Crossing Jordan: North American Contributions to the Archaeology of Jordan

by Levy,Thomas Evan

• ISBN13: 9781845532680
• ISBN10: 1845532686
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-08-14
• Publisher: Acumen Pub Ltd

Summary

This concise and illustrated book highlights the contributions of North American archaeologists to the archaeology of Jordan. For over 150 years, North American researchers have played a pivotal role in the exploration of Jordan, the development of archaeological methods there, and the construction of theoretical approaches to study the deep-time archaeological record of this key part of the Middle East. As the American Center of Oriental Research will host the May, 2007 10th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan entitled Crossing Jordan in Washington, D.C. under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan Bin Talal, it is important that a book-length publication be printed and distributed in time for this international event. Chapters are written primarily by the archaeological expedition directors, lending the book an authoritative and 'cutting edge' view of the most recent discoveries and interpretive models of archaeology in Jordan today. By looking at the archaeology of the southern Levant through the lens of North American archaeological research in Jordan, the entire history of this crucial part of the Middle East's Fertile Crescent is highlighted - from Prehistory to Ottoman times. This richly illustrated book is the most up-to-date guide to the archaeological heritage of Jordan and an important resource for scholars, students, citizens, NGOs, embassy personnel, and tourists.

Table of Contents

Regional archaeological site maps of Jordan - from prehistory to the Islamic periods
Thinking globally and also locally : anthropology, history and archaeology in the study of Jordan's past	p. 3
History of North American archaeological research in Jordan	p. 15
Archaeological site surveying in Jordan : the North American contribution	p. 27
Controlling space at the regional level : geographic information systems (GIS) and JADIS in Jordan	p. 37
On-site GIS digital archaeology : GIS-based excavation recording in Southern Jordan	p. 47
High precision radiocarbon dating in Jordan	p. 59
The evolving landscape of Jordan : the contributions of geoarchaeology and paleoecology	p. 69
Past environments of the Jordan Plateau from the Paleolakes of the Eastern Desert	p. 79
Conservation and preservation of archaeological sites in Jordan : archaeology initiatives of the American center of oriental research	p. 87
Ancient metal production and social change in Southern Jordan : the Edom lowlands regional archaeology project and hope for a UNESCO world heritage site in Faynan	p. 97
How crossing Jordan made the difference : the case of the Madaba plains project, 1967-2007	p. 107
Tall Hisban : Palimpsest of great and little traditions of Transjordan and the ancient near east	p. 111
Tall al-'Umayri through the ages	p. 121
Highlights from the heights of Jalul	p. 129
The 'Iraq Al-Amir and Dhiban Plateau regional surveys	p. 137
Investigating 5,000 years of urban history : the Tall Madaba Archaeological Project	p. 143
Crossing Jordan : by way of the Karak Plateau	p. 153
Four archaeological surveys in Southern Jordan	p. 161
Searching for Neanderthals and finding ourselves : research at Tor Faraj	p. 171
Neanderthals at the crossroads : Middle Paleolithic sites on the Madaba Plateau, Jordan	p. 179
Midnight at the Oasis; the end of the Pleistocene in Wadi al-Hasa	p. 187
Microliths and mortuary practices : new perspectives on the epipalaeolithic in Northern, Eastern Jordan	p. 195
Crossing the boundary to domestication economies : a case study from West-Central Jordan	p. 203
The rediscovery of the Neolithic period in Jordan	p. 211
Late prehistory in Wadi Ziqlab, al-Kura, Jordan : from Sedentism to olive oil factories	p. 219
Living on the edge : settlement and abandonment in the Dead Sea Plain	p. 225
Is big really better? : life in the resort corridor - Ghwair I, a small but elaborate Neolithic community in Southern Jordan	p. 233
Life in the earliest walled towns on the Dead Sea Plain : Bab adh-Dhra' and an-Numayra	p. 245
Death and dying on the Dead Sea Plain : Fifa, Khirbat al-Khanazir, and Bab adh-Dhra' cemeteries	p. 253
Life at the foundation of Bronze Age civilization : agrarian villages in the Jordan Valley	p. 261
Khirbet Iskander : a city in collapse at the end of the early Bronze Age	p. 269
A landscape approach to craft and agricultural production : tracking the location of early Bronze Age manufacturing at al-Lajjun, Jordan	p. 277
The early Bronze Age city states of the Southern Levant : neither cities nor states	p. 285
Independent and well-connected : the ammonite territorial kingdom in Iron Age II	p. 301
Shepherds and weavers in a 'global economy' : Moab in late Iron Age II - Wadi ath-Thamad project (Khirbat al-Mudayna)	p. 309
The power of place : the Dhiban Community through the ages	p. 315
A place in-between : Khirbat al-Mudayna al-'Aliya in the early Iron Age	p. 323
In search of Hellenistic Petra : excavations in the city center	p. 333
Shifting places, changing faces : the civic statuary of Roman Jordan	p. 341
Projecting power on the periphery : Rome's Arabian frontier east of the Dead Sea	p. 349
Beyond frankincense and myrrh : reconstructing the economy of Roman 'Aqaba	p. 359
Gods and vineyards at Beidha	p. 369
Nabataean landscape and power : evidence from the Petra Garden and pool complex	p. 375
Surprises at the great temple from 1993 to 2006	p. 385
Beyond the Nabataean and Roman city : surveying the Central and Southern Wadi 'Arabah	p. 393
Luxury in the desert : a Nabataean palatial residence at Wadi Ramm	p. 401
Torn asunder : earthquakes at Qasr at-Tilah	p. 409
Bioarchaeology of North Jordan : a decade of cooperative American and Jordanian student research	p. 419
Beyond the rock : petra in the sixth century ce in the light of the Papyri	p. 417
Petra's churches : the Byzantines and beyond	p. 435
From Nabataean King to Abbasid Caliph : the enduring attraction of Hawara/al-Humayma, a multi-cultural site in Arabia Petraea	p. 447
From residence to revolutionary headquarters : the early Islamic Qasr and mosque complex at al-Humayma and its 8th-century context	p. 457
Paradox of power : between local and imperial at Umm Al-Jimal	p. 467
Peasants, pilgrims, and the body politic : the Northern Jordan project and the landscapes of the Islamic periods	p. 473
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