Five-Minute Archaeologist in the Southern Levant

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible and Archaeology at William Jessup University, California. She specializes in the historical, cultural, and archaeological contexts of ancient Israel and Judah. Dr. Shafer-Elliott is an experienced field archaeologist in Israel and is currently part of the archaeological excavation team at Tel Halif, Israel. She has written extensively on food preparation and ancient Israelite households.

• IntroductionSection 1 - Basics1What is archaeology? Aren Maeir, Bar-Ilan University2How does archaeology help us understand the past? Merilyn Copland, William Jessup University3What Do Tells Tell Us? Merilyn Copland4Who Pays For All This? Oded Borowski, Emory University5Do Archaeologists Just Dig, or is There A Plan?Itzhaq Shai, Ariel University6How Are Sites Chosen?Aren Maeir7Who Decides Who Can Dig and Where?Chris McKinny, Bar-Ilan University8Why Not Dig the Whole Site? Aren Maeir9What is a Survey and Why Use it?Joe Uziel, Israel Antiquities Authority10 Why Leave Balks Around Squares? Oded Borowski11What is a Locus? Timothy Frank, University of Bern12What is a Phase and a Stratum?Eric L.Welch, University of Kansas13Are there Rules for Excavating or Special Techniques?Chris McKinny14How are Measurements Taken and Why? Eric L.Welch15Why Sift and How Often?Joe Uziel16How do You Know What Things to Record?Seung Ho Bang, Baylor University17What if an Animal got their First?Elizabeth R. Arnold, Grand Valley State UniversitySection 2- Artifacts, Architecture, and Dating18What is an Artifact? Edward Maher, North Central College19How do You Identify an Artifact and How it was Used?Timothy Frank20What Can Pottery Tell Us? Nava Panitz-Cohen, Hebrew University21What do we Learn from Whole or Broken Pots?Jill Citron Katz, Yeshiva University22What is Primary vs. Secondary Use? Erin Darby, University of Tennessee23How is Pottery Processed During/After the Excavation?Nava Panitz-Cohen24How Can 3D Imaging Help? Timothy Frank25How do you Spot Mudbrick Walls?Amihai Mazar, Hebrew University26How do you Identify Dirt Floors?Oded Borowski27How do you Identify Dirt Roads?Rafel Y. Lewis, University of Haifa28How do you Date Things? Eric L.Welch29What is Absolute or Relative Dating?Jill Citron Katz30Where's the Science in All This? Shira Gur-Arieh, Max Planck Institute31What is Carbon Dating?Michael Dee, University of Oxford32Can Bayesian Statistics Help Pinpoint Dating? Michael Dee33What is Dendrochronology? Brita Lorentzen, Cornell University34What Happens to all the Data? Piotr Bienkowski, International Umm al-Biyara ProjectSection 3 - Types of Archaeology35What is Processual Archaeology?Sarah Kielt Costello, University of Houston36What is Post-Processual Archaeology? Sarah Kielt Costello37What is EthnoArchaeology? Jennie Ebeling, University of Evansville38What is Experimental Archaeology? Jennie Ebeling39What is Household Archaeology?Cynthia Shafer-Elliott40What is Gender Archaeology?Cynthia Shafer-Elliott41How are Children Identified in the Archaeological Record? Rona Avissar Lewis, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research42What is Funerary Archaeology? Helen Dixon, University of Helsinki43How do you Define Cultic Context? Jonathan S. Greer, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary44How do you Define Ethnicity? Aaron Brody, Pacific School of Religion45What can we Learn from the Ancient Environment?Elizabeth R. Arnold46What is Landscape Archaeology?Rafael Y. Lewis47What is Micro Archaeology? Deirdre N. Fulton, Baylor University48What do we Learn from Animal Bones?Jonathan S. Greer49Why Study Garbage?Deirdre N. Fulton50What is ArchaeoMetallurgy? Naama Yahalom-Mack, Hebrew UniversitySection 4- Ethical Issues51What is Kept and What is Not, and Why? Leann Pace, Wake Forest University52Who Owns the Artifacts Found?Leann Pace53How do Artifacts End Up in Museums? Helen Dixon54How Much Looting Takes Place During or After a Dig?Laura Wright, Luther College55How is Archaeology used to Support Nationalism? Erin Darby56Is it Ethical to Excavate in Contested Areas? Laura Wright