The following sample presentation was delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Boston on November 22, 2008.

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Kinneret Regional Project – The 2008 Field Season

Stefan Münger (University of Bern)*, Juha Pakkala (University of Helsinki), Jürgen Zangenberg (Leiden University), Wolfgang Zwickel (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)

Abstract
The paper reports on this year’s field activities of the «Kinneret Regional Project», a European expedition to Tel Kinrot and its environs under the auspices of the Universities of Bern, Helsinki, Leiden and Mainz (Fig. 1).
In a first part, the paper will focus on «Field I» at Tel Kinrot, located on the southeastern slope of the mound close to the shoreline of Lake Tiberias. «Field I» designates a large area that has been exposed during more than 10 seasons of excavations. Beside the presentation of the last works undertaken in this field during 2008, a synthesis of the Early Iron Age I findings in «Field I» will be presented. It will include a discussion of the urban layout and the architecture, a report on the preliminary results of a comprehensive spatial analysis of the main Iron Age IB horizon and a summary of the finds belonging to that period.
In a second part, the paper will give an account on the first field season at Horvat Kur, a rural site dating to the Hellenistic to Byzantine periods in the Galilean foothills north-west of Tel Kinrot. The methodology of a site-wide surface survey and its preliminary results will be presented, including the outcome of magnetometric and geo-electric explorations carried out in early 2008. Furthermore chronological, cultural-historical and socio-economic aspects of the site will be contextualized.

The Kinneret Regional Project
The Kinneret Regional Project is a Dutch-Finnish-German-Swiss expedition, which aims to explore Tel Kinrot and its environs throughout the times. This European project is directed by Stefan Münger, Dr. Juha Pakkala and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zangenberg on behalf of the Universities of Bern, Helsinki, Leiden and Mainz and collaborates with various institutions from Europe and Israel (Fig. 2). Though formally initiated in 2002, the first field season of the project took place in 2003, followed by campaigns in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, which normally lasted no longer than four weeks of excavation work plus short periods of on-site preparations and provisional after-dig analysis.
Currently, the Kinneret Regional Project concentrates on two sites: Tel Kinrot and – in close proximity – Horvat Kur. A surface survey in the hinterland of the Northwestern shore of Sea of Galilee complements actual excavation work. In the following, we will briefly present these three sub-projects.

Excavations at Tel Kinrot
Tel Kinrot (in Arabic Tell el-Oreimeh) is located right at the shore of the lake ca. 11 km North of modern Tiberias. Its identification with the ancient town of Kinneret – mentioned in Biblical (Josh 19:35) and Egyptian sources – is undisputed.
Since the first field season in 2003, work concentrated on a large excavation area (i.e. «Field I», Fig. 3) in the lower city with substantial architecture and installations. Its material culture belongs to the terminal phase of Iron Age IB. In this excavation field the architecture was fully exposed and subsequently conserved in order to present to the public the extraordinarily well-preserved remains of a highly organized and especially well-planned urban center dating to the 11th and to substantial parts of the 10th c. BCE.
The 2008 field season marked the final phase of the work in «Field I», which is now prepared for final publication (Fig. 4). The main objective of the 2008 season was to fully expose the northern part of a large domestic complex (Area S). It is trapezoidal in shape and is with a length of ca. 30 meters certainly one of the most remarkable Iron Age I structures in the Southern Levant. Moreover and in contrast to other major buildings dating to this period, the complex at Tel Kinrot was well planned from the outset. The longitudinal wall that stretches along a fairly broad road was built in one building operation – a yet unknown masterpiece of Iron I architecture. Strong lateral walls served as internal terrace walls and divide the complex into small units. This allowed a very effective adaptation of the layout to the natural conditions of the hill’s incline. Several installations – benches, podia, troughs etc. – were found within the rooms of the complex, pointing to inhabitants that divided work among different specialists. Most impressive, however, was the northern part of the building. In this area, quite a few grinding facilities and hand mills were found along with several tabouns (ovens), indicating that this part of the house was used for food preparation, especially bread baking. This has been corroborated by paleobotanical analyses, which demonstrated that cereals were stored in the cellar rooms bordering the street.

