From camps to cultivation: Jordan's hidden Neolithic heritage

AMMAN — According to the professor Zeidan Kafafi, in Jordan, and during the second half of the last century, only very few sites from Pre-Pottery Neolithic A(PPNA) sites have been recognised. Among them may be mentioned Wadi Yabis, which was sounded by Kirkbride, Khirbet Amame, surveyed in the vicinity of Jerash and few other sites located in the eastern desert thought to be dated to this PPNA culture, such as ʿUweinid 6A and 6B, and Kharraneh IV.

"These sites must have served as camps and not as villages. Just a few years ago the number of the PPNA sites registered from Jordan amounted only to three, whereas today there are seven," Kafafi elaborated, adding that these sites are: Iraq ed-Dubb cave, overlooking the Wadi er-Rayyan (Yabis); Dhraʿ and Zahrat edh-Dhraʿ in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, the Wadi Faynan 16 and Wadi Faynan 328 in the Wadi ʿArabah area, Sabra I in the Petra region, and finally Jebel Qweisa in the Hisma area. 

Gary Rollefson argues that this scarcity of PPNA sites rather reflects the sparness of surveyed landscapes than the real PPNA presence, Kafafi continued, noting that the investigated sites related to the PPNA in Jordan are located mostly on river sides, wadis, and very close vicinities to perennial water sources such as springs.

"To conclude, the current uncovered PPNA settlements in Jordan are still very few in number compared to the preceding and following periods, and the identified sites are different in size and function. Some of them appear to reflect the seasonal remains of small groups of mobile hunter-gatherers, while others [Faynan 16] may be attributed to farmers," Kafafi underlined.

Regarding Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (ca. 7.600 – 6.000 BC), this phase is generally well represented at sites reported from almost all corners of Jordan.

Archaeologists study two sites in a more detailed manner – Jilat in the Badia region and Abu Hudhud, overlooking the southwest side of Wadi Hasa.

"The site of Wadi Jilat is situated on the southern bank of the Jilat gorge that is a tributary of the Wadi Dhobai in the southwest of the Azraq Basin. This area was subject to archaeological research during the 1930’s," Kafafi said, adding that three clusters of structure were visible before excavations were resumed in the 1980’s.

The excavated palaeo-botanical remains from Wadi Jilat included remains of domesticated einkorn wheat and sativum-type barley. Also, wild seeds of fruits and nuts were recognised, the veteran archaeologist underlined, adding that the palaeo-zoological remains all belonged to wild species as hare, gazelle, tortoise and fox.

"To conclude, based on the results of excavations at Jilat, it may be assumed that the fringes of the arid region in Central Jordan were inhabited by nomads who survived on hunting animals and who built base camps," Kafafi said, adding that in terms of the Neolithic subsistence economy, it has been remarked that there is little apparent distinction between the PPNA and the EPPNB in the Southern Levant. Itis only during the MPPNB that a true shift in economic strategy is visible with a major increase in the frequency of remains of capra vis-à-vis gazella.