The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2010-2012)

Introduction

“The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan” (SAAS) project is the

last of Burton MacDonald’s five surveys of segments of the southern

Transjordan/Edomite Plateau and the Southern Ghors and Northeast `Arabah. The other

four projects are: “The Wadi al-Hasa Archaeological Survey, West-Central Jordan”

(WHAS/WHS) (1979-1983); “The Southern Ghors and Northeast `Arabah

Archaeological Survey” (SGNAS) (1985-1986); “The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological

Survey” (TBAS) (1999-2001); and “The Ayl to Ras an-Naqab Archaeological Survey”

(ARNAS) (2005-2007). Four of the five projects were carried out on the plateau from

Wadi al-Hasa in the north to the edge of the escarpment at Ras an-Naqab in the south.

The other, as indicated above, was a survey of a segment of the Southern Ghors and

Northeast `Arabah, located in the Dead Sea Rift Valley immediately to the west (see

Figure 1). As a result of the above-listed projects, survey-team members documented

2359 sites (see “Publications”). Specifically, 1074 sites by the WHAS project; 240 sites

by the SGNAS project; 290 sites by the TBAS project; 389 sites by the ARNAS project;

and 366 by the SAAS project. Since their discovery, some of these sites have undergone

extensive excavation, analysis, and publication, for example, Dayr `Ayn `Abata, located

just north of As-Safi in the Southern Ghors.

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Figure 1: Territories covered by the WHAS/WHS, TBAS, SAAS, ARNAS, and SGNAS projects

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Territory

The SAAS territory, an area of approximately 590 km2, is part of the southern segment of

the Transjordan/Edomite Plateau. It lies immediately to the north of the territory covered

by “The Ayl to Ras an-Naqab Archaeological Survey” (ARNAS) (see Figure 2). It

includes the area from Shammakh in the north to just north of the village of Ayl in the

south, from the 1200 m line on the west, and to the 1200 m line on the east, that is, into

the Jordanian desert to the northwest of the city of Ma`an. The area is ca. 30 km (N-S) by

ca. 20 km (E-W). However, as Figure 1 shows, the survey territory is not rectilinear but

follows the 1200 m line on both the west and east.

Altitudes vary within the territory: 1200 m on the western and eastern boundaries;

1521 m just southeast of Shammakh; 1736 m in the central segment; and 1506 m at Ayl

in the south-central area, immediately south of the survey territory. Much of the western

half of the survey territory is part of Jabal ash-Sharah, the mountain range that extends

from Ash-Shawbak in the north to Ras an-Naqab in the south.

Present annual rainfall in the area varies from a high of around 300 mm to less

than 100 mm: ca. 300 mm in the Ash-Shawbak-Nijil region (elevations of ca. 1500 m or

more); ca. 200 mm immediately to the east and west (elevations of ca. 1500-1300 m); and

100 mm in the area between Udhruh and Ma`an in the eastern portion of the territory

(elevations of ca. 1300-1200 m). Thus, the eastern segment is located in the steppe, that

is, the area between “the desert and the sown”, where evidence of pastoral activity is

present in many archaeological periods.

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Figure 2: Zones 1, 2 and 3 of the SAAS territory, and the SAAS territory in relation to that of ARNAS

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Objectives

The main objective of the SAAS project was to discover, record, and interpret

archaeological sites in the territory. Other objectives were: to determine the area’s

settlement patterns from the Lower Paleolithic (ca. 1.5 mya) to the end of the Late

Islamic period (AD 1917); to investigate the Pleistocene (as late as ca. 10,000 B.C.)

sediments and lakes in the eastern segment of the territory; to document the many farms,

hamlets, and villages that provisioned the major international sites of the area, for

example, Ash-Shawbak, Petra, and Udhruh; to investigate further the Khatt Shabib or

“Shabib’s Wall,” a low stone wall running in a generally north-south direction through

the area; to record the inscriptions, rock drawings, and wasms (tribal brands) within the

area; and to link up with previous work that the project director and others have carried

out in southern Jordan. The accomplishment of all the above-listed objectives

contributed to the writing of an archaeological history of southern Jordan from Wadi al-

Hasa in the north to Ras an-Naqab in the south and from the desert on the east to the

Southern Ghors and Northeast `Arabah on the west (see “Publications,” MacDonald

2015).

