Destruction layer
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A destruction layer is a stratum found in the excavation of an archaeological site showing evidence of the hiding and burial of valuables, the presence of widespread fire, mass murder, unburied corpses, loose weapons in public places, or other evidence of destruction, either by natural causes (for example earthquakes), or as a result of a human action.
Destruction layers are often found associated with a change in subsequent pottery styles or material culture artefacts, indicating an invasion by a foreign people or intrusive element. Finding such destruction layers in a number of related sites may indicate a collapse of a state, especially if associated with an appearance of a markedly different culture in upper horizons.
Archaeological sites with destruction layers
The city of
Bronze Age collapse, after which the sites were abandoned. Destruction layers form an important part of the study of Biblical archaeology.[3]
References
- ^ Ramsey, Christopher Bronk; Manning, Sturt W.; Galimberti, Mariagrazia (2004)"Dating the Volcanic Eruption at Thera" (Radiocarbon, Volume 46, Issue 1, Pages xiii-496 (January 2004), pp. 325-344(20))
- ^ Stern, E. (1990)"New Evidence from Dor for the First Appearance of the Phoenicians along the Northern Coast of Israel" (Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 279 (Aug., 1990), pp. 27-34)
- ^ Finkelstein, Israel and Eli Piasetzky (2003), "Comment on 14C Dates from Tel Rehov: Iron-Age Chronology, Pharaohs, and Hebrew Kings"(Science 24 October 2003: Vol. 302. no. 5645, p. 568)