Examining Neolithic Building and Activity Areas through Historic Cultural Heritage in Jordan: A Combined Ethnographic, Phytolith and Geochemical Investigation

Abstract

The INEA project is an ethnoarchaeological and scientific exploration of recently abandoned traditional mud and stone houses in Jordan. It uses ethnographic investigation, geochemistry and microscopic plant remains (silica phytoliths) to explore and identify building construction and daily activities that took place at the village of Al Ma’tan in the At Tafila governorate. The project compares these results with those from similarly constructed and inhabited Neolithic sites, such as ‘Ain Ghazal and Wadi Faynan 16. During fieldwork, two films were produced to promote tourism in southern Jordan and the study of archaeology as part of university curricula. While the scientific results are important and informative for understanding the human past, interactions with local organizations and heritage practitioners have encouraged the team to work collaboratively with partners to develop conservation of the recent rural heritage of Jordan too.

Keywords:

• Vernacular architecture
• Ethnoarchaeology
• Cultural Heritage
• Sedentarization
• Neolithic

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by AHRC grant number AH/K002902/1 awarded to Emma Jenkins at Bournemouth University conducted in partnership with the British Institute in Amman, Council for British Research in the Levant and Professor John Grattan, Aberystwyth University. We are grateful to the Department of Antiquities and the General Director, HE Dr Monther Jamhawi, for his personal support, as well as the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and its current Minister, HE Lina Annab, and the support of former Ministers HE Nayef Al Fayez and HE Dr Nidal Katamine. Royal Jordanian Airlines and the Jordan Media Monitor Department provided additional facilitation. We additionally wish to thank: Hussein Shabatat, Emad Drous, Vanessa Edwards, Andy Marsh, Firas Bqa’in, Darko Maričević, Ben Ford, Shannon Birch, Anne Poepjes, Zoe-Louise Collier, Nadja Qaisi, Andrew Garrard, Gary Rollefson, Steve Mithen, Bill Finlayson and Cheryl Makarewicz. We are especially grateful to the extended communities of Al Ma’tan and Wadi Faynan for all their invaluable contributions, support and care.