He continued as a research student under the supervision of Prof. Moshe Kochavi, receiving his MA in 1978 (thesis on Rural Settlement in the Yarkon Basin in the Iron Age and Persian-Hellenistic Periods).

He spent the academic year of 1983–84 in a research group led by Prof. Yigael Yadin in the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

In 1998–99 Finkelstein was a visiting scholar in the Centre de Recherche d'Archéologie Orientale and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in the Sorbonne, Paris.

Finkelstein's most extensive field work is the excavation at Megiddo (1994–present: co-directors David Ussishkin until 2012, and Matthew J. Adams and Mario A.S. Martin since 2014).

For the results see R. Shahack-Gross and I. Finkelstein, Settlement Oscillations in the Negev Highlands Revisited: The Impact of Microarchaeological Methods, Radiocarbon 57/2, 2015, pp. 253–264.

In 2017-2019, Finkelstein co-directed the Shmunis Family Excavations at Kiriath-Jearim, a biblical site in the highlands west of Jerusalem associated with the Ark Narrative in the Book of Samuel[8] (with Christophe Nicolle and Thomas Römer, the College de France).

The project was organized into 10 tracks dealing with radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, geoarchaeology, paleoclimate, petrography, metallurgy, daily mathematics, advanced imaging of ostraca, residue analysis and archaeozoology.

Others, who originated from local sedentary background, moved to the highlands as a result of the Bronze Age collapse – which in turn was related to a long period of dry climate in c. 1250-1100 BCE.

The same holds true for the contemporary settlement process in Transjordan and western Syria, which brought about the rise of Moab, Ammon and the Aramean kingdoms of the later phases of the Iron Age.

[13] Starting in the late 1990s, the focus of the discussion shifted to the interpretation of radiocarbon determinations for organic samples from key sites, such as Tel Rehov and Megiddo.

[15] Finkelstein proposed that the locally-made Monochrome pottery known from several sites in Philistia, which is widely understood as representing the earliest phase of Philistine settlement, should be dated after the withdrawal of Egypt from Canaan in the 1130s.

Second, from the time of King Manasseh of Judah in the early 7th century BCE, under Assyrian domination (for instance, the visit of the Queen of Sheba in Jerusalem).

[18] Following the results of the excavations at Megiddo, Finkelstein argued that the material culture of the Iron I in the northern valleys continues that of the Late Bronze Age.

He suggested that memories of the turmoil in the lowlands in the late Iron I can be found in northern traditions regarding skirmishes with Canaanite cities which appear in the heroic stories in the Book of Judges.

He suggested that this north Israelite polity ruled over much of the territory of the highlands, that it presented a threat to the interests of Egypt of the 22nd Dynasty in Canaan, and that it was taken over during the campaign of Sheshonq I.

[21] Finkelstein proposed that in its early days, the Northern Kingdom (Jeroboam I and his successors) ruled over the Samaria Highlands, the western slopes of the Gilead and the area of the Jezreel Valley.

Finkelstein described the special features of Omride architecture and, with his Megiddo team, dealt with different subjects related to the material culture of the Northern Kingdom, such as metallurgy and cult practices.

Finkelstein sees the biblical genre of deploying "history" in the service of royal ideology as emerging from Israel (the North) of the 8th century BCE.

The large area of the Herodian platform (today's Harem esh-Sharif) may conceal a mound of five hectares and more, which – similar to other capital cities in the Levant – included both the royal compound and habitation quarters.

In parallel to this development, Judah expanded to the Shephelah in the west and Beer-sheba Valley in the south, and for the first time became a territorial kingdom rather than a city-state restricted to the highlands.

[25] Dating the appearance of inscriptions and the dissemination of writing in Israel and Judah has far-reaching implications in the study of the material culture of the Hebrew Kingdom and in biblical historiography.

[26] In the past, dating these inscriptions was based on assumptions which stemmed from interpretation of biblical texts, for instance the mention of scribes in the court of King David in the 10th century BCE.

[27] (c) A research group which was headed by Finkelstein (with Eli Piasetzky and others)introduced computer science methods to the study of First Temple period Hebrew ostraca.

[29] In addition, he discussed the settlement history of the Transjordanian highlands,[30] the copper industry in the eastern Arabah Valley, and sites in the Gilead, Ammon and Edom.

It showed that the "open" (not rock-cut) water reservoirs,which had been dated solely to the Iron Age, were in fact the most common method of water-supply from the Early Bronze to medieval times.

[34] He put special emphasis on advanced dating methods, first and foremost radiocarbon, but also archaeo-magnetism and OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence).

He also engaged in studies of geo-archaeology (looking at sediments from ancient sites to identify subsistence patterns of their inhabitants), molecular residues in ceramic vessels (which points to early trade link with the Far East) and archaeo-metallurgy.

"[3] In 2014, Finkelstein was awarded the Prix Delalande Guérineau: Institut de France, l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, for his book Le Royaume biblique oublié (The Forgotten Kingdom).

[42] Other criticisms came from William G. Dever (who dismissed the Low Chronology as "idiosyncratic"), Lawrence Stager, Doron Ben-Ami, Raz Kletter and Anabel Zarzeki-Peleg.

"[45] Another evangelical, Richard Hess, also being critical, wrote that "The authors always present their interpretation of the archaeological data but do not mention or interact with contemporary alternative approaches.