The lecture will present new evidence -- archaeological and palynological – for the Late Bronze-Iron I transition in the Levant, . Archaeologically, it is clear today that the crisis at the end of the Late Bronze Age took over a century, from the second half of the 13th century until ca. 1100 BC if not a bit later. Archaeology seems to point to a long period of unrest, shrinkage of major sites, hoarding activity etc. New data from pollen studies of cores of sediments from the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee point to a major climatic crisis in the later phase of the Late Bronze Age and a no-less dramatic recovery in the Iron I.  Textual evidence attest to events of famine in the Near East starting after the middle of the 13th century. All this helps to better understand the “Crisis Years” in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as the quick recovery in the Iron I, including the emergence of new entities in the highlands of the Levant.