UC San Diego

This article presents new stratigraphic, ceramic, and radiocarbon data from the recently excavated Area S at Megiddo, providing a refined absolute chronology for the early Middle Bronze Age (MB I) in the southern Levant. Excavations were conducted behind the Stratum XIII fortifications, in the northwestern sector of the mound, initially exposed by the University of Chicago. The aim was to clarify the complex architectural sequence of the MB I gate and fortification systems and establish a well-dated sequence for the late third and early second millennia bce. The secure, stratified contexts from Area S provide a ceramic sequence beginning in the Intermediate Bronze Age and extending into the Aphek-based MB I Phases 1, 2, and 3. The accompanying radiocarbon dataset of short-lived samples originating in occupation debris and two destruction layers enables construction of a new absolute chronology of MB I at Megiddo and beyond. Bayesian modeling suggests that MB I began in the late twenty-first or the beginning of the twentieth century bce, predating some traditional chronologies. The Megiddo dataset, as well as dates from other sites in the southern Levant, reflect also on the chronology of the later part of the Intermediate Bronze Age. These findings contribute to broader discussions on the transition from the Intermediate Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age, the rise of urbanisation in the region, and the synchronisation of Levantine chronologies with Egypt and Syro-Mesopotamia.