Archaeologist, Associates For Biblical Research Wood began his career as an engineer working with nuclear reactors. In 1985 he earned a Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian archaeology from the University of Toronto, specializing in Canaanite pottery of the Late Bronze Age. Wood is a biblical archaeologist best known for directing excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir, a city which may supplant the traditional location of biblical Ai, referred to in the Book of Joshua 7-8.