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‘Atiqot 89 (2017)
ISBN 2948-040X
Remains from the Pottery Neolithic Period and Early Bronze Age at Tel Magal
(Hebrew, pp. 1*–38*; English summary, pp. 115–116)
Uzi ʻAd and Eli Yannai
Keywords: Sharon plain, stratigraphy, architecture, pottery, stone objects, carbon 14
The site, located on the western fringes of the Samaria foothills, lies on the route of the Via Maris, as it winds northward from Afeq to Khirbat Yamma and Tel Jatt, and approaches Nahal ʻIron. Eight excavation squares were opened,uncovering nine strata, from the Pottery Neolithic period (the Yarmukian and the Jericho IX and Lodite cultures); from the Wadi Rabah culture; from Early Bronze Age IB; from Early Bronze Age II; and from Early Bronze Age III. The layers from the earliest strata contained potsherds, flint artifacts and animal bones. The architectural remains of the Early Bronze Age strata conform to other contemporary structures, some were built with curved walls, some with curved and straight walls, and some with straight walls. The pottery tradition of EB IB continues into EB II.This is manifested in the production technique, the jar types and holemouth jars, and particularly in the pithoi rim forms. A substantial quantity of metallic ware, imported to Tel Magal from southern Lebanon and the Hermon foothills, was also recovered. At the end of EB III, Tell Magal was abandoned and its role as an urban center in the northern coastal plain was taken over by Tel Jatt (Gat Carmel).