Methodology

For archaeological-investigative purposes, the survey territory was divided into three

topographical zones based on Map Series K737, Jordan 1:50,000 scale (UTM Zone 36N,

European Data 1950): 1) Zone 1, the western segment, lies in an area where elevations

are between 1200 and 1500 m and it encompasses 109 km2, or 18.5 percent of the

territory; 2) Zone 2, the west-central segment, is the mountainous region where elevation

values are greater than 1500 m (actually, as indicated above, a segment of Jabal ash-

Sharah), an area covering 123 km2, or 20.8 percent of the territory; and 3) Zone 3, the

eastern segment, is the area from the 1500 m to the 1200 m line, which has an area of 358

km2, or 60.7 percent of the SAAS territory (see Figure 2).

The principal method for discovering archaeological materials, including sites, is

a technique based on recording the remains collected while transecting randomly-chosen

squares (500 x 500 m) in the three topographical zones of the survey territory. A

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database randomly selected the 115 squares,

which represent about five percent of the total area of each of the topographical zones in

the survey territory.

The investigation of these random squares in each zone performs three primary

functions: 1) it provides a baseline against which artifactual material collected from

archaeological sites in the region may be compared; 2) it forces survey team members

into all areas of the territory, eliminating any sampling bias the team may have toward

easily-accessed areas; and 3) recording random squares has proven to be an effective

means of discovering sites, within, adjacent to, and while traveling to/from the squares. In

essence, the recording of random squares provides access to a statistically valid sample of

archaeological materials, including sites, within the territory.

The GIS database provided the coordinates for each of the 115 randomly-chosen

squares (see Figure 3). Team members used a Global Positioning System (GPS) to locate

one corner of a square. Once located, they (five persons) positioned themselves, usually a

distance of ca. 50 m apart (the visibility in the region is generally good) along one of the

sides of the square. With the help of compasses to keep a straight line, team members

transected the square, picking up lithics, sherds, glass, and other portable artifactual

materials. (For each 500 x 500 m square, team members walked two transects.)

The recording of a random square included recording data on the “Random

Square Data Sheet”. The transecting and recording of each square took approximately

two person-hours. (This time does not include locating and getting to the square.)

When an archaeological site – that is, individual features that combine in a variety

of ways to form a single unit (see “Definition of ‘Site’ Used” below) – was discovered

within a random square, it was recorded separately on a “Survey Site Sheet.” Once the

random square and any archaeological sites within it were recorded, survey-team

members turned their attention to the surrounding area in their search for sites. They

spent a reasonable amount of time searching for and recording any archaeological sites in

the vicinity of the square. In addition, they spoke with the people living in and/or working

in the area, for example, farmers and shepherds, about the whereabouts of sites.

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Moreover, while driving to/from the square, team members were on the lookout for sites.

When located, they were also recorded on “Survey Site Sheets.” As a result of this

activity, both within, in the vicinity of, driving to and from the squares, as well as another

method indicated below, survey-team members recorded 366 sites (see Figure 4). Survey-

team members judged 31 of these sites, due to their archaeological significance and/or the

threat to their destruction, to be worthy of further investigation. It must be emphasized

that since the rate of development in Jordan is rapid, due in part to an ever-increasing

population, it was and is necessary to obtain as much information as possible from all the

sites in the SAAS territory. If this information is not obtained soon, many of the surveyed

sites may no longer exist in the very near future.

Once a site was “discovered”, it was “sherded” for artifacts, described, and plotted

on a map using the coordinates obtained from the GPS unit. Survey data sheets were

filled out initially in the field. All collected materials were labeled before being placed in

the vehicle. Additional information was added as analyses progressed.

Digital photographs were taken of the topography of all random squares and the

features of all sites. These were added to the project’s database, used while analyzing the

artifactual materials from squares and sites; some were published in B & W in the

preliminary survey reports.

Daily, preliminary washing and registering of the collected artifacts, mainly

lithics and sherds, was done; “Survey Artifact Forms” were completed; photographs were

taken of significant artifacts; and descriptions of the random squares transected and sites

investigated were entered into the project’s database.

