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Dr. Michal BirkenfeldMichal Birkenfeld is a prehistorian, specializing in the Neolithic of the Southern Levant. She completed her PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she has submitted her thesis, entitled “Changing Systems: Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Settlement Patterns in the Lower Galilee, Israel” in 2018. Since the beginning of her studies, Michal has focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their application in the field of archaeology. In 2014 she headed the establishment of the GIS Research branch at the Israel Antiquities Authority. |
MICHAL BIRKENFELD
Senior Academic
Research Team
Alexander Wiegmann
Alexander Wiegmann received his B.A. and M.A. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish History and Archaeology, and is currently a PhD student whose area of research is the Byzantine - Early Arab period agricultural systems in the Negev Highlands. He employs both photogrammetry and GIS application in his research, developing work paths for 3D topographical and hydrological analyses. Alexander is the head of the Field Technologies Branch at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Gerardo Diaz
Gerardo is a PhD candidate at Ben Gurion University. He is a geophysical engineer specializing in satellite remote sensing techniques, GIS analyses, topographic surveying, drone imagery and 3D photogrammetric modelling. He is keen on understanding the Neolithic landscape of the Negev desert by using different non-invasive methods.
Yael Widerker
Yael is an M.A. student. Her thesis explores the site catchment analysis of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site of Nahal Issaron in the Uvda Valley, using remote sensing and GIS applications. This research aims to shed light on subsistence strategies and environment exploitation in the Uvda valley during the period. Its main contribution is combining traditional archaeological methods with digital applications to understand human-environment relationships in the hyper-arid desert.
Alexander Kuklin
My research examines lithic assemblages of Pre-Pottery Neolithic communities in the Southern Negev, focusing on their adaptation to the hyper-arid desert environment. Using the ‘Uvda Valley sites as a case study, it explores cultural connections with neighboring regions like Southern Jordan and Sinai through detailed techno-typological and stylistic analyses.
Timna Edelstein
Inter-regional diversity of PPNB communities has been previously suggested, based on differences in recorded material culture between sites in different regions. This was mainly based on the dichotomy apparent between the Mediterranean zones of northern Israel and the desert populations of the Negev and Sinai. In this sense, the Judean Shephela, located between these two regiones, has yet to be thoroughly studied.
Lena Brailovsky-Rokser
This study aims to trace the origins of southern Levantine EPPNB lithic traditions through technological, typological, and stylistic analyses of PPNA and EPPNB assemblages. It investigates whether the PPNB origins are local, imported, or a mix of both, and to what extent. The research seeks to track the movement of materials, technologies, ideas, or people to, from, and within the southern Levant during the PPNA to EPPNB transition.
Gunel Nabisoy
I am Gunel. I received my B.A. in History from Baku State University, I later completed an M.S. in Archaeological Material Science, with a thesis focused on the Chalcolithic site of Ein Gedi. Currently, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in the paleoenvironment of the Negev Desert during the Late Neolithic period. By applying a combination of soil analyses, mineralogical studies, GIS, and remote sensing, this research will investigate the connection between human economic practices and environmental changes.
