Avraham Ronen
(Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Israel)
The Archaeological Survey of Israel was established in 1964 as the official organ for recording the ancient remains on the state’s territory. The data is to serve planners and developers in order to preserve the heritage as much as possible in face of enhanced development. About 35% of Israel’s territory was surveyed todate. The registers of about 15% of the territory are published and available to the public. A settlement pattern has emerged in the Byzantine period which radically differed from all earlier periods.
Archaeological sites are mapped using 3D Laser Scanning technology, which provides very detailed and comprehensive geometrical mapping of the was and its close environment. Objects’ settings and activity zones are therefore reconstructed in their original spatial arrangement. Tabun Cave (800,000 – 100,000 years ago) as a case study. The present project involved the two major Lower Palaeolithic cultures at Tabun, the Acheulian and the Yabrudian. The two largely differ in their material culture, the technology and typology of their artifacts. The 3D Laser Scanning technology will enable to compare the use of space by the two cultures and their behavior patterns.