The formation of a Mediterranean terraced landscape: Mount Eitan, Judean Highlands, Israel

Here we present the first results of a new interdisciplinary research project entitled “The Formation of Terraced Landscapes in the Judean Highlands, Israel”. The research traces the socio-economic and historical contexts in which terraces were constructed in the rural periphery of Jerusalem, a thriving political, economic and religious center for four millennia, by using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of terraces fill in combination with careful analyses of related geomorphological and archaeological records. The first sub-region studied is Mount Eitan, an isolated hilly spur located ca. 12 km west of the ancient city, above the Soreq Valley, the main drainage basin of the region. The results demonstrate a complex history of terrace construction and use, beginning with sporadic activity during the Hellenistic and Roman periods and reaching a zenith during the mid-second millennium CE. The results enable to put to test current paradigms regarding the relation between extensive terracing operations and settlement oscillations and the antiquity of the terrace phenomenon in the Eastern Mediterranean.