Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Southern Levant: synthesis, challenges, recent developments and perspectives

2010 ◽  
Vol 368 (1931) ◽  
pp. 5225-5248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire M. C. Rambeau
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction ◽  
First Results ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Dead

Palaeoenvironmental research in the Southern Levant presents a series of challenges, partly due to the unequal distribution of palaeoenvironmental records and potential archives throughout the region. Our knowledge of climatic evolution, during the last approximately 25 000 years, is of crucial importance to understand cultural developments. More local, well-dated, multi-proxy studies are much needed to obtain an accurate picture of environmental change in respect of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. This contribution reviews the current state of knowledge regarding Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental changes in the Southern Levant, including some examples of more recent developments in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in Israel and the Dead Sea area, and introduces the major challenges researchers face in the region. It also presents the first results of a new case study in Jordan, based on an analysis of peaty deposits located in the mountain slopes east of the Dead Sea. Such new studies help refine our knowledge of local environmental changes in the Southern Levant and especially the more arid areas, for which little information is presently available. More material suitable for palaeoenvironmental research, for example extensive tufa and travertine series, still awaits consideration in Jordan, opening up exciting perspectives for future research in the area.

Computational Stylometric Approach to the Dead Sea Scrolls

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Pierre Van Hecke
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
The Third ◽  
First Results ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Dead

Abstract The question of how to classify the different texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a central issue in scholarship. There is little agreement or even little reflection, however, on the methodology with which these classifications should be made. This article argues that recent developments in computational stylometry address these methodological issues and that the approach therefore constitutes a necessary addition to existing scholarship. The first section briefly introduces the recent developments in computational stylometry, while the second tests the feasibility of a stylometric approach for research on the Scrolls. Taking into account the particular challenges of the corpus, an exploratory methodology is described, and its first results are presented. In the third and final section, directions for future research in the field are articulated.

Between plate and salt tectonics—New stratigraphic constraints on the architecture and timing of the Dead Sea basin during the Late Quaternary

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Coianiz ◽  
Uri Schattner ◽  
Guy Lang ◽  
Zvi Ben‐Avraham ◽  
Michael Lazar
Keyword(s):  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Salt Tectonics ◽  
Dead Sea Basin ◽  
The Dead

Late Quaternary Geological History of the Dead Sea Area, Israel

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Yechieli ◽  
M. Magaritz ◽  
Y. Levy ◽  
U. Weber ◽  
U. Kafri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Thick Layer ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Geological History ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Sea Area

AbstractA 34.5 m borehole, which was drilled near the Dead Sea coast (altitude -394 m) in the southern part of the fan delta of Wadi Zeelim, reveals the geological history of that area from the latest Pleistocene to present. The depositional time frame is based on six 14C dates and two U-Th dates. An erosional (or nondepositional) period is implied by the hiatus between 21,100 yr B.P. (U-Th age, depth 33 m) and 11,315 yr B.P. (14C age, depth 32 m). A subsequent arid phase is recorded by a 6.5-m-thick layer of halite; based on 14C dates this phase relates to the abrupt Younger Dryas cold period reported in temperate to polar regions. The fragility of the environment in this region is indicated by the fact that the region experienced such a severe, short aridification phase (less than 1000 yr), evidence of which is found widely in the desert fringes of the Middle East and North Africa. The aragonite found in most of the Holocene section indicates that the well site was covered by the lake for most of the Holocene. Exceptions are the intervals at 0-3 and 10-14 m depths which represent low stands of the lake.

Lake level changes in the Dead Sea during the late Pleistocene recorded by fossil lake shorelines

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Jara-Muñoz ◽  
Amotz Agnon ◽  
Jens Fohlmeister ◽  
Jürgen Mey ◽  
Norbert Frank ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Oxygen And Carbon Isotopes ◽  
Lake Level Changes ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Impact

<p><span>High-resolution records of lake-level changes are crucial to elucidate the impact of local and global climatic changes in lacustrine basins. The Late Quaternary evolution of the Dead Sea has been characterized by substantial variability apparently linked with global climatic changes, beign subject of many research efforts since decades. Previous studies have defined two main lake phases, the Lake Lisan and the Dead Sea, the earlier was a highstand period that lasted between ~70 and ~15 ka, the  latter was the lowstand period that persisted until the present. Here we focus on the switch between Lake Lisan and Dead Sea studying fossil lake shorelines, a sequence that comprises dozens of levels exposed along the rims of the Dead Sea, containing abundant fossil stromatolites that we dated by mean of radiocarbon and U-decay series. We determined 90 radiocarbon and 35 U-Th ages from stromatolites from almost every shoreline level. We compared U-Th and radiocarbon ages to estimating a radiocarbon reservoir between 0.2 and 0.8 ka, used to correct the remaining radiocarbon ages before calibration. The resulting ages range between ~45  and ~20 ka. Dating was </span><span>complemented with analysis of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes. Furthermore, we applied a distributed hydrological balance model to constrain past precipitation and temperature conditions. Our results suggest that the duration of the last Lake Lisan highstand was shorter than previously estimated. Taking this at face value, the switch between Lake Lisan and Dead Sea occurred at ~28 ka, ~10 ka earlier than previously suggested. Oxygen and carbon isotopes show a consistent pattern, displaying a switch between wet and dry conditions at ~28 ka. Preliminary results from the hydrological model indicate a much stronger sensitivity of the lake level to precipitation amounts than to air temperature. From our results we can’t observe a clear link between global temperature variations and lake-level changes in the Lisan/Dead Sea lakes. Similar non-linear response to northern hemisphere climatic changes have been also documented in Holocene Dead Sea paleoclimatic records, suggesting that global climatic variations may led to variable lake-level responses. The results of this study adds further complexity to the understanding of factors controlling climate variability in the Dead Sea. </span></p>

scholarly journals Göbekli Tepe: A Brief Description of the Environmental Development in the Surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage Site

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Knitter ◽  
Ricarda Braun ◽  
Lee Clare ◽  
Moritz Nykamp ◽  
Brigitta Schütt
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Unesco World Heritage ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Unesco World Heritage Site ◽  
Environmental Development

This contribution provides a first characterization of the environmental development for the surroundings of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Göbekli Tepe. We base our analyses on a literature review that covers the environmental components of prevailing bedrock and soils, model- and proxy-based climatic development, and vegetation. The spatio-temporal scales that are covered are mainly the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Late Quaternary—whereby special attention is given to available data from the close vicinity of Göbekli Tepe. Information on Late Quaternary geomorphodynamics is largely absent for the environs of Göbekli Tepe, we therefore included remote sensing data, different terrain modeling approaches and field-based geomorphological mapping to gain insights into past process dynamics. The findings indicate that the environmental conditions at Göbekli Tepe during its time of occupation differed significantly from today, showing denser vegetation and a wide spread sediment cover. Different hypotheses are developed that aim to guide future research on environmental changes and their variations during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. These activities are crucial for a more profound understanding of the environment of the site, its potential perception by humans and therefore for the development of narratives on their landscape creation motives.

scholarly journals Examining the Reception and Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Some Possibilities for Future Investigation

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-246
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Film Music ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe last sixty years afford us a remarkable, though largely unexplored, opportunity to examine the Dead Sea Scrolls from the perspective of “reception history.” This article first provides an overview of what has already been done with regard to this goal and highlights the importance and timeliness of such an approach, suggesting that it is furthermore a necessary endeavor if Qumran Studies is to keep pace with developments in the wider world of Biblical Studies. It continues by outlining some possible directions for future investigation, identifying academic reception, popular reception, and processes of knowledge transfer as three main areas or categories into which such examinations could helpfully be divided. The internal processes of scrolls scholarship, the relationship between Qumran Studies and Biblical Studies, gender issues, the scrolls in literature, film, music, and art, and the role of exhibitions, documentaries, and newspapers, are all highlighted as potential areas for future research.

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