His research has focused on two general areas, the continued use of chipped stone tools in the periods during which metals were already exploited (the Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages), and the archaeology of mobile pastoralists, using the Negev (the southern desert of Israel) as an in-depth case study.

Rosen’s work on the use of stone tools during the Metal Ages has pioneered the study of this entire realm of material culture, demonstrating how the study of stone tools traditionally considered a relict of earlier technologies was integral to Bronze and Iron Age societies.

[9][10][11][12][13] The study of mobile desert pastoralists has traditionally been assumed to be inaccessible to standard archaeological methods.

Rosen’s work, based on intensive survey in the Central Negev and excavations and analyses of about a dozen camps and small campsites[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] dating from the introduction of domesticated herd animals into the desert more than 8000 years ago and up until recent times, has demonstrated that adopting the methods of prehistoric archaeology offers an effective way of addressing the relative paucity of remains from campsites and rock shelters used as stabling sites.

Of particular note is the work he has conducted on stabling rock shelters filled with ancient dung layers[24][25] and cult sites.