imperial center of Assur (Wilkinson et al., 2005). There, surveys allowed identifying the development of a new rural settlement pattern that expanded into previously unexploited lands. This development took place hand in hand with the establishment and growth of Assur as a royal city. The introduction of extensive terracing, which occurred later, obscured these early activities elsewhere. The rocky terrain of the eastern slope of N. Shemuel, on the other hand, is unsuitable for terracing and was therefore marginalized, and served for sporadic activities only. Thanks to this, any evidence of this earlier activity was fossilized in the landscape. The eight younger ages from N. Halilim, which range between 790 and 300 BCE, join the numerous ages that were documented at Mount Eitan and N. Refa'im (Gadot et al. 2016a: Fig. 26, 2016b: Fig. 5). These ages testify to a wide scale terracing operation that reached almost all the highland niches, the inconvenient rough rock formation of N. Shemuel's eastern slope being one exception. Most of the ages are concentrated in the Late Mamluk–Early Ottoman periods (500–300 years ago). As this period does not stand out as one of the most settled periods in the Jerusalem highlands, our inference that terracing is not the outcome of a demographic peak or of settlement oscillations is strengthened (Gadot et al., 2016a: 415). As in earlier periods, it seems that the reason for the adoption of terracing as a favored exploitation system is probably in the economic or cultural realms – subjects that are beyond the scope of this paper. The time span of farming activities covered by the OSL ages, roughly 3000 years, and the associated errors on the ages (in the range of ± 5%), do not allow easy correlations with climate variations or events during those periods. For example, clearance of soil patches into stone piles in N. Shemuel might be related to the intensive olive farming during the Iron Age I in the drainage basin of the Dead Sea, indicated by pollen records (Langgut et al., 2014); or the reduction in rainfall in the 1st-2nd centuries CE, recorded in the Soreq Cave speleothems (Orland et al., 2009), could be reflected in the observed increase in terracing activities during that time. However to establish direct linkage between climate and human impact on the landscape requires more field work and dating.

Fig. 9. Pit J4 at N. Halilim with OSL sample locations and ages (white). Note the earlier terrace wall (W300) buried inside the soil fill of the later terrace wall (W206).

significant settlement waves as early as the second and first millennium BCE in the highlands (Finkelstein, 1995; Gadot, 2015), was not dependent on extensive terracing and one should recognize a different agricultural strategy that allowed early settlers to exploit ecological niches different from those favored by dry farming terracing. This statement stands in contrast to the accepted assumption that settlement in the highlands was dependent on the ability to construct terrace walls and that terraces constituted a “minimum threshold of intensity at which agricultural systems in the highlands must operate” (Gibson, 2001: 124). The earliest cluster of ages (2700–2500 yr) is distinct in its spatial scope and its nature from the phases that followed. This phase is recognized by the exploitation of slopes that are characterized by exposures of hard bedrock, namely the eastern slopes of N. Shemuel, an area avoided by earlier as well as later inhabitants of the region. Furthermore, when terracing finally took over, this segment of N. Shemuel became marginalized in its importance and was cultivated sporadically if at all. The single short terrace that was dated should be seen as a very localized supporting wall, no more than 5 m long, built to support a small earth pocket for the creation of a limited plot for a few trees. The age of the soil buried under the stone clearance pile, 2460 yr, is more difficult to decipher. The age could represent the covering of the soil by the stone cleared from the near-by field, or it could be related to earlier activity, and that the creation of the pile should be dated by the soil found in between the stones (1300 yr). More samples from such clearance piles are needed in order to interpret this age, but it is clear that the pile is an expression of slope cultivation. The third feature suspected of being hewn during the Iron Age is the rock-cut winepress. Here we dated only its last use – to the end of the Byzantine period (1300 years ago) – but we failed to recognize sediments that can be related to the carving of the installation. The typological date for this kind of winepresses, which is based on their occurrence in sites that date to the Iron Age II (See Amit and Yezerski, 2001), should not be abandon.

5. Conclusions The dating of the archaeological features along the two drainages in the Soreq catchment aided us in unfolding a long historical process, longer and more diverse in the periods represented than those revealed at Mount Eitan (Gadot et al., 2016a) or N. Refa'im (Gadot et al., 2016b). It should be remembered that the anthropogenic impact on the landscape was probably gradual and part of a continuous process, not always connected to social and economic changes. However, it seems to us that most of the ages presented do form clusters and we recognize four or five main events that are probably related to large scale changes 582

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in the human social order that brought with them changes in land exploitation mechanism: Late Iron Age to Persian; Hellenistic; Late Roman; Late Byzantine to Early Islamic; and Mamluk to Early Ottoman periods. We presented here 36 new ages of soils associated with terrace walls (some standing and some in ruins) and other kinds of agricultural installations located within the N. Soreq catchment. The use of OSL dating for landscape studies shows unequivocally that this method is a key to unfolding the otherwise palimpsest nature of landscape development. The new results add considerable information to those published on Mount Eitan and N. Refa'im, especially in regard to the Bronze and Iron Ages. While in previous studies we were able to recognize the imprint of agricultural activities being conducted over the last 2000 years and especially those of the last 700 years, in this study, by choosing different ecological niches, collapsed terraced systems and a variety of other agricultural features, we were able to uncover a fossil landscape that served for agricultural activities in much earlier times. Our suggestion is to recognize a pre-terracing phase of agriculture exploitation. The recognition of such a stage in human history is an indication that sedentary highland societies developed a survival strategy that did not require terracing and that the dominant paradigm that human settlement in the highlands was dependent on its ability to terrace the slopes, should at the very least be reconsidered. More specifically, the growth of Jerusalem at the end of the Iron Age was not necessarily followed by the construction of terraces but rather by an expansion of the cultivated land into rocky terrains that had previously been avoided. The Iron Age and Persian period constitute a unique historical phase of land-use pattern connected with the status and growth of Jerusalem. Finally, the wide adoption of terracing as a survival strategy by the population living in the highlands of Jerusalem during the past 700 years was not the result of demographic pressure as we can hardly recognize this period as reaching a settlement peak compared to earlier periods. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.08.036.

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Acknowledgment The research was supported by The Israel Science Foundation grant (Grant No. 1691/13) awarded to Y.G. and N.P. The Israel Antiquities Authority approved and supported the work (license no. S-320/2011). We thank Nadav Lensky for coordinating and helping with the Lidar scans, and Yael Jakobi and Gala Faershtein for OSL sample preparations. We wish to thank Prof. Amihai Mazar, Rotem Elinson, Riki Yona, Ido Wachtel and Omri Yagel for their invaluable help. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. References Ackermann, O., Greenbaum, N., Bruins, H., Porat, N., Bar-Matthews, M., Almogi-Labin, A., Schilman, B., Ayalon, A., Kolska-Horwitz, L., Weiss, E., Maeir, A.M., 2014. Palaeoenvironment and anthropogenic activity in the southeastern Mediterranean since the mid-Holocene: the case of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Quat. Int. 328-329, 226–243. Amit, D., Yezerski, I., 2001. An Iron Age II cemetery and wine presses at an-Nabi Danyal. Israel Explor. J. 51, 171–193. Arnaez, J., Lana-Renault, N., Lasanta, T., Ruiz-Flano, P., Castroviejo, J., 2015. Effects of farming terraces on hydrological and geomorphological processes: a review. Catena 128, 122–134. Avni, Y., Porat, N., Plakht, J., Avni, G., 2006. Geomorphic changes leading to natural desertification versus anthropogenic land conservation in an arid environment, the Negev Highlands, Israel. Geomorphology 82 (3), 177–200. Bevan, A., Conolly, J., 2011. Terraced fields and Mediterranean landscape structure: an analytical case study from Antikythera, Greece. Ecol. Model. 222, 1303–1314. Bevan, A., Conolly, J., Colledge, S., Frederick, C., Palmer, C., Siddall, R., Stellatou, A., 2013. The long-term ecology of agricultural terraces and enclosed fields from Antikythera, Greece. Hum. Ecol. 41, 255–272. Davidovich, U., Farhi, Y., Kol-Ya'akove, S., Har-Peled, M., Weinblatt-Krauz, D., Alon, Y., 2006. Salvage excavations at Ramot forest and Ramat Bet-Hakerem: new data

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