Following the infield season, selected artifacts, namely, lithics and sherds, were

shipped, with the permission of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, to the home

universities of the director and his collaborators. They were further analyzed, drawn,

photographed, and prepared for this publication.

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Definition of “Site” Used

For the purposes of this project, we define a “site” as any location where humans

have left evidence of their activity, from the time of their earliest presence in Jordan up

until the end of the Ottoman period in AD 1917. According to this definition, a “pot bust”

– a collection of sherds that appear to have come from one ceramic jar – can constitute a

site. Moreover, a lithic and/or sherd scatter can constitute a site. However, see the next

paragraph for an exception to this definition of a site as far as the SAAS project is

concerned.

In the course of their investigation of the survey territory, team members noted

hundreds of stone piles that are most likely the end-product of land clearance for

agricultural purposes. The stone piles could possibly be thousands of years old and have

most probably been added to over the years. Several of them are several meters high.

From bones associated with some of them, it appears as if they have served a secondary

purpose, namely, as a place of burial.

According to the definition given above, these stone piles are “sites” since they

are certainly the result of human activity. However, team members made no attempt to

document all of them and assign them site numbers. Nevertheless, if these stone piles

were within and/or in the vicinity of a random square they are noted in its description.

Moreover, if there was a sherd and/or lithic scatter in the vicinity of a particular stone pile

and/or the stone pile appears to have been used as a place of burial, then team members

assigned it a site number.

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Figure 3: The location of the Random Squares of the SAAS project

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Figure 4: The location of all sites of the SAAS project

Work Accomplished

SAAS team members transected 108 of the 115 random squares. Due to difficulties

encountered in accessing them and time constraints, SAAS team members did not

transect five squares in Zone 1: 83, 90, 91, 96, and 106. They spent three and a half days

in their attempts to transect RSs 83, 90, and 91. On May 6, 2011, they attempted to reach

the area of RSs 83, 87, 90, and 91. They did not reach any of the squares but did, on that

day, survey seven sites, namely, Sites 211-217. On May 16, 2011, SAAS team members,

with the aid of maps from Google Earth, transected RS 87. In addition, they documented

six sites, namely, Sites 260-265. Two of these sites, 264 and 265, were near RS 87. On

May 25, 2011, SAAS team members again, with the aid of maps from Google Earth,

attempted to transect RSs 83, 90, and 91. However, due to wash-outs in the wadis, they

were not able to reach any of the squares. They did, however, document seven sites,

namely, Sites 305-311. After these attempts, SAAS team members, due to other

priorities, gave up on their attempts to transect the squares in question. Nevertheless, as

indicated above, attempts to reach these squares in Zone 1 resulted in the “discovery” and

documentation of 20 sites. In addition, due to the location of modern farms and orchards,

SAAS team members could not transect RSs 104 and 112 in Zone 3.

Of the 366 sites that survey team members recorded, 73 were within, and 65 were

nearby, a random square. In other words, 37.7% of the 366 SAAS sites are associated

with the 115 random squares. This indicates the effectiveness of using the methodology.

SAAS Site 081 yielded a segment of a jar rim of an Iron I Age pithos. The jar rim

has a seal impression on it. As far as the authors of this report know, this is the first such

impression on an Iron I pithos discovered from the south of Jordan. As a result, we

thought that this was significant and a study of this impression constitutes a chapter of the

SAAS final report (see “Publications,” MacDonald et al. 2016).

In the course of investigating random squares and searching for sites, SAAS team

members documented 53 sites that David Kennedy, University of Western Australia,

Perth, had pinpointed on the “Bir Khidad” Map (Sheet 3150 IV, Series K737, Jordan

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1:50,000 scale). This is often referred to as “ground-proofing” potential sites identified on

maps in the process of office work.

SAAS team members collected a total of 21,883 sherds from the 366 sites

recorded and the 108 RSs transected. They registered 5413, or 24.74%, of these sherds

and drew 3013, or 55.66%, of the registered sherds.

