Khirbet Summeily and those tenth-century bullae

ASOR BLOG: Iron Age Bullae from Officialdom’s Periphery: Khirbet Summeily in Broader Context. James W. Hardin, Christopher A. Rollston, and Jeffrey A. Blakely provide lots of interesting background on the site where those tenth-century BCE anepigraphic (i.e. without writing) bullae were excavated and why they are important. Excerpt:

We believe that the remains discovered at Summeily demonstrate a level of politico-economic activity that has not been suspected for the late Iron Age I and early Iron Age IIA. This is especially the case if one integrates data from nearby Hesi. Taken together, we contend these reflect greater political complexity and integration across the transitional Iron I/IIA landscape than has been appreciated. Many scholars have tended to dismiss trends toward political complexity (that is, state formation) occurring prior to the arrival of the Assyrians in the region in the later eighth century BCE. However, based on our work in the Hesi region, we believe these processes began much earlier.

Background here.