Walker/Life on the Farm, 2. Peasant Decision-Making in the Jerusalem Highlands: A Landscape Perspective

Beit Mazmil is located within the heart of Jerusalem’s agricultural lands. As such, the site functioned throughout the ages as a component within a wider system that ensured regular supply of food and other products into the city. At the same time, the site is a reflection of how the urban elite ruled over and exploited the lands surrounding the city. In light of the above, it is clear that an archaeological study of Beit Mazmil should not end at the settlement’s outer fence or last building. Rather, it should continue and include the agricultural lands that surround the site. This approach, advocated for over four decades by landscape archaeologists, is the one that guided us when planning this project. In what follows we wish to describe the shortcomings of the settlement-oriented approach and summarize the methodological breakthrough that guided us in designing the coordinated study of the relic terraces and the archaeological site of Khirbet Beit Mazmīl.