Excavations at Wadi Aghar shed light on Early Upper Paleolithic practices in southern Jordan

AMMAN — The site of Wadi Aghar, located in southern Jordan, was investigated for the first time in 1983/84. In 1993, the archaeological team found anthropogenic deposits and lithic remains.

"In the 2018 season, we expanded an excavation area in Units 100 and 101 to increase the sample size of artefacts and radiometric date," said the professor Seiji Kadowaki from Nagoya University, adding that a part of previous excavation areas was also unearthed to clarify stratigraphy.

“In expanding the excavation area, we set two 1m x 1m units, called Units 100 and 101, each consisting of four 50 cm x 50 cm quadrats. The excavated deposits in Units 100 and 101 are 70–85 cm in thickness, and the top 30–40 cm consists of light reddish brown sandy silt with many small gravel,” Kadowaki explained, adding that this is underlain by a very compact, cemented deposit with small and large rocks.

“Layer C is underlain by orange sandy deposits of 20–35 cm in thickness and the upper part of Layer D (Layer D1) is less compact and contains artefacts, while it becomes increasingly compact in the lower part (Layer D2) with a few lithics,” he explained.

The professor added that the density of artefacts is high in the lower part of Layer C and Layer D1.

"The re-excavation clarified stratigraphic link with Units 100 and 101. In Units 83-1 and 83-2, the previous excavation stopped at the top of Layer C, and we excavated Layer C to reveal the deposits underneath," Kadowaki elaborated.

He added that this indicates that Layer D1 is stratigraphically older than the deposits of Layers Band C excavated in the 1983/84 seasons.

“Finds from the excavation are mostly lithics, which were concentrated in the lower part of Layer C and Layer D1. In the study of the 2016 collection, the archaeologist noted that the lithic assemblage from Layer D is slightly different from the 1983/84 season samples from Layers B–C although the both assemblages generally show techno-typological characteristics of the Initial Upper Paleolithic,” the professor underlined.

For example, two Levallois-like points were recovered from Layer D1, and the Layer D samples show lower frequency of plain butt while end scrapers constitute a major category in retouched tools, which also include burins and truncated-faceted flakes.

"Notable new finds are two transverse burins that resemble chamfered pieces, although a main distribution of chamfered pieces is in the northern costal Levant. Other remarkable artefacts are burin-cores made on large, thick blades. After the truncation of distal end, lateral sides of these blades were exploited to detach several bladelets, although further analyses are necessary to clarify the purpose and use of the bladelets," Kadowaki underlined.

“Although preservation of bone was very poor, two marine shells were recovered from Layer D1. One of them is likely Canarium fusiforme or Strombus (Canarium) fusiformis, and another fragmentary piece is probably a different species, possibly Canarium mutabile or Strombus (Canarium) mutabilis,” Kadowaki underscored.

A few but significant new finds in the renewed investigation are marine shells from Wadi Aghar and Tor Fawaz because they can be evidence for the early uses of marine shellsand remote resources in the Levant.

"The records from Wadi Aghar and Tor Fawaz newly suggest that the use of marine shells in the IUP also involved their transport to inland areas. What remains unclear is the function or meaning of the shellsas none of them from Wadi Aghar and Tor Fawaz show traces of modification or ochre. However, they are not likely just food residues given their scarcity at the site and the time/distance involved for their transport," Kadowaki said.

A new assemblage consists of 201 pieces of flaked flint artefacts. Because the site is located in the area with widespread exposure of sandstone, flint must have been transported from limited or far sources.

“There is a small outcrop of limestone with flint nodules near Jebel Humeima, 2.6 km to the northeast of Wadi Aghar. At this outcrop, flint is exposed as nodules with limestone cortex, and the siliceous part is light grey to greyish brown in colour,” Kadowaki explained, adding that although this is known to be the most immediate flint source around the Jebel Qalkha area, flaked flint from Wadi Aghar shows greater variations in colour, texture, and cortex, indicating the transportation from various sources.

The presence of cortical blanks and cores indicate knapping activities on site. Although only two cores were found from Units A and B, the small number is due to a limited sample size. In fact, the previous excavations in the 1983–84 seasons recovered a greater number of cores from nearby units.

“Debitage is dominated by flake blanks, but core reduction technology is characterised by blades and bladelets. The recovered blades are about twice as many as bladelets. A distribution of their width show two peaks in 10–12 mm and 16–18 mm indicating that their productions are not continuous but consist of two separate methods. In fact, one of the cores from Unit B is a burincore, which must Kadowaki underscored.