Results from Area S
Quite unexpected, however, were the results of the 2008 fieldwork in Area S – supervised by Katri Saarelainen from Helsinki university – on the northeastern end of the Iron Age I building complex (Fig. 5). In this part of «Field I», three (!) overlaying settlement layers (each falling into various sub-phases) were found on top of the ruins of the main phase of the Early Iron Age horizon. Because of their sometimes quite flimsy architecture, however, these remains may be best interpreted as a rather unsuccessful attempt to resettle the city immediately after its destruction (which was presumably caused by an earthquake with subsequent fire). Remains from these phases have previously been detected in other excavation fields and were by then defined as post-destruction squatter habitation. Now, in 2008, we were for the first time able to trace several building stages of these post-destruction layers and it seems that at least at some places this habitation was much more substantial than just a squatter presence. We were also lucky enough to unearth notable amounts of restorable pottery vessels along with a few small finds that will allow us to better date and describe another, yet quite unknown chapter in the long history of habitation of Early Iron Age Kinneret.

The Ceramic Assemblage
Though changes in architecture, city layout and building quality caused by the destruction of the main phase are quite drastic, the change in ceramics apparently is not (Fig. 6). The material culture is basically comparable with assemblages like those encountered, e.g., at Tel Hadar IV, Hazor XII/XI, Dan IVB or Jokneam XVII. However, we still maintain – contra Eran Arieh (Megiddo IV, p. 230) – that the main Early Iron Age horizon – i.e. Stratum V – at Tel Kinrot started earlier than he suggests, because it contains types typical of Megiddo VIB or Beth Shean Lower VI, as attested, e.g., by decorated storage jars (Fig. 7) or – rarely though – sherds of classical decorated ‘Philistine’ ceramics.
As the often complete pottery of the newly found post-destruction phases is still in restoration, not much can be said about how close the assemblages from these layers actually come to Iron Age IIA types. At first sight, however, it looks as if these ceramics still date to the very end of the Iron Age IB or slightly after (Fig. 8). We hope to be able to further clarify this question and contribute to the current debate about the Iron IB to Iron IIA transition as our ceramic restoration proceeds.

Stratigraphy
Regarding the nomenclature of the strata originally introduced by the late Volkmar Fritz, the previous excavator of Tel Kinrot, we now find ourselves in the dilemma that we – alas – lack Roman numerals for the newly found settlement layers and that we are now forced to introduce labels such as Strata IVC, B and A to designate the multi-phased post-destruction strata (Fig. 9).

Analytical and Technological Sub-projects
During the 2008 season, actual fieldwork was complemented by a number of analytical and technological sub-projects (Fig. 10). By re-examining old data, our architect Bärbel Schöneweiß-Mehring, was able to extrapolate a number of buildings belonging to the founding phase of the Iron Age I city, i.e. Stratum VI. They are equally monumental and corroborate the assumption that Early Iron Age Kinneret was well planned and structured from the outset (Fig. 11).
On the other hand, new technologies, like photogrammetric 3D-moddelling using aerial photographs taken by a zeppelin and highly precise GPS-data allowed the state-of-the-art visualization of the architecture of «Field I» (Fig. 12-13). This is yet another step towards the comprehensive digital recording of the material culture of Early Iron Age Tel Kinrot, which will be made accessible in near future on our website (this subproject was carried out by Natalie Schmidt of the School of Applied Sciences at Mainz).

Future Work at Tel Kinrot
After the successful completion of excavations of Field I, it is now time to stop invasive field work and concentrate all efforts on the publication of the results of the last five seasons. Yet, much remains to be done in the field, such as to continue conserving the architecture in «Field I», the restoration of the remaining bulk of pottery vessels and the continuation of the documentation process of the finds (Fig. 14). All these efforts are necessary to make ancient Kinneret’s rich material culture accessible to the scholarly community and to preserve and present this jewel of the Early Iron Age to the wider public.
As one of the first measurements towards these goals, we already protected the site with a strong, donkey-proofed fence in order to avoid future damages of these long-eared fellows to the now beautifully conserved architecture (Fig. 15).

