Survey of Prehistoric Sites, Wadi Araba, Southern Jordan

A wetland oasis at Wadi Gharandal spanning 125–70 ka on the human migration trail in southern Jordan

“…To resolve the nature of the water body at Gharandal, Braun (2015) studied the microfossils preserved within the valley fill and concluded that the ostracod assemblages indicate a riverine wetland (paludal) environment (Cowardin et al, 1979), rather than a lake (Mischke et al, 2017; Ginat et al, 2017). This result extinguishes the idea of any link to Lake Lisan (Bender, 1974; Ibrahim, 1993) or a substantial volume of standing water (Henry, 2001). Braun (2015) reports two optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates (112 ± 9 ka and 32 ± 4 ka) and four 14 C dates (38–25 cal ka BP) from organic-rich carbonates.…”

“…The gravels are topped by a 0.6-m-thick unit of massive, muddy fine sand with intercalated chert pebbles and convoluted bedding at the boundary forming a stringer of granules; these gravel-rich beds are overlain by a massive, whitish marl unit with small calcium carbonate nodules, root casts (reeds? ; see also Henry et al, 2001), and biogenic voids. Three in situ lithic artefacts were found within the marl bed at 1.25 m depth (see Discussion).…”

“…The lower and upper parts of the Gharandal sequence were not dated. Moreover, given that the OSL and 14 C ages are stratigraphically inconsistent (Braun, 2015; Mischke et al, 2017; Ginat et al, 2017), and 14 C ages draw close to the limit of the method, there is a need for a better chronology for this site, especially in the context of the lithic artefacts observed within the stratified sediments by Henry et al (2001).…”

“…Based on its lithology, which is comparable with the late Pleistocene lacustrine Lisan Formation, the valley fill has been considered to represent a southern extension of Lake Lisan (Bender, 1974; Ibrahim, 1993), the immediate precursor to the Dead Sea (Begin et al, 1974; Bartov et al, 2002). This interpretation, however, is problematic (Henry et al, 2001), because: (1) the known southern limit of the Lisan Formation occurs ~100 km to the north (Neev and Emery, 1967; Greenbaum et al, 2006), and (2) the Lisan Formation has been observed no higher than 160 m below sea level (m bsl) (Bartov et al, 2002, 2003; Waldmann et al, 2009; Torfstein and Enzel, 2017), which is ~90 m below the Gharandal sequence. Henry et al (2001) and also Braun (2015) suggest a natural dam had blocked the valley at the rangefront, while Ginat et al (2017) propose a “tectonically controlled barrier.”…”

“…Several studies have investigated the history of hominin occupation in the ‘Arabah. Henry et al (2001) document artefacts with typologies denoting Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic ages (~150–30 ka) within the top 1.2 m of a “quasi-lacustrine” unit that is found at the modern surface. These artefacts were presumed to have been derived from shoreline encampments around a seasonal lake.…”