RCHAEOLOGY FROM A TO Z:ABU ZARAD, AN ANCIENT TOWN IN THE HEARTLAND OF PALESTINETHE ITALIAN-PALESTINIAN JOINT ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTAT TELL ABU ZARAD (YASUF, SALFEET, PALESTINE) – FIRST SEASON OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS, MAY-JUNE 2015

A new agreement on cooperation for the archaeological exploration, cultural and tourist valorization of Tell Sheikh Abu Zarad, in central Palestine, has been signed in April 2015 by Rome Sapienza University and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine. In May-June 2015, the first season of archaeological investigation was carried out, putting on the map this ancient mound, one of the pre-classical cities in the heartland of the country. A GIS aided survey of the tell and its immediate environs, and a systematic collection of surface pottery allowed to reconstruct its ancient landscape, and to put forward a topographic analysis of the site, as well as a provisional timeline of its occupation from the Early Bronze Age until the Ottoman Period. At a preliminary examination, Tell Abu Zarad achieved the urban status in the Middle Bronze II-III, and in Iron I-II.