|
Since 1993, the Judaic
Studies Program has sponsored major archaeological
excavations in Israel's northern Negev desert. Shortly
after the peace treaty was formalized between Israel
and Jordan, the program began a long-term archaeological
field program in the Jabal Hamrat Fidan Region (JHF)
of southern Jordan. The project aims at studying the
influence of early ore procurement and metallurgy
on social change from the Neolithic period through
the Iron Age. UCSD graduate students play an active
role in the fieldwork and laboratory studies of material
from these excavations. Qualified students in the
program are encouraged to use these data as part of
their doctoral studies. In 2003, the program plans
a major archaeological excavation at the Iron Age
metal production town of Khirbet en - Nahas in the
JHF research area.
In 2004-2005, the UCSD Judaic
Studies Program will join in several emergency excavations
along the Wadi Fidan in southern Jordan. This is part
of the UCSD Summer Session Middle East Field School.
The Judaic Studies Program
supports a state-of-the-art archaeological laboratory
in the Social Sciences Building. A wide range of digital-based
technologies is used for archaeological data and image
processing that are linked through the Internet. Labs
for processing pottery, stone tools, and other materials
are available for student use.
|
