Is There an Iron Age Levant?

For students of the Iron Age a Levantine perspective presents significant challenges and rewards. The region is vaguely bounded and there are relatively few studies that place this larger context at their heart. Yet, approaching the Iron Age from a Levant-wide perspective is rewarding insofar as it requires us to consider global patterns and local diversity simultaneously. The tension between the ‘big picture’ and local detail complicates and challenges easy narratives of historical change. Two cases where a Levantine perspective changes how we view the Iron Age are 1) the interpretation of local Aegean style pottery in relation to the Sea Peoples, and 2) the form and formation of Iron Age kingdoms. Para quienes investigan la Edad del Hierro, una perspectiva levantina representa considerables desafíos y ventajas. La región se encuentra vagamente delimitada y son pocos los estudios que emplazan este contexto general en su centro. No obstante, una aproximación a la Edad del Hierro desde una perspectiva levantina amplia representa una ventaja en tanto que requiere la consideración de patrones globales así como de la diversidad local de manera simultánea. La tensión entre la “imagen global” y el detalle local complica y desafía a la vez a las narrativas simples sobre el cambio histórico. Dos casos en los que una perspectiva levantina cambia cómo comprendemos la Edad del Hierro son: 1) la interpretación de la cerámica local de estilo egeo en relación con los Pueblos del Mar, y 2) la forma y la formación de los reinos de la Edad del Hierro.

Between Rocks and ‘High Places’: On Religious Architecture in the Iron Age Southern Levant

In this paper we examine why common methodologies for determining ‘religious architecture’ do not account for the diverse and fluid ways in which religious behavior can be expressed. We focus on religious architecture from the Iron Age Southern Levant highlighting certain sites that ‘fall through the cracks’ of current taxonomies. We propose a different way of approaching evidence for religious practice in the archaeological record, viewing religion as one dimension of social action made visible along a spectrum of ritualization.</jats:p

Mortality salience leads to greater consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage on Friday versus other weekdays

Objectives We build on findings from terror management theory to examine how non‐conscious mortality concerns may lead individuals to adhere to cultural meanings yoked to discrete time periods, in this case influencing consumption of an ostensibly alcoholic beverage. Design The study took the form of a 2 (death vs. uncertainty reminder) × 3 (Monday vs. Wednesday vs. Friday) between‐subjects laboratory‐based quasi‐experimental design. Methods A total of 210 participants (age: M = 21.92 years, SD = 5.33; 103 males and 107 females) recruited from a UK university answered either an open‐ended question to prime mortality or uncertainty cognition on either a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. As part of an ostensible taste test, they then consumed as much or as little of a purportedly alcoholic drink as they desired. Results Death reminders (vs. control topic) were found to result in more consumption of the beverage on a Friday, less consumption on a Monday, and no difference in consumption on a Wednesday. Conclusions Findings point to the flexible, time‐contingent nature of culture‐oriented defences against mortality concerns with potential implications for the efficacy of alcohol health warnings featuring mortality‐related stimuli