Papers by Eliezer Piasetzky
Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2020
Reactions at beam momenta and momentum transfers of several GeV/c can probe nuclei on a size scal... more Reactions at beam momenta and momentum transfers of several GeV/c can probe nuclei on a size scale where nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations (SRCs) are expected to be dominant. We will report on measurements of the ^12C(p,2p+n) reaction at Brookhaven National Laboratory at beam momenta of 6 to 9 GeV/c. For that experiment, the primary reaction was quasi-elastic knockout of a proton
Semitica et Classica
Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca (ink-on-clay texts). They are poor... more Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca (ink-on-clay texts). They are poorly preserved and might fade rapidly once unearthed. Their proper and timely documentation is therefore essential. Our study of numerous Hebrew ostraca has demonstrated that multispectral imaging has the potential to reveal letters on ostraca otherwise invisible to the naked eye. In the case of Arad Ostracon No. 16 from Judah, dated to ca. 600 BCE, we unveiled three lines of text on its supposedly blank reverse side. This surprising outcome led us to question how many ostraca we might be discarding during excavations simply because the sherds look blank. To tackle the problem, we propose a preliminary excavation protocol for screening ceramic sherds prior to disposal. The protocol is based on our limited experience rather than fully supported statistical test experiments. Here we demonstrate the application of this procedure on recently unearthed pottery sherds from the excavation at Kiriath-jearim near Jerusalem.
Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology 3(1), pp. 1-17, 2020
This paper presents a formal framework for synchronizing strata and datable artefacts in multi-la... more This paper presents a formal framework for synchronizing strata and datable artefacts in multi-layered sites. We first present a simple set of rules regarding the definition of safe termini post quem, taking into account cases of uncertain dating and/or uncertain stratigraphic attribution of the artifacts. We then propose a definition of chronologically optimal termini post quem, and a procedure to represent these optimal termini graphically by a step function in a two-dimensional graph. We also propose a definition of chronologically critical artifacts, as a minimal set of artifacts that determine all the optimal termini post quem of a stratigraphic sequence. Finally, we define a measure of the robustness of a terminus post quem, expressed in terms of the number of different artifacts supporting this terminus. We illustrate our approach through the case study of Egyptian scarabs from the site of Beth Shean (northern Israel), a well-known Bronze and Iron Age site that hosted an Egyptian garrison during the New Kingdom (ca. 1540–1070 B.C.E.). We also provide a software utility which assists users in applying our methodology.
Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research, 2022
This paper addresses the question of the date of appearance of Philistine Bichrome pottery at Meg... more This paper addresses the question of the date of appearance of Philistine Bichrome pottery at Megiddo through a new computational approach, using recently developed chronology software. Based on historical dates, we obtain a terminus post quem of 1183 b.c.e. for the start of Philistine Bichrome at Megiddo using a broad model, and a terminus post quem of 1124 b.c.e. under stronger chronological hypotheses. Adding radiocarbon results at 68.2% confidence level to the model yields a narrow range of 1111–1086 b.c.e. for the appearance of Bichrome (1128—1079 b.c.e. for 95.4%). The paper also presents results suggesting that Stratum VIIB ended during, or only slightly before, the reign of Ramesses III (1184–1153 b.c.e.).
studies of iron Age ostraca such as the samaria,1 lachish2 and Arad3 corpora rely on manually dra... more studies of iron Age ostraca such as the samaria,1 lachish2 and Arad3 corpora rely on manually drawn facsimiles.4 facsimiles crafted by hand may unintentionally mix up documentation with interpretation. Despite their great importance for the field of epigraphy, to the best of our knowledge no attention has thus far been devoted to facsimile quality evaluation that is independent of the human eye. By quality evaluation we mean an assessment of how well a given facsimile represents the original ostracon. the currently established publication standard includes
The combination of inclusive and exclusive electron scattering data from JLab in kinematic regime... more The combination of inclusive and exclusive electron scattering data from JLab in kinematic regimes that were not reachable before, together with the analysis and interpretation of older data from hadronic reactions at BNL is finally revealing the details of short-range nucleon-nucleon correlations in nuclei. This talk will discuss the experiments involving the two-nucleon knock-out reactions ^12C(e,e'pp) and ^12C(e,e'pn) The most significant result is the demonstration of the dominance of correlated np pairs over pp pairs in the range of relative momenta 300--600 MeV/c. This can be explained in terms of short-range tensor-force dominance. These new results are essential for refining our understanding of the short-range behavior of the N-N force. Moreover, short range pp pairs are manifestation of asymmetric dense cold nuclear matter that can be studied in the laboratory, and are relevant to studying neutron stars.
We deal with the general issue of handling statistical data in archaeology for the purpose of ded... more We deal with the general issue of handling statistical data in archaeology for the purpose of deducing sound, justified conclusions. The employment of various quantitative and statistical methods in archaeological practice has existed from its beginning as a systematic discipline in the 19th century (Drower 1995). Since this early period, the focus of archaeological research has developed and shifted several times. The last phase in this process, especially common in recent decades, is the proliferation of collaboration with various branches of the exact and natural sciences. Many new avenues of inquiry have been inaugurated, and a wealth of information has become available to archaeologists. In our view, the plethora of newly obtained data requires a careful reexamination of existing statistical approaches and a restatement of the desired focus of some archaeological investigations. We are delighted to dedicate this article to Israel Finkelstein, our teacher, adviser, colleague, an...
Determining the absolute chronology of ceramic artifacts has significant implications for archaeo... more Determining the absolute chronology of ceramic artifacts has significant implications for archaeological and historical research. Wilson, Hall et al. [1,2] recently suggested a new technique for direct absolute dating of archaeological ceramics based on a moisture-induced chemical reaction, called rehydroxylation (RHX) dating. RHX dating proceeds by measuring the mass of chemically combined water in the ceramics in the form of OH hydroxyls, and the mass gain rate at the Effective Lifetime Temperature (ELT) that the ceramics experienced over its lifetime. The ELT can be precisely determined using a method developed by Moinester et al. [3], based on RHX rate measurements at two temperatures of two ceramic samples having the same age. The RHX reaction continues over the ceramics lifetime, causing it to expand and to increase in mass, the older the material, the more hydroxylated the ceramics and the greater the mass gain. RHX reaction kinetics are proportional to the quartic root of ti...
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2021
Abstract This paper proposes a new methodology for modelling chronological data in archaeology. W... more Abstract This paper proposes a new methodology for modelling chronological data in archaeology. We introduce the concept of “chronological network”, a flexible model for representing chronological entities, synchronisms between them, and other chronological constraints such as termini post/ante quem and duration bounds. We propose a procedure for checking the consistency of a chronological network and for refining dating estimates from the available synchronisms and constraints. We introduce ChronoLog, a chronology software application that allows users to build a chronological network interactively. The software automatically checks the consistency of the network and computes the tightest possible chronological range for each entity, within seconds. ChronoLog is freely available online at http://chrono.ulb.be .
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2017
PloS one, 2017
Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca-ink-on-clay texts. They are poorly... more Most surviving biblical period Hebrew inscriptions are ostraca-ink-on-clay texts. They are poorly preserved and once unearthed, fade rapidly. Therefore, proper and timely documentation of ostraca is essential. Here we show a striking example of a hitherto invisible text on the back side of an ostracon revealed via multispectral imaging. This ostracon, found at the desert fortress of Arad and dated to ca. 600 BCE (the eve of Judah's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar), has been on display for half a century. Its front side has been thoroughly studied, while its back side was considered blank. Our research revealed three lines of text on the supposedly blank side and four "new" lines on the front side. Our results demonstrate the need for multispectral image acquisition for both sides of all ancient ink ostraca. Moreover, in certain cases we recommend employing multispectral techniques for screening newly unearthed ceramic potsherds prior to disposal.
2016 15th International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition (ICFHR), 2016
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2015
The article proposes a radiocarbon-based dating scheme for the entire Aegean ceramic sequence, fr... more The article proposes a radiocarbon-based dating scheme for the entire Aegean ceramic sequence, from the Late Helladic IIIB2 to the Middle Geometric II, with implications for the Late Cypriot IIC to Cypro-Geometric III ceramic phases. It accomplishes this by exercising “chronology by proxy”—that is, turning to radiocarbon-dated strata in the Levant that produced Aegean, Aegean-related, and corresponding Cypriot pottery items that represent most of the Late Helladic IIIB—Middle Geometric sequence. The article describes these contexts in the Levant and the above-mentioned items found in them, and then reports the results of a radiocarbon Bayesian model for their dating. The dates presented here support, with a few adjustments, the Conventional Aegean Chronology (Low Chronology in Levantine terms), in line with a recent radiocarbon dating of the Sub-Mycenaean/Early Proto-Geometric transition according to samples from Greece, as well as other models for the Iron Age in the Levant.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jan 11, 2016
The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has... more The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has attracted scholarly attention for over a century. Information on this issue can be deduced from Hebrew inscriptions from the final phase of the first Temple period. We report our investigation of 16 inscriptions from the Judahite desert fortress of Arad, datedca 600 BCE-the eve of Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem. The inquiry is based on new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions. Our algorithmic analysis, complemented by the textual information, reveals a minimum of six authors within the examined inscriptions. The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure ...
2012 International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition, 2012
Radiocarbon, 2015
This article surveys ongoing research of the Legibility Enhancement of Ostraca (LEO) team of Tel ... more This article surveys ongoing research of the Legibility Enhancement of Ostraca (LEO) team of Tel Aviv University in the field of computerized paleography of Hebrew Iron Age ink-written ostraca. We perform paleographic tasks using tools from the fields of image processing and machine learning. Several new techniques serving this aim, as well as an adaptation of existing ones, are described herein. This includes testing a range of signal-acquisition methodologies, out of which multispectral imaging and Raman spectroscopy have matured into imaging systems. In addition, we deal with semior fully automated facsimile construction and refinement, facsimile, and character evaluation, as well as the reconstruction of broken character strokes. We conclude with future research directions, addressing some of the long-standing epigraphic questions, such as the number of scribes in specific corpora or detection of chronological concurrences and inconsistencies.
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Papers by Eliezer Piasetzky