Shedding Light on the Urban/Rural Nexus about 2500 BCE: The 2019 Excavations at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Richard, Suzanne; Long, Jesse C.; D’Andrea, Marta

doi:10.13173/9783447119030.523

Cited by 2 publications

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“…It is currently being investigated by the Archaeological Expedition to Khirbat Iskandar and Its Environs, started in 1981, which has revealed that it is a signature Early Bronze Age (ca. 3800-1950 BCE) site in Jordan [1][2][3] (citing earlier reports).…”

Section: Introduction: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage At Khirbat I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergency Actions for the Documentation, Stabilization, and Consolidation of the Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

D’Andrea,

Richard,

Long

et al. 2024

Heritage

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Khirbat Iskandar is an Early Bronze Age (ca. 3800-1950 BCE) mound in the Madaba Governorate of Jordan. Until a decade ago, it was better known as a key site for the non-urban Early Bronze IV period (ca. 2500-1950 BCE), but is increasingly emerging as a signature site for the urban Early Bronze II-III period (ca. 3050-2500 BCE). The contour of the tall site is shaped by the presence of buried fortifications that were investigated in the north-western sector of the mound, where a long sequence of rebuilds was recognized, but were exposed to and impacted by modern construction activities along the southern and south-eastern areas prior to being recorded. There, due to erosion and weathering, the stone fortifications dating to the first half of the Early Bronze III (ca. 2850-2650 BCE) fell down. In this paper, we report on our strategies to assess threats, document damages, sustainably stabilize, and consolidate the collapsed ancient fortifications in the 2023 field season at Khirbat Iskandar. At the same time, we discuss the conceptual/methodological and practical challenges of identifying best practices in the conservation and preservation of antiquities that collapsed prior to being excavated. We conclude with some thoughts on how to build on these actions to efficiently present the archaeology and cultural heritage at protohistoric sites, like Khirbat Iskandar, and to make it accessible for the local and the international communities.

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Section: Introduction: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage At Khirbat I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3100/3000 BCE and ca. 2500/2400 BCE, which have been investigated through excavations in the north-western sector of the site ( [3] (pp. 356-362) and [4]).…”

Section: Introduction: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage At Khirbat I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency Actions for the Documentation, Stabilization, and Consolidation of the Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

D’Andrea,

Richard,

Long

et al. 2024

Heritage

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Redefining “Collapse” in the Early Bronze Age: New Evidence for Recovery, Resilience, and Societal Transformation at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Richard

2024

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History

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This paper provides a new perspective on the long-debated issue of “collapse” at the end of the urban Early Bronze Age III (EB III, traditionally ca. 2300 BCE) in the southern Levant. In the past, the facts on the ground – manifesting the classic characteristics of a devastating collapse (destruction/abandonment) at the end of EB III – appeared to be followed by a rural “dark age” or “pastoral-nomadic” interlude in Early Bronze IV (EB IV), also known as the Intermediate Bronze Age (IBA). The “dark age” then ended upon the regeneration of urbanism after 2000 BCE in the Middle Bronze Age (MBA). This conceptualization of dramatic culture change in the Early Bronze Age has dominated the scholarly literature since the mid-20th century, bolstered by the widespread acceptance of evolutionary theories on the collapse of nations and civilizations. Current theoretical constructs on collapse look to the post-collapse period for insights on the process itself. A post-collapse urban-to-rural process, documented by nine continuous occupational phases at the EB III/IV transition, has recently come to light at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan. This archaeological profile suggests strong local resilience in the aftermath of collapse, evident in the maintenance of traditions and social memory of settled life at the ancestral home. This adaptive cycle militates against traditional “collapse” modeling positing an apocalyptic break in Early Bronze Age civilization; instead, it resonates with resilience and resilience theory. Moreover, a plethora of new evidence has accumulated illuminating a type of “rural complexity” witnessed by a considerable database of EB IV permanent, multi-phased agricultural settlement sites belying the so-called pastoral-nomadic interlude rubric. Applying the construct of societal transformation, the hypothesis driving this research is that archaeological stratification at Khirbat Iskandar supports a process of recovery, resilience, and societal transformation, a reevaluation particularly apropos when contextualized in the new higher Early Bronze Age chronology.

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Shedding Light on the Urban/Rural Nexus about 2500 BCE: The 2019 Excavations at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Emergency Actions for the Documentation, Stabilization, and Consolidation of the Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Emergency Actions for the Documentation, Stabilization, and Consolidation of the Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

Redefining “Collapse” in the Early Bronze Age: New Evidence for Recovery, Resilience, and Societal Transformation at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan

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