Soundings at Horvat Kur
With 2008 field season, the Kinneret Regional Project expanded its activities not only geographically, but also chronologically by carrying out initial fieldwork at the site of Horvat Kur (Fig. 16).
This pioneer season intended to pave the ground for a larger research project under the guidance of Leiden University. The aims of the new sub-project are to better understand the rural settlement of Horvat Kur and its interaction with the transformation of the surrounding landscape. Through these explorations we intend to gain deeper appreciation of the cultural history of rural Hellenistic through Byzantine Galilee and its representation in ancient literature including the New Testament.
Horvat Kur is a ca. 1.2 ha large hilltop site about 2km west of the Sea of Galilee (Fig. 17). Its surface is littered with numerous stonewalls, water installations, olive presses and other features. While the site has occasionally been discussed in earlier literature, it has never been explored systematically, neither by surface survey nor by excavations.

Mapping the Site
After the clearance of site by local workmen, a surveying team from the School of Applied Sciences at Mainz mapped all visible topographic and architectural features and created a three-dimensional model of the Khirbe. In addition to that, a 10 x 10 m grid was set-up across the entire site, which be will used as reference for the planned full-scale archaeological excavations (Fig. 18).

Soundings
Parallel to these operations, two test trenches were dug under the supervision of Lucas Petit and Rick Bonnie on behalf Leiden University in order to determine the nature of the visible ruins and to clarify the chronological range of the settlement (Figs. 19-20).

Area A
One trench (Area A), measuring 6 x 3m, was opened on the hill’s summit where numerous larger areas delineated by stone structures were detected, as well as nicely carved limestone pillars and stone steps. Some of these features were already mentioned in older reports (Fig. 21).
The location on the hilltop and the outline of wall lines suggested that Area A was situated in the “public sector”, yet the previously supposed synagogue at this location could not be confirmed.
The settlement sequence in Area A dates from the Early Roman period and continues – with gaps, though – the Early Arabic period (Fig. 22).

Area B
A second trench (Area B) with equal dimensions was excavated on the northern slope on a building terrace ca. 5 m below Area A. A cistern opening and a large north-south wall seemed to belong to a courtyard and invites more intensive investigation (Fig. 23). Architectural remains visible in the vicinity suggested that Area B was located in the domestic area, therefore supplementing the data to be expected in Area A and creating a diversified picture of the settlement.
Again, settlement activities in Area B may have started in the Early Roman period (Fig. 24).

The Coins
The analysis of the numerous coins found in Areas A and B will contribute a lot to the dating of the different phases, although their state of preservation is often very poor. As an example, we may show an item attributed to Antoninus Pius, a Roman emperor, who reigned from 138 to 161 CE (Fig. 25). This coin has – according to the expertise of our numismatist Patrick Wyssmann from Berne University – a nice and much better preserved parallel from Sepphoris.

Survey at Horvat Kur
The second part of the 2008 pioneer season was an intensive surface survey of selected areas in a 1 km perimeter around Horvat Kur (Fig. 26). As the high standing and dense vegetation often seriously encumbered the undertaking, work mainly concentrated on ploughed fields and rocky areas, which allowed for a better visibility.
Fieldwalking took place in five sectors altogether. The methodology applied, followed the model practiced by John Bintliff in the Boeotia Survey in Greece, but was adapted to the local conditions of the Galilee.
As the field team was constantly accompanied by surveyors equipped with high-precision GPS, the results could continuously be visualized digitally using the open source software «Openlayers» in conjunction with the server-side application «Geoserver» (Fig. 27). These interactive electronic resources will soon be made available on our website.

Installations
In the course of the undertaking, many rock-cut installations like cisterns and channels, but also various tombs were encountered (Fig. 28), which were meticulously mapped and – where appropriate – three dimensionally documented. Like, e.g., a wine press in Sector 2 (Fig. 29). Some Roman to Byzantine pottery was found next to it, but only a systematic excavation would enable us to shed more light on its actual date.

Acknowlegements
We are looking back to the fifth field season of the Kinneret Regional Project with great pleasure and satisfaction and we would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support. – However, we are most thankful towards all team- and staff-members of the expedition, which made this endeavor such a success (Fig. 30).


Staff 2008
Dr. Guy Bar-Oz (paleozoology), Gus Besuijen (survy registrar), Rick Bonnie (area-supervisor), Irina Gutman (restorer), Stefan Höhn (field assistant; landscape archaeology), Virpi Holmqvist (researcher), Dr. Marlies Klee (paleobotanist), Ronja Kratz (graphic artist), Dipl. ing. Daniel Lechner (surveyor), Christa Lennert (graphic artist), Kimi Maman (conservation specialist), Dipl. ing. Bärbel Schöneweiß-Mehring (architect), Dipl. ing. Christian Mayer (GIS-specialist), Inga Müller (excavation registrar), Stefan Münger (co-director), Prof. Martti Nissinen (area-supervisor), Dos. Dr. Juha Pakkala (co-director), Dr. Lucas Petit (field director, Horvat Kur/area-supervisor), Meike Range (graphic artist), Katri Saarelainen (area-supervisor), Dr. Juhana Saukkonen (researcher), Kerstin Schier (restorer), Dipl. ing. Natalie Schmidt (surveyor, 3D-modeling), David Steinmann (cartographer), Iris Thomsen (field assistant), Tuula Tynjä (ceramicist), Kirsi Valkama (co-field director Tel Kinrot/area-supervisor), Mark van den Enden (survey-co-director), Daniella Vos (field-assistant), Patrick Wyssmann (photographer/numismatics), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zangenberg (co-director), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Zwickel (project coordinator).

Team-members 2008
Adrian Alexandrescu (Romania), Alessandro Battistini (Italy), Britta Seidner (Romania), Caroline Nugteren (Netherlands), Christa Röhrscheid (Germany), Christine Luz (Switzerland), Daniela Gehrmann (Germany), Danielle Willemsen (Netherlands), Diana Raidla (Estonia), Dorothee Scholian (Switzerland), Eija Westerlund (Finland), Elisabeta-Ramona Wiszt (Romania), Els Klok (Netherlands), Johanna Ketola (Finland), Kaur Riismaa (Estonia), Laurentiu Brescan (Romania), Maaike Langerak (Netherlands), Gisela Berndt (Germany), Merit Röhl (Switzerland), Michael Marciak (Poland), Morten Hoerning Jensen (Denmark), Nathalie Müller (Switzerland), Nathalie Poehn (Switzerland), Nesina Gruetter (Switzerland), Niina Savolainen (Finland), Peter Clavadetscher (Switzerland), Peter de Graaf (Netherlands), Philipp Schefzyk (Germany), Pushpa Kumbhat (United Kingdom), Ronald Lock (Netherlands), Sarah Lang (Germany), Sarah Schmidt (Switzerland), Sean Palmer (Switzerland).


Main Sponsors
Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki • The Finnish Institute in the Middle East • Finnish Cultural Foundation • Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz • Auswärtiges Amt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland • Deutscher Verein vom Heiligen Lande, Köln • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Bonn • Schröter Stiftung, Neustadt • Facutly of Theology, University of Bern • UniBern Research Foundation, Bern • Leids Universiteits Fonds, Leiden and others.


Text: S. Münger in collaboration with M. v. d- Enden, L. Petit, K. Saarelainen, J. Zangenberg • Photographs: N. Müller, S. Münger, L. Petit, P. Wyssmann • Aerial photographs: P. Partouche (www.skyview.co.il) • Satellite images: www.google.com • Graphics: C. Lennert, D. Lechner, S. Münger, L. Petit, M. Range, N. Schmidt, B. Schöneweiß-Mehring • Layout, design and concept: S. Münger • © Kinneret Regional Project.