Landforms, sediments, soil development, and prehistoric site settings on the Madaba‐Dhiban Plateau, Jordan

Abstract

This paper examines recurrent spatial patterns of prehistoric sites in relation to landforms, alluvial fills, and soil development in the uplands and valleys of the Madaba and Dhiban Plateaus of Jordan. Mousterian lithics (Middle Paleolithic) are largely found on high strath terraces plateaus, where they are associated with red Mediterranean soils. In valleys, Upper Paleolithic sites are often associated with reworked loess deposits of the Dalala allostratigraphic unit. Epipaleolithic occupations are found stratified in deposits of the Thamad Terrace, and PrePottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic occupations are associated with colluvium mantling the Thamad Terrace. The Tur al-Abyad Terrace and the Iskanderite alluvial inset are the remnants of middle Holocene floodplains, which were attractive areas for Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements. Sometime around 4000 B.C., stream incision and further lateral erosion destroyed these floodplains. These historic terraces are underlain by alluvial deposits ranging in age from Roman to Early Islamic periods. The sequence of allostratigraphic units, paleosols, and terraces are the basis for reconstructing phases of fluvial aggradation and stream incision during the past 20,000 years.

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Southern Levant: synthesis, challenges, recent developments and perspectives

“…16, Wadi ash-Shallalah (Cordova 2008). 17, Wadi al-Wala and the Madaba-Dhiban plateau (Cordova et al 2005;Cordova 2008). 18, Nahal Qanah Cave (Frumkin et al 1999b).…”

A Reassessment of the holocene stratigraphy of the Wadi Hasa Terrace and Hasa formation, Jordan

“…Middle Holocene sedimentation is restricted to the Tur al Abyad terrace in the Wadi ath-Thamad and the Iskanderite inset in the Wadi al-Wala (Figure 1). In both settings, the Holocene sediments are laterally discontinuous and are accumulated over Pleistocene fills that are 3 to 4 times thicker (Cordova et al, 2005: Figures 7 and 8). Cordova et al (2005: 51) argue that "...no major [Middle Holocene] deposition or erosion occurred between ca.…”

“…Archaeological chronologies have been linked to depositional histories of wadi systems and to a lesser degree on soil successions (although, see Cordova et al, 2005).…”

“…The first major drainage north of Numeira was examined by Cordova et al (2005), who focused on a series of lower order tributaries of the Wadi al-Wala. As in the Hasa and Jordan Rift (Lisan Basin), there is extensive evidence for Upper and Epipaleolithic occupation of terminal Pleistocene landforms (here, the Thamad terraces).…”

“…No significant Early Holocene deposition or landform complexes are preserved. Thin colluvium and upper, near-surface alluvial sediments are recognized as the Thamad III unit (Cordova et al, 2005: 46-48 and Figure 5). Middle Holocene sedimentation is restricted to the Tur al Abyad terrace in the Wadi ath-Thamad and the Iskanderite inset in the Wadi al-Wala (Figure 1).…”