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Radiocarbon Dating the “Wilderness of Zin”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Hendrik J Bruins  and
Johannes van der Plicht
Hendrik J Bruins
Affiliation:
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Department of Man in the Desert, Sede Boker Campus, Israel. Email: hjbruins@bgu.ac.il
Johannes van der Plicht
Affiliation:
University of Groningen, Centre for Isotope Research, Nijenborgh, Groningen, the Netherlands; and Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden, the Netherlands. Email: J.van.der.Plicht@rug.nl
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Abstract

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An important archaeological survey was conducted by Leonard Woolley and T E Lawrence in 1914 on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund in the Negev and northeastern Sinai deserts—the “Wilderness of Zin.” The region of Ain Kadeis, associated by some scholars in the 19th century with biblical Kadesh-Barnea, received much attention in their survey and discussions. Concerning the vexed question of Kadesh-Barnea, Woolley and Lawrence gave their preference for the nearby Ain el Qudeirat Valley, and in particular the ancient tell. Their survey contributed significantly in the shaping of scholarly opinion on the matter, even until today. But modern surveys and excavations failed to identify any archaeological remnants of the 2nd millennium BCE in the above regions, thereby putting the above associations in question. The Middle Bronze Age II, Late Bronze Age, and Iron Age I that cover this millennium are considered missing in the area in archaeological terms. However, our research reveals that archaeological remains of the 2nd millennium BCE do exist in the region, as determined chronologically by radiocarbon dating. A geoarchaeological approach is required to investigate terraced fields in wadis, which contain a unique record of human activity in these desert regions.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 481 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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