| Summary: | This dissertation deals with the religious practices of the settlers in the central highlands of
Palestine, during the pre-monarchic period (ca 1200-1000 BCE; the so-called ‘period of the
Judges’), as revealed by archaeology (cultic artifacts and sites, as well as burial customs and
practices). The religious practices of the settlers have been shown to reflect continuity with,
and were practically indistinguishable from, those of the Late Bronze Canaanite cult,
suggesting that the majority of the settlers were originally Canaanites, most probably from the
coastal city-states (ie, the religious practices have been used as an ‘ethnic marker’). It has also
been proposed that one of the motivating factors for the migration of people from the coastal
region to the central highlands was a fairly dramatic climatic shift, one which resulted in the
area becoming increasingly and significantly drier from the late 13th century BCE until about
900 BCE. === Thesis (M.A. (Biblical Archaelogy))
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