Technical Reports from the Dhiban Excavation and Development Project (2004 - 2009)

Archaeological Research Facility UC Berkeley Title: Digging Deeper: Technical Reports from the Dhiban Excavation and Development Project (2004 - 2009) Author: Fatkin, Danielle Steen, Knox College Adelsberger, Katherine, Knox College Farahani, Alan, University of California, Berkeley Fischer, Alysia, Miami University Kansa, Sarah Whitcher, Alexandria Archive Institute Lev-Tov, Justin, Statistical Research, Inc. Morgan, Colleen, University of California, Berkeley Porter, Benjamin, University of California, Berkeley Routledge, Bruce, University of Liverpool Wilson, Andrew, University of Liverpool Publication Date: 01-01-2011 Series: Archaeological Research Facility Field Reports Publication Info: Archaeological Research Facility Field Reports, Archaeological Research Facility, UC Berkeley Permalink: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/44m7f3mz Original Citation: Fatkin, Danielle Steen, Katherine Adelsberger, Alan Farahani, Alysia Fischer, Sarah Whitcher Kansa, Justin Lev-Tov, Colleen Morgan, Benjamin W. Porter, Bruce E. Routledge, and Andrew T. Wilson. 2011. “Digging deeper: Technical reports from the Dhiban Excavation and Development Project (2004-2009).”Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 55: 249-266. Keywords: Dhiban, Jordan, archaeology, glass, zooarchaeology, Geographic Information Systems, paleoethnobotany, Middle East, Near Eastern archaeology, hydrology Copyright Information: All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Contact the author or original publisher for any necessary permissions. eScholarship is not the copyright owner for deposited works. Learn more at http://www.escholarship.org/help_copyright.html#reuse eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. DIGGING DEEPER: TECHNICAL REPORTS FROM THE DHÈBÅN EXCAVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (2004-2009) 1 Danielle Steen Fatkin, Katherine Adelsberger, Alan Farahani, Alysia Fischer, Sarah Whitcher Kan- sa, Justin Lev-Tov, Colleen Morgan, Benjamin W. Porter, Bruce E