2016-2017 Faculty Research Grant
Oystein LaBianca (Behavioral Sciences)
Hesban 14: Hesban in Global History
The present proposal seeks support to complete publication of the final synthesis report in the fourteen volume Hesban Final Publication series, namely Hesban 14: Hesban in Global History. The volume will synthesize, from the perspectives of anthropological archaeology and global history, the archaeological findings of the Heshbon Expedition and subsequent field work at the site by the principal investigator.
Where Hesban 14 will advance on previous research dealing with this site is in its explicit concern with accounting for the long-term cycles of intensification and abatement already documented at Tall Hisban by previous investigations. To this end the impact and role played by global connections over the past five millennia in shaping the archaeological record at Tall Hisban will be examined. The tool that will make such an analysis feasible is the Diachronic Cultural Production (DCP) model which will be introduced and deployed as a methodology for synthesizing data on hand from nearly five decades of anthropological archaeology research at Tall Hisban and vicinity. The implications of such a global history approach for a new biblical archaeology and for the history and anthropology of the Southern Levant will be explored in the final chapter of the volume. The proposal seeks funding to buy out of teaching for the principal investigator and to support a graduate research assistant to help with archival research and preparing the volume for publication.