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orion On Greg Doudna's Ib and II dates

Notes on Greg Doudna's Ib and II dates:

A few months ago, you dated all the Qumran inkwells (no number was
given) to circa 60s CE. Now you date them all to pre-63 BCE. That's
quite a change. No evidence accompanies either claim. One would
ordinarily present typological sequence parallels.
	This needs to be done with the pottery also. People capable of doing
this expertly include, among others, J. Magness, Rahel Bar-Natan, and
Rivka Berger.
	It is a shame that the fine article by Magness has been misrepresented.
Random coins is not the focus; it does not slavishly follow de Vaux (or
Humbert or others).
	Radiocarbon data of mss and cloth exclude the possibility of a 63 BCE
end date for the mss.
	If paleography is even half as accurrate as claimed, it excludes the 63
BCE end date for the mss.
	Stephen Pfann, who is preparing an English translation of the notes of
de Vaux, has cautioned that items were gathered (not by de Vaux) into
locus lists in a way that introduced errors. These locus descriptions in
any case are incomplete. Hence the BCE fire is not dismissed by the
method suggested.
	Can you date the "scroll jars" to pre-63 BCE?
	The post-63 BCE coin hoard (jars with silver coins) is difficult to
explain if the site were uninhabited. Who would hide such wealth in an
abandoned settlement?
	Qumran was not a marketplace but a community with a central treasury.
Did de Vaux sift? Use a metal detector? Distribution of finds in a
partial dump should not be overinterpreted.
	Continuity of use in the loci should not be underestimated.
	Do you deny runoff sediment atop ash?
	Where was the second floor rebuilt?
	Why so many similar graves?
	Why would Essenes, who still survived, not retrieve their mss?
	Were changes in S and D finished pre-63 BCE?
	M. V. Agrippa, governor of Syria, was guest of Herod in Judaea,
including Herodion, in 15 BCE. To say he reported on imaginary
inhabitants at Qumran appears to be wishful thinking. I did, however,
read with interest your apparent view that Essenes may have lived at
Qumran at least in Ib. That, in my view, is progress.
	Thanks for your posts, Greg. Unlike much e-mail, your posts are
frequently interesting and educational. 

Sincerely,       
 Stephen Goranson      goransons@uncwil.edu