Ricerc@Sapienza

Sapienza investigations at Jericho, resumed in 2009 (ranked among the "Great Digs" since 1997), with systematic excavations in 16 areas over 20 years provided fresh data for the study of a paramount site of the Near East with one of the longest sequences, ranging from the Mesolithic/Natufian and Neolithic to the Ottoman Period (from 10,500 BC to 1918 AD).
The joint Italian-Palestinian Expedition constantly and continuously funded also by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considered a model of non-colonial archaeology, being based on a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine which recognises the leading scientific role of Sapienza.
The extraordinary results achieved so far, with the discovery of the Palace and temple of the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, the finding of a hoard of Nilotic nacreous shells imported from Egypt in the Early Dynastic Period (Nigro 2017), as well as the new investigation of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement with the retrieval of a separated skull and connected aDNA analyses (Nigro 2018) launch a further challenge towards a re-appraisal of this extraordinary site and its historical-archaeological legacy.
The Expedition scientific goals are :
1. PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC ¿ renewed exploration of PPNA and PPNB layers and collecting organic samples for aDNA analyses (food plants, animals, humans).
2. EARLY BRONZE AGE ¿ CITY-WALLS: why and when Jericho was given a monumental fortification line? Which are the main architectural features of its city-walls?
3. PALACE G AND THE SOCIO_ECONOMY OF EBA JERICHO during the 3rd mill. BC
4. THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE CITY: ramparts, gate and temple
5. THE 'HYKSOS' PALACE¿: its structure, the élite tombs underneath
6. TOWER A1 structure and functions in the Lower City
7. STUDY OF THE JERICHO SOCIETY through a DEMOGRAPHIC MODEL matching data from the site and its rich necropolis
ANALYSES in specialized LABS will provide necessary data to deepen archaeological investigations