The Into the Desert research group investigates how Neolithic communities lived, moved, and adapted within the diverse arid environments of the Negev Desert. We focus on how different desert ecotones (valleys, plateaus, and drainage systems) structured opportunities and constraints for human groups, and how human activities in turn reshaped these landscapes over time.
At the core of our work is the analysis of material culture, which we integrate with environmental reconstructions and ecological surveys to explore subsistence strategies, settlement organisation, and land‑use practices. Advanced field and digital methods, including high‑resolution mapping, drone‑based survey, photogrammetry, and GIS‑based spatial modelling, allow us to connect micro‑contextual data from sites to broader regional systems, building an integrated picture of human–environment dynamics and adaptation in the Negev’s arid landscapes.
Key field projects include the sites of Nahal Qetura, Nahal Issaron and the Biqat Uvda area, Roded 110 in the Eilat Mountains, and Nahal Zahal.
This research is funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the Levi‑Sala CARE Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.