Types of Sites Documented

A perusal of the list of SAAS sites indicates that they include: agricultural hamlets and

villages, some of which are traditional, south Jordan ones; aqueducts; a boundary wall,

namely, the Khatt Shabib; caves – some used for habitation and others for storage and/or

corrals; cemeteries; qanats – water channeling systems; a church; cisterns with associated

ancient remains; defensive positions; enclosures, many of which are circular and

probably served as seasonal-pastoralists’ camps and/or hunting “stations”; stone circles –

two of which are large; farms; forts; graves/tombs; inscriptions, rock art, and wasms

(tribal brands); lithic and sherd scatters; lithic-production sites; milestones; quarries;

rectilinear structures; roads, including segments of the Via Nova Traiana; rock shelters;

waystations; watchtowers; water installations; a windmill; and winnowing areas.

Conclusions

As indicated in the “Introduction,” the main objective of the SAAS project was to

discover, record, and interpret archaeological sites in the area. As the final publication on

the project demonstrates, this objective was accomplished by the transecting of 108 of

115 random squares and the documenting of 366 sites that range in date from the Lower

Paleolithic to the end of the Late Islamic period. It is possible that there are more

undocumented sites in the survey territory. However, it would be necessary to walk every

track in the area in order to find them all. In addition, many sites could be covered over

by development and/or erosion. As a result, it is not possible to discover them by merely

walking over the surface of the ground.

Analysis of the materials, primarily lithics and sherds, collected in the random

squares – which cover approximately five percent of each of the three topographical

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zones of the survey territory – and the documented sites, indicates that the area

experienced its highest density of population during the Middle Paleolithic,

Neolithic/Chalcolithic, Iron II, Nabataean and Roman, Byzantine, and Late Islamic

periods. During some of these periods, the area could have been inhabited to the extent it

is presently. As for other cultural-temporal units, the situation appears to have been the

opposite. This is especially the case for the Bronze Age, Persian and Hellenistic, and

Early Islamic periods.

Relative to lithic materials collected from the random squares, the strongest

‘signal’ was that of the Middle Paleolithic, the occupation of which was consistently

better documented than that of the Lower and Upper Paleolithic. Relative to the lithic

artifactual material collected from SAAS sites, the strongest ‘signal’ is that of the Upper

Paleolithic (and later periods). It is interesting to note the near total absence of Lower

Paleolithic sites in all three topographical zones, especially in light of the Lower

Paleolithic concentration in the northeast part of Zone 3 identified in the random square

data. Finally, and as was the case with the random squares, there is a discernible

Neolithic/Chalcolithic presence and few instances of in situ core reduction.

The remnants of Pleistocene lakes are especially evident in the eastern segment,

or in Zone 3, of the SAAS territory. It is in the vicinity of these lakes that survey team

members collected the best lithic materials representative of the Stone Age. And, indeed,

this is the portion of the study area which is less disturbed by erosion and/or

development. However, where water is presently available, these areas are now given

over to agriculture. This will result in the destruction of more of the archaeological

record.

It can be concluded, on the bases of the ceramics collected, representative of the

Neolithic through Late Islamic periods, and the architectural remains, that the area was a

rural one where the chief activities were agriculture and pastoralism. The many farms,

hamlets, villages, and camp sites documented show that the area most probably provided

provisions during various archaeological periods for such major international sites of the

area as Ash-Shawbak, Petra, and Udhruh. The first two sites are to the north and west of

the SAAS territory respectively, while the latter is within it. Moreover, the agricultural

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and pastoral sites would also have provided services to those engaged in the spice trade

during the Assyrian through Roman periods, as well as those engaged in metallurgical

activities to the west in the Wadis Fidan and Faynan region, especially during the Iron II,

Roman, Byzantine and Middle Islamic periods.

The Khatt Shabib is an archaeological feature on the southern

Transjordan/Edomite Plateau that requires further study. It ought to be studied as a unit

from the Wadi al-Hasa in the north to Ras an-Naqab in the south. What has been mostly

done to date is its documentation on the ground by team members of such projects as the

WHAS, TBAS, SAAS and ARNAS and by aerial means. It needs to be definitively dated,

possibly by means of excavations and/or trial trenches at different places along its length.

Furthermore, it ought to be determined whether or not there are different “branches” of it,

and if so, whether or not these “branches” are contemporaneous. Moreover, can more

precision be given about its function(s)?

