Jordan Valley Village ProjectJordan Valley Village ProjectLocation: The Northern Jordan Valley, Jordan
Investigators: Steven Falconer, Patricia Fall, Jennifer Jones
The Jordan Valley Village Project (JVVP) focuses on the nature of Near Eastern rural life during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages. These periods witness dramatic changes in social organization stemming from the first cities in the region, and their subsequent abandonment and rejuvenation. Villages and village life appear to be remarkably persistent in the face of these social changes. The main goal of the Jordan Valley Village Project is to reconstruct the rural economy and ecology of these resilient villages.
During the Winter 1996/97 field
season we excavated two Early Bronze IV (2300/2200-2000 B. C.) villages in the northern
Jordan Valley, Jordan: Tell Abu en-Ni'aj and Dhahrat Umm al'Marar. The Early Bronze
IV (EB IV) period of of interest because the first cities to develop in this region were
abandoned and the region's population depended on village and pastoral economies.
Tell Abu en-Ni'aj is located on the broad agricultural
floodplain above the Jordan River. It contains four phases of stratified EB IV
material culture in 3.5 meters of archaeological deposits. Several Early Bronze III
sherds were also found in the basal levels of one excavation unit, suggesting a
transitional EB III/IV occupation. The possibility of transitional occupation, and
the depth of deposits, make Tell Abu en-Ni'aj a unique EB IV village. Dhahrat Umm
al-Marar is a hilltop site located just north of the modern village of Sleikhat in the
first foothills overlooking the Jordan Valley. It has shallow, but extensive
deposits of Early Bronze IV material.
The Winter 1996/97 field season builds on earlier excavations (1982-85) at the Middle Bronze II site of Tell el-Hayyat. The village is located 1.5 kilometers east of Tell Abu en-Ni'aj and contains six stratified phases of occupation, including EB IV in the basal level.
The Jordan Valley Village Project plans to continue excavating at Tell Abu en-Ni'aj with the next field season anticipated in 2000.
Various aspects of the laboratory analysis are ongoing at
Arizona State University. Volunteer opportunities vary depending on the volunteer's
interests and time commitment. Most of the current opportunities are for various
aspects of ceramic analysis, such as labeling and drawing artifacts, data entry, and sherd
sorting. Visitors are encouraged to make an appointment with the contact person to
determine the best time for a visit.
Jennifer Jones
Department of Anthropology
Box 872402
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Phone message: (602) 965-6213
Fax: (602) 965-7671
email: asjej@imap2.asu.edu