Katharina Streit

Katharina Streit is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology within the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, specializing in the archaeology of the Southern Levant. She leads excavations at Tel Lachish and conducts research on transregional interactions and scientific methodologies in archaeology.

• BA in Archaeology and Anthropology from University of Oxford (2009)
• MA in Vorderasiatische Archäologie from Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2009)
• PhD from Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2012)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship at Martin Buber Society, Hebrew University (2016-2020)

Her research focuses on the Southern Levant from the Neolithic through Iron Age periods, with particular emphasis on transregional interactions and the application of scientific methods in archaeology. Streit's work bridges material culture analysis with chronological studies, examining how cultural exchanges shaped ancient societies across Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt. She employs interdisciplinary approaches including radiocarbon dating, archaeobotany, and zooarchaeology to reconstruct ancient economies and social structures.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals consistent focus on Bronze and Iron Age urban centers, particularly Tel Lachish, where she integrates excavation data with textual evidence from Egyptian and Amarna sources. Her work demonstrates sophisticated methodology in resolving chronological debates through scientific dating techniques while examining cultural identity formation during periods of political transformation. Key thematic threads include the material manifestations of cultural interaction, the political economy of ancient city-states, and the development of early writing systems.

Streit leads the START project 'Tracing Transformations in the southern Levant from collapse to consolidation in the mid-second millennium BC' and previously directed excavations at Ein el-Jarba (2013-2016). Her collaborative research includes significant contributions to the 'Culture of Defeat' project examining political and social responses to conquest events in the Iron Age Southern Levant. She co-edits major publications and participates in international research teams conducting excavations at key sites including Tel Lachish and Tel Reḥov.

As co-director of the Austrian-Israeli Expedition to Tel Lachish, she oversees multidisciplinary fieldwork integrating traditional archaeological methods with scientific analyses. Her research group includes specialists in archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and radiocarbon dating, working together to reconstruct ancient lifeways in the Southern Levant.