Prof. Joseph Yellin

Neutron Activation Analysis

I joined the Institute of Archaeology and Department of Physics in 1973 and together with I. Perlman (1915-1991) was responsible for establishing at The Hebrew University a Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) facility for investigating the origin of pottery and other archaeological materials. The facility was the initiative of I. Perlman and was known as the Archaeometry Laboratory. The laboratory achieved recognition as one of the finest such laboratory in the worldⁱ. Laboratory work was under the supervision of Perlman and Yellin (1973-1983) and Yellin (1983-1997)ⁱⁱ . A number of projects whose laboratory phase was advanced continue to this day.

Between 1980 and 2001, ten graduate students in archaeology completed works based in part or in whole on NAA. The students were supervised by Perlman or Yellin and archaeology faculty members. Two geology students also conducted part of their research in the Archaeometry Laboratory. The students and their dissertation topics are as follows: Bonen, D., 1980, The Mesozoic basalts of Israel, Ph.D. thesis; Gunneweg, J., 1981, The provenience of Eastern Terra Sigillata from the Eastern Mediterranean (on the basis of the results of neutron activation analysis), Ph.D. thesis; Raban, A., 1983, The Portable Jar in the Ancient Near East, Typology, Distribution and Provenance, Ph.D. thesis; Adan-Bayewitz, D., 1985, Manufacture and local trade in the Galilee of Roman-Byzantine Palestine: a case study, Ph.D. thesis; Porat, N., 1989, Composition of pottery: application to the study of interrelations between Cannan and Egypt during the 3rd millennium B.C., Ph.D. thesis; Sharon, I., 1990, Statistical methods to clarify the compositional analysis of ceramics, M.A. thesis (in Hebrew); Boas, A., 1991, A provenience study of some fine table-wares imported into the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, M.A. thesis; Gilboa, A., 1992, Pottery of Dor under Assyrian rule, M.A. thesis. Frachtenberg, F., 1993, Analysis of prehistoric flint products and sources in Israel by neutron activation, M.A. thesis; Maeir, A., 1997, Provenience of pottery from the Jordan Valley in the Late Bronze Age, Ph.D. thesis; J.M. Cahill, 1998, Rosette-Stamped Handles: Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, Rivised Typology and Comparison with LMLK-Stamped Handles; Salmon, Y., 2001, Collared-rim jars from the coastal site of Tel Nami at the end of the Late Bronze Period, M.A. thesis, Haifa University.

Research on the origin of pottery from many excavations, mainly but not limited to those conducted by Institute of Archaeology were undertaken. These excavations included: Athienu (Cyprus), City of David-Jerusalem, Deir el-Balah, Jericho, Jerusalem, Maagan Mika'el Shipwreck, Mareshah, Masada, Megiddo, Tel Artal, Tel Batash, Tel Dan, Tel Dor, Tel Hagit, Tel Mevorakh, Tel Miqne, Tel Qashish, Tel Qasile.

ⁱ Seaborg, G. T., and Asaro, F., 1998, Isadore Perlman, 1915-1991, in National Academy of Science Biographical Memoirs 75, 264-87, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

ⁱⁱ Yellin, J. Instrumental Neutron Activation Based Provenance Studies at The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem, With a Case Study on Mycenaean Pottery from Cyprus, Archaeometry 49, 2, pp. 271-288 (2007). Yellin, J. and Maeir, A. M. Four decades of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and its contribution to the archaeology of the ancient land of Israel, Israel Journal of Earth Science 56, pp 123-132 (2007).