This volume introduces the concept of the Settlement Matrix, a heuristic model that connects the analysis of the symbolic and practical aspects of human culture by placing them both within the same spaces defined by a settlement and its support area. The settlement matrix model examines each venue of daily life from the house to the settlement to the field system as integral parts of a single cultural construct, the settlement matrix. By defining discrete spaces and a way to connect them, the settlement matrix model provides a way to combine technologies like GIS with current archaeological...

This book proposes a new occupation model for the remains of Khirbet Qumran, the site associated with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Using the latest in virtual reality technology, the author reconstructs the site of Qumran and demonstrates that the site was initially built as a Hasmonean fortress, and was later expanded into a residence for a self-sufficient community responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls.