ABSTRACT
The importance of Tel Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) as a key site in unravelling the knotty problems revolving around the end of the Late Bronze Age in Canaan became apparent already during the excavations of the Wellcome-Marston Archaeological expedition to the Near East headed by J. L. Starkey in 1932–1938. The remains of this period – at the time represented mainly by the Fosse Temple – were published by Olga Tufnell in Lachish II-IV. Additional data were uncovered during the renewed excavations carried out between 1973 and 1983 by the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Exploration Society under my direction (Ussishkin, 1978; 1983). By integrating this new material with the reports of the British expedition, we now have a much clearer picture of the history and material culture of Canaanite Lachish in its final stages.
