Our understanding of Palestinian archaeology owes much to the pioneering work of Flinders Petrie who explored the region quite extensive begining in the late 19th Cent. His observations that specific types of pottery tended to be associated with particular strata of the site led to the development of archaeological typology which allows for the determination of the relative chronology of different sites. This was developed and refined by succeeding generations of archaeologists—esp., W. F. Albright and G. E. Wright. Today's archaeologists benefit greatly from modern technological developments that allow for very fine gradations in chronology.
The following is the generally accepted chronology for Palestine. Different scholars, however, adopt slightly different beginning and end points for the various periods, so you may notice slight differences in other sources.
Paleolithic before 14,000 BC
Epipaleolithic 14,000-8000 BC
Neolithic 8000-4200 BC
Chalcolithic 4200-3300 BC
Early Bronze 3300-2000 BC
Middle Bronze 2000-1550 BC
Late Bronze 1550-1200 BC
Iron 1200-539 BC
I 1200-930 BC
IIA 930-721 BC
IIA 930-721 BC
IIB 721-605 BC
IIC 605-539 BC
Babylonian-Persian 539-332 BC
Hellenistic 332-63 BC
Roman 63 BC-AD 324
Byzantine 332-638 AD
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