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Beginning in 2010, new excavations commenced at Tel Akko, co-directed by Professors Ann E. Killebrew and Michal Artzy.  Current sponsoring institutions include the Pennsylvania State University, University of Haifa, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont McKenna University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Trinity College. This project, projected for ten years, has several goals:

• A diachronic and synchronic analysis of Akko’s role as a major eastern Mediterranean maritime center and commercial crossroads from the third millennium BCE through the Hellenistic periods.

• An analysis and comparison of the process of reurbanization and state formation during the early first millennium along the Phoenician Levantine coast and the rise of “ethnicized” kingdoms (e.g. Israel, Judah, Aram etc.).

• An archaeological, geomorphological and geophysical study of the Bay of Akko and its coastline, including questions relating to climatic change and its impact on the location of Akko’s harbors through the age.

• Development of new 3-D documentation and recording techniques.

• Publication of previous excavation results

The project is committed to the “Total Archaeology” concept: approaching the science in a holistic manner, as a multi-dimensial tool to examine the past and ensure it remains relevant to the future.  Ann Killebrew says,”New skill sets will be needed for archaeologists of the 21st century – there will be less excavation and more documentation, curation of collections, conservation, and site development. We should start preparing for that now.”