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‘Atiqot 81 (2015)
ISBN 2948-040X
Yavne-Yam (North): An Agricultural Area and Cemeteries from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, and the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods
(with contributions by Eriola Jakoel and Limor Talmi)
(Hebrew, pp. 1–29; English summary, pp. 113*–115*)
Moshe Ajami and Uzi ‘Ad
Keywords: coastal plain, stone vessels, Jewish population, Jewish coins, numismatics, wine production, fishing gear, lead amulet, Greek inscription, malacology, glyptics, geomorphology
In an excavation south of Kibbutz Palmahim, the northern agricultural hinterland of Yavne-Yam was exposed, including its agricultural installations and cemetery. In Area A a winepress, a building and a channel were excavated, dating to the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Area B yielded two adjacent winepresses and a kiln from the Persian and Hellenistic periods, and an installation and a retaining wall dating to between the Persian and the Late Roman periods. In Area C, middens of stones and shells were uncovered, probably dating from the Roman period. Areas D1 and D2 yielded the remains of a cemetery that operated during the Middle or Late Bronze Age and the Early Roman period. An assemblage of fishing-related metal artifacts was found in Area B, indicating the presence of a small workshop that produced lead weights and fishing lines from bronze nails in secondary use. The discoveries in the Yavne-Yam agricultural hinterland increase our understanding of the site’s history and development. The cessation of farming in the region should probably be associated with the covering of sand dunes during the Byzantine or Early Islamic periods.