Lahav II: Households and the Use of Domestic Space at Iron II Tell Hal

Late in the eighth century BCE, a massive destruction swept over Tell Halif and sealed one four-room pillared house beneath its debris. James Walker Hardin's study of that single building, in Area F7 of Field IV, reconstructs how an Iron II household used its space. It grew from his doctoral work at the University of Arizona and was expanded with further research. Every artefact was recovered and recorded within a refined three-dimensional grid, allowing close analysis of how the remains came to lie where they did and what the assemblages reveal about daily activity.

Drawing on ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological comparison, Hardin identifies activity areas and social organisation, defining an archaeological household of dwelling and occupants. He then sets his findings against the picture of family life in the Hebrew Bible. This is a careful, method-driven study for archaeologists and students of ancient Israel and the domestic past.