Israel Archeology: History and Current Scenes

Dr. Gordon Tucker prepared a PowerPoint/Video of the May program. You may enjoy it at any time.

(40 minutes)

In addition to a color-coded timeline of the occupants of this land and pictures from the Tel Shimron dig, Dr. Tucker references biblical history and describes cities such as Galilea, past and present.

Archaeological investigations began in 2016 at Tel Shimron in the Lower Galilee region of Israel. When these excavations began, Tel Shimron had been the largest unexcavated site in Israel. After three seasons of excavations, interrupted by one season of laboratory study, numerous artifacts, features, and structures have been exposed that tell the story of this ancient site that sits at the crossroads between coastal and interior sites in the ancient land of Israel.

As of 2019, the excavations at Tel Shimron have established that people have lived here since at least the Early Bronze Age, approximately 5,000 years ago Dr. Tucker will describe the purpose of the excavations at Tel Shimron, the methods used, the results after three years of excavations, and the manner in which these results can be used to understand better the interactions among ancient populations in the region.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Gordon C. Tucker Jr. is a professional archaeologist. He received his doctorate in anthropology (archaeology emphasis) from the University of Colorado at Boulder. As the Cultural Resource Team Lead and Senior Archaeologist with AECOM in Greenwood Village, Colorado, he has worked all over the state of Colorado and

throughout the western U.S. Since 2012, Dr. Tucker has been traveling to Israel to excavate at two ancient sites:

Ashkelon (2012-2016) and Tel Shimron (2017-2019).

Dr. Tucker had planned to return in summer 2020 for another season of excavations at Tel Shimron, directing the analyses of the chipped stone tools.