in Chapter 5). Yet we must focus on a limited geographic area, and there is a weight of evidence to suggest it. Archaeologically, a distinct settlement occupied the highland area between Jerusalem and the Jezreel Valley (Redford 1992:295; A. Mazar 1994c:39–57). The “Judean” area south of Jerusalem was sparsely inhabited, largely by seasonal sites, compared with the densely populated north-central hill country (Finkelstein 1993a:124). This north-central region was bounded on the north by a line of