Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Mapping Changes in Settlement Number and Demography in the South of Israel from the Hellenistic to the Early Islamic Period Cover

Mapping Changes in Settlement Number and Demography in the South of Israel from the Hellenistic to the Early Islamic Period

Open Access
|Dec 2025

Abstract

The south of Israel was lately at the heart of a debate regarding the supposed catastrophic effects of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) and the Justinianic plague. The current article aims to contribute to this debate by examining the fluctuations in settlement numbers in the south of modern-day Israel, between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic periods. It will do this by aggregating archaeological survey data, mapping it on ArcGIS and analysing it quantitively and qualitatively, while comparing it with data from excavations. Through this, it will be shown that a decline in settlements occurred only from the 7th century CE and the damaging effects of the LALIA and the Justinianic plague will be questioned.

Language: English
Submitted on: Apr 14, 2025
Accepted on: Sep 25, 2025
Published on: Dec 4, 2025
Published by: Sciendo
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2025 Lev Cosijns, Haggai Olshanetsky, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.