The Philistines of the archaeological record are a more complex civilization than the Philistines of Biblical memory.

The Scale Of The Collapse And Its Archaeological Signature

One of the most powerful pieces of evidence for the scale of the Bronze Age Collapse is the archaeological record of destruction layers across the eastern Mediterranean.

A destruction layer — in archaeological terminology — is a stratum in an excavation that shows evidence of burning, destruction, and often rapid abandonment.

Such layers can be dated through the pottery and other objects they contain, through radiocarbon dating of charred organic material, and through comparison with other dated sites in the region.

Across the eastern Mediterranean, destruction layers dating to approximately 1200-1150 BCE have been documented at dozens of sites.