Several research projects are currently in progress at Hazor:
The “Fish and Chips” project is focused on studying changes in consumption of faunal, and botanical remains. This study implements a rigorous recovery protocol in the excavations of the Bronze and Iron Age contexts of Area M. The recovered remains allow us to reconstruct aspects of subsistence and political economy, as well as the abandonment history of the Late Bronze Age palace and the Iron Age city.
This project is conducted in collaboration with several zoo-archaeologists: Dr. Nimrod Marom of Haifa University, Dr. Lior Weisbrod of Haifa University, and Dr. Omri Lernau of Haifa University. Also collaborate in the project Ms. Andrea Orendi (MA) of the Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Universität Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment. The botanical analysis is headed by Dr. Simone Riehl and Dr. Jens Kamlah. This project is fully funded by the Steven B. Dana Archaeology Fund.
A comprehensive study of the Mycenaean pottery found at Hazor (lower and upper city alike) is currently under way in collaboration with Dr. Philipp Stockhammer of the Institue Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. This project is partly funded by the Minerva Foundation.
The Destruction of Hazor at the end of the Late Bronze Age is evident over the entire area of the site – the acropolis and Lower City alike (approximately 200 acres). Destruction debris reaching a height of 3 meters were encountered at several places. The date of this destruction (as well as its agents) are still under debate and the determination of one or even both of these, will have significant implications on the understanding of the history of the Late Bronze Age in the southern Levant and far beyond, due to Hazor’s key position in transregional networks of this time. This project combines the analysis of the architecture and ceramic evidence from the site, the imported Mycenaean pottery and integrating 14C dates (analysed by Prof. Elisabetta Buaretto of the Israel Weitzman Institute). This project is also partly funded by the Minerva Foundation.
Ground-Penetrating-Radar and Magnetometer Survey of the lower city of Hazor is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Creekmore of the University of Northern Colorado. This project aims to identify the city plan of the lower city of Hazor in the Late Bronze Age. The 2018 pilot season will assess the potential for these methods at the site. If successful, the survey will identify streets and architecture across large areas.
Archaeomagnetism in Hazor: Archaeomagnetism is the use of geophysical magnetic methods in archaeological sciences. Since clay material become magnetized as they are heated to high temperatures, we can measure the magnetization of pottery and burnt structures in an effort to improve the chronology of the site and to decipher site formation processes. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Ron Shaar and Prof. Amotz Agnon from the Institute of Earth Science in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.