The “land of conjecture:” New late prehistoric discoveries at Maitland’s Mesa and Wisad Pools, Jordan

Abstract

Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. late 7th-4th millennia B.C.). Agropastoralists expanded into areas previously only sparsely occupied and secondary animal products played an increasingly important economic role. In the arable parts of the southern Levant, the olive in particular became increasingly significant and may have played a part in expanded exchange contacts in the region. Technological expertise developed in craft production, and the volume and diversity of status goods increased, particularly in funerary contexts. Mortuary and other ritual practices became increasingly pronounced. General study syntheses, however, rarely include more than a cursory mention of the more arid regions of the southern Levant (i.e., Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and Syria). Recent investigations indicate that intensive exploitation of the regions may date to these late prehistoric periods, yet this evidence has been difficult to attribute to specific chronological period or cultural affiliations. The Eastern Badia Archaeological Project investigates two regions for a potential florescence of building and occupation during the late prehistoric periods in the eastern desert of Jordan.

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and spatial analysis of geometric lines in the Northern Arabian Desert

“…11). Rollefson et al (2014) and Rowan et al (2015a) presented a number of 14 C dates for the nearby Wisad Pools settlement. Ages of 7690 ± 40 B P. (2s: 6606e6455 cal BCE), 7620 ± 40 B P. (2s: 6590e6580 cal BCE), 7010 ± 40 B P. (2s: 6000e5840 cal BC) and 6730 ± 40 B P. (2s: 5710e5610 cal BCE) from charcoal retrieved from stratigraphic units excavated within houses at Wisad Pools conform with the OSL chronology.…”

Monumental landscapes of the Holocene humid period in Northern Arabia: The mustatil phenomenon

“…In wider terms, recent archaeological research in Jordan has also identified the expansion of human groups into new areas on the margins of the Levant in the 7 th and 6 th millennium BC and the development of nomadic pastoralism (e.g. Fujii, 2013 ; Rollefson et al, 2014 ; Rowan et al, 2015 ). This provides important context for developments further south, on the Arabian Peninsula.…”

First chronometric results for ‘works of the old men’: late prehistoric ‘wheels’ near Wisad Pools, Black Desert, Jordan

“…2014a; Rowan et al . 2015a & b). Three samples were taken from the perimeter wall of WW60 and three from the outer wall of WW2 (a fourth sample was taken from the base of a cairn inside WW2).…”

“…2012: 41; Rowan et al . 2015a: 180). Other tower tombs lack attendant chambers and can be assumed to be ‘ pendants manqués ’.…”