Layers without clear boundaries
Analyses help distinguish construction, destruction and post-depositional phases.
WhereShephelah, Israel
Site typemulti-period tell
ChronologyBronze Age to Iron Age
AreaArea G, gate and fortifications
MethodspXRF, pOSL, ORA, DNA
What we study here
Tel Burna is a model case for contexts where stratigraphy is unclear but its record remains preserved in chemistry, luminescence and biomolecular content.
Mudbrick and chalk floors
Potassium points to mudbrick architecture, while high Ca reflects chalk and carbonate floors.
Erosion and degradation
pOSL, lipids and DNA indicate preservation, erosion and organic degradation.
How to read invisible layers
Area G combines three main geochemical signals: P, Ca and K.
Activity and destruction
Phosphorus indicates occupation horizons, waste, burning and destruction sediments.
Chalk-based floors
High Ca corresponds to chalk or carbonate floors, especially in Strata II and III.
Mudbrick and architectural collapse
Potassium is the main proxy for mudbrick and collapsed earthen architecture.
Geoarchaeology 2025
Geoarchaeology in the Absence of Layers
Large-Scale Sampling From an Iron Age Urban Context in the Southern Levant
The study integrates pXRF, pOSL, organic residue analysis and DNA to reconstruct Area G where visible layers are ambiguous due to erosion and post-depositional processes.
pXRFpOSLIRSLORADNAP / Ca / Kmudbrick
Figures and analytical layers
From regional context to Area G stratigraphy, geochemistry, luminescence and biomolecular signals.
