Strata: New Dig Reports: After the Dust Settles—Reports on Dig Reports

Every year BAR publishes excavation opportunities for willing volunteers. While highlighting the sweat, the long hours and the hard work, we also try to capture the excitement of discovery. After all, it is not every day that a Roman coin, Canaanite text or Judahite fortress is unearthed!

This is just the beginning, however. After the dust settles, the long process of interpretation and publication begins. Every artifact and layer of stratigraphy must be analyzed and catalogued. All the raw data must be synthesized. The work grows like mushrooms. The task expands sometimes for decades. The publication of a final excavation report often requires years of analysis, but the publication does not usually receive the same fanfare as the physical act of excavation. In this new BAR department, we applaud the efforts of scholars who succeed in this final step of the excavation process and inform our readers generally of the accomplishment.

In this issue, we highlight two recent volumes that have far-reaching implications for illuminating the Iron Age of the southern Levant.

Qeiyafa

Khirbet Qeiyafa, vol. 2, Excavation Report 2009–2013: Stratigraphy and Architecture (Areas B, C, D, E)