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ASOR PHOTO COLLECTION, PHOTO BY ILAN STULMAN

SEEDS OF TRUTH. Materials of plant or animal origin, such as seeds, fruits, and textiles, can be dated through radiocarbon analysis. The method takes advantage of the fact that all organisms absorb the radioactive isotope of carbon C-14, which decays at a constant rate once the plant or animal dies. By measuring the residual amount of C-14 in the organic matter, scientists can estimate when the replenishment stopped and thus determine the age of an excavated find. Known as radiocarbon dating, this method is especially useful for absolute dating of the early part of the Iron Age (c. 1200–800 BCE). Pictured here is a storage jar with burnt figs from the site of Tel Miqne (biblical Ekron), which was destroyed at the end of the Late Bronze Age, around 1200 BCE.