Life and settlements during the Iron Age in the Central Jordan Valley: aspects from the site Tell Deir ‘Alla and nearby sites

Abstract

This study aims at discussing the way of life and the settlement patterns at the Central Jordan
Valley during the Iron Age. The presented informations are based on the results of surveys and
excavations conducted by Jordano-Dutch teams during the last decades at the following three sites:
Tell Deir ‘Alla, Tell el-Hammeh and Tell Damiyah.
Generally speaking, the inhabitants of the Jordan Valley conducted during the period ranging
from about 1200 to 539 BC different economic practices such as cultivation in principal, pastoralism,
trade and industry. Actually, these economic activities have been changed during the Iron Age. For
example, it has been assumed by the first excavators of the site of Tell Deir ‘Alla that the settlers of
the site were pastoralists during the beginning of the Iron Age I. The results of the last excavations
however proved that this assumption must be reconsidered. The change in interpretation is based on
the type and function of the architecture and other archaeological material dated to the end of the
Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age (ca. 1300-1100 BC).