Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Book of Judges" in English language version.
Scholars traditionally have given more historical credence to the Judges account, in part because critical analysis of the book point to early source materials, some of which are believed to date to the pre-monarchical period. The Song of Deborah (Judg. 5), dated by many to the twelfth-eleventh century BCE, is considered among the earliest texts in the Hebrew Bible and has been characterized as a self-portrait of pre-monarchic Israel
the immediately following (!) book of Judges has the ring of truth for an archaeologist on every page.