Tel Dor – 2000, 2002, 2003

The seasons reported here mark a transition of management, and to a certain extent, of strategy and aims in the Tel Dor project. The last field season of the former expedition, headed for twenty years by E. Stern of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was in 2000 (License No. G-98/2000). Following Professor Stern's retirement and a decision by several of the remaining staff to continue the project, the consortium was re-established in the following years, directed by I. Sharon and A. Gilboa. The new expedition conducted limited field operations in 2002 and 2003 (License No.G-40/2003), pending a fuller field season in 2004. The institutions participating in the project (past and present) included the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem (E. Stern, 2000; I. Sharon, 2003); the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa (A. Gilboa, 2002, 2003); the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science (S. Weiner, 2002, 2003); the University of California at Berkeley, Department of Art History (A. Stewart, 2000, 2003); the Department of Classics, University of Washington in Seattle (S. Stroup, 2003); the University of South Africa (W. Boshoff, 2000). Non-academic affiliates in 2000 included a large contingent from Germany, organized by W. Haury and B. Steiner. The expedition's senior staff included J. Berg (senior field archaeologist), E. Bloch-Smith and A. Estes (field supervisors), B. Har-Even, N. Kranot, S. Buchwald, T. Goldman, Y. Shalev, J. Yeldin-Sloan, C. McGowan and D. Stitz (area supervision), S. Matskevich (surveying and drafting), A. Killebrew (cultural heritage and conservation), R. Linn (field conservation), O. Cohen (mosaic restoration), N. Vilozhni and M. Lavi (fresco restoration), L. Bartosciewicz and N. Raban (archaeozoology), E. Boaretto (radiocarbon dating), R. Shachak-Gross (micromorphology), F. Berna (sediment chemistry), R. Albert (phytolith analysis), S. Shalev (archaeometallurgy), R. Rosenthal-Heginbottom (Persian-Roman pottery), A. Choyke (bone tools), B. Guz-Zilberstein (Persian-Roman pottery, registrar and museum curator), Y. Hirshberg (photographer and museum director), U. Smilansky and A. Karasik (ceramics shape-analysis), V. Rosen (artifact drawing), R. Gross (pottery restoration), R. Assis (administration), A. Haiem (administration and ceramic counts).The expedition was supported by the Israel Exploration Society, The Berman Foundation for Biblical Archaeology, the Kimmel Foundation for Archaeological Science, and was hosted by the Pardes Hanna Agricultural School, Qibbuz Nahsholim and the Nahsholim guest house. Conservation work was carried out with the support and collaboration of the Israel Antiquities Authority's conservation department (A. Freundlich) and the Israel National Parks and Nature Protection Authority.