Spatial archaeolog
Early urbanization
Predictive/locational modeling
Historical archaeology
Email: ido.wachtel@mail.huji.ac.il
Research Gate: Ido Wachtel
Personal website: Ido Wachtel
Current Projects:
My current research focuses on the emergence of urbanization in the Early Bronze Age in the southern Levant (3700-2500 BCE). It includes three complementary components: 1) Tel Qedesh excavation project – a new field project designed to reconstruct the socio-economic development of one early urban mega-site in the Galilee during the Early Bronze Age; 2) Regional and inter-regional analysis of the settlement system around the mega-site of Tel Qedesh and other urban centers in adjacent regions; 3) Comparative analysis of late-historical and ethnographic data to study the pre-modern era relating to the Arab village of Qadas (located on Tel Qedesh until 1948) and the Galilean settlement system.
Curriculum Vitae
2018 – 2020 Zvi Yavetz Post-doctoral Fellow at the Zvi Yavetz School of Historical Studies, Tel Aviv University.
2014 – 2018 Rotenstreich Scholarship for Ph.D. candidates granted by the Council for Higher Education.
2013 – 2017 President Fellowship, The Hebrew University Honours Program for excelled Ph.D. candidates in the Humanities.
2014 Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Fellowship for excellent Ph.D. candidate.
Grants
2017 State of Israel, Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space. Travel grant for an excellent doctoral student for international conference.
2015 Grant for Research Initiative. Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities.
2014 Berman Center for Biblical Archaeology (Ph.D. field project).
2013 Ruth Amiran Fund for archaeological research in Israel, Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University (Ph.D. field project).
2010 Ruth Amiran Fund for archaeological research in Israel, Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University (M.A field project).
Education
2013 – 2018 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ph.D. in Archaeology.
2009 - 2012 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.A. magna cum laude in Archaeology and Geography (urban and regional studies).
2005 – 2008 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, B.A in Archaeology and Geography.
Publications
Peer-reviewed articles
Wachtel, I. Kisilevitz, S., Ayalon, E., Darawshi, H., Gadot, Y. and Nadan, A (in press), An Interdisciplinary Study of Qālūnyā during the First Half of the 20th Century. New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, Proceedings of the International Conference on Motza 2020.
Wachtel, I., Zidon, R. and Shelach-Lavi, G (2020). Using the Maximal Entropy Modeling Approach to Analyze the Evolution of Sedentary Agricultural Societies in Northeast China. Entropy 22(3): 307-326.
Wachtel, I., Zidon, R. Garti, S., and Shelach, G. (2018). Predicting modeling for archeological sites location: comparing logistic regression and Maxent in north Israel and North-East China. Journal of Archaeological Science 92: 28-36.
Wachtel, I. (2018). Monumentality in early urbanism: Early Bronze Age north Levantine monument in context. Journal of Asian Archaeology 1: 75-93.
Wachtel, I., Sabar R., and Davidovich, U. (2017). Tel Gush Halav in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Strata 35: 113-132.
Wachtel, I. (2014). The Mystery of 'Gal Yithro': Monumental Structure in The Upper Galilee. Qadmoniot 147: 16-18 (in Hebrew).
Mazar A. and Wachtel I. (2015). The Persian /Early Hellenistic Fortress at Hurvat Eres, Israel Exploration Journal 65(2): 214-244.
Shelach-Lavi, G., Wachtel, I., Golan, D, Ellenblum, R. and Honeychurch, W. (in press). Long-Wall construction in the Mongolian steppe during the Medieval Period (11th to the 13th centuries CE), Antiquity.
Shelach-Lavi, G., Teng, M., Goldsmith, Y., Wachtel, I., Stevens, C. J., Marder, O. & Polissar, P. (2019). Sedentism and plant cultivation in northeast China emerged during affluent conditions. Plos One, 14(7): 1-14.
Bloch, G., Francoy, T. M., Wachtel, I., Panitz-Cohen, N., Fuchs, S. and Mazar, A. (2010), Industrial apiculture in the Jordan valley during Biblical times with Anatolian honeybees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107 (25): 11240-11245.
Chapters in books / edited volumes
Wachtel I. (in press), Sixty years after Aharoni: The Iron I settlements in the Upper Galilee, in Lipschits, O., Sergi, O., & Koch, I. (eds.), From Nomadism to Monarchy? "The Archaeology of the Settlement Period" – 30 Years Later. Eisenbrauns publishing.
Wachtel, I. (2016), La Galilea, non sempre una zona di confine, LIMES 10\15: 332-342 (Italian).
Presentations
Using a Maxent model for analyzing nomadic activity patterns: The Southern Judean Desert as a case study. Digital Archeology: New Studies and Advance Technologies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2019.
Settlement shifts and demographic changes in the Upper Galilee during the Bronze and Iron Ages. ASOR 2017 Annual Meeting, Boston.
Predictive model for early settlements locations: The Upper Mountainous Galilee as a case study, Landscape Archaeology Conference, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2017.
Sixty Years after Aharoni: A New Look at the Iron Age I Settlement in the Upper Galilee, From Nomadism to Monarchy? “The Archaeology of the Settlement Period”– 30 Years Later, Tel Aviv University, 2017.
Predicting modeling for archeological sites location: comparing logistic regression and Maxent in north Israel and North-East China, Digitization of Cultural Heritage, XIIIth Annual International Conference for Professionals in Cultural Heritage Van Leer, Jerusalem, 2016.
Bronze and Iron Ages settlement patterns in the mountainous upper Galilee Israel, Landscape Archaeology Conference, University of Uppsala, Sweden, 2016.
Excavations in the Lower City of Hazor: 2008–2010, Memorandum: In memory of Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2015.
'Jethro's Cairn’ - An Early Bronze Age Site in the Upper Galilee, Israel: Function and Significance, ICAANE 2014, Basel, 2014.
The Renewed Excavation at Tel ‘En Gev, Area H (2009-2011): Stratigraphy, Finds and General Overview. The Land of Geshur: Archaeological Reconstruction, Tokio, 2012.