SAAS team members documented a number of traditional, south-Jordan

agricultural villages or hamlets. For the most part, these villages and hamlets are now

abandoned. However, some of them are used to pen animals overnight and/or to store

equipment. (The stone and mudbrick buildings of the past have given way to those built

with cinder blocks.) They are generally dated to the Ottoman period. Many of them

served people for only part of the year. However, for the most part, the inhabitants of

these villages left their houses and lived, in the warmer months of the year, in tents in the

areas where they pastured their flocks of goats and sheep.

The SAAS project has particular relevance for understanding the major site of

Petra during the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine periods. In addition, it is important

relative to the site of Udhruh during the three periods indicated plus the Early and Late

Islamic periods, and the site of Ash-Shawbak, located immediately to the north of the

project’s territory, during the Middle Islamic period.

As a result of this and MacDonald’s other four directed surveys, along with the

work of other surveyors and excavators in the southern Transjordan/Edomite Plateau and

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in the Dead Sea Rift Valley to the west, MacDonald has written an archaeological history

of the area (see “Publications,” MacDonald 2015).

The hope is that the publication of the final report on the SAAS project will lead

to further research in this territory as well as in the neighbouring ones.

Publications

MacDonald, B.

2009 Human Presence/Absence in the Southern Segment of the Transjordanian Plateau.

Pp. 767-86 in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan X, ed. F. Al-

Khraysheh. Amman, Jordan: Department of Antiquities

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; and Lock. H. M.

2010 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan: Preliminary

Report (First Season 2010). Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan

54: 329-44.

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; and Lock, H. M.

2010 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan: First Season

(2010)). Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania 29 – 2010. Liber Annuus 60:

432-42.

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; and Lock. H. M.

2011 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan: First Season

(2010). Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania 29 – 2010. Liber Annuus 60:

432-42.

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; Al-Hajaj, W.; and Jouvenel, A.

2011 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (Second Season

2011). Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 55: 363-76.

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MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; Al-Hajaj, W.; and Jouvenel, A.

2011 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan – The 2011

Season. Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania 30 – 2011. Liber Annuus 61:

19-31.

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; and Lock. H. M.

2012 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan –the 2010 and

2011 Seasons. “Archaeology of Jordan” segment of American Journal of

Archaeology 116.4: 740-42.

MacDonald, B.

2013 The Byzantine to Early Islamic Period in Southern Jordan: Changes and

Challenges. Pp. 143-57 in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan XI,

ed. F. Al-Khraysheh. Amman, Jordan: Department of Antiquities

MacDonald, B.

2014 The Chalcolithic Period (c. 4900-3800/3700 BCE): In the Southern Transjordan

Plateau, the Southern Ghors, the Northeast `Arabah, and the Faynan Region. Pp.

27-42 in From Gilead to Edom. Studies in the Archaeology of Jordan in Honor of

Denyse Homès-Fredericq, eds. E. Gubel and I. M. Swinnen. Akkadica

Supplementum XII. Bruxeles, Belgium: Centre Assyriloogique Georges Dossin.

MacDonald, B.

2015 The Southern Transjordan Edomite Plateau and the Dead Sea Rift Valley: The

Bronze Age to the Islamic Period (3800/3700 BC-AD 1917). Oxford, UK &

Philadelphia, PA: Oxbow Books.

MacDonald, B.; Clark, G. A.; Herr, L. G.; Quaintance, D. S.; Hayajneh, H.; and Eggler, J.

2016 The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2010-2012).

Archaeological Reports 24. Boston, MA: American Schools of Oriental

Research.

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MacDonald, B.

2017 Neolithic Period (ca. 9,700-4,900 BCE) Presence in the Southern Transjordan

Plateau, the Southern Ghors, Wadis Fidan and Faynan, and the East Side of

Wadi `Arabah. Pp. ?-? in The socio-economic history and material culture of the

Roman and Byzantine Near East: Essays in Honor of S. Thomas Parker, ed. W.

Ward. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias

Director

Burton MacDonald, PhD

Senior Research Professor

Department of Religious Studies

St. Francis Xavier University

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

B2G 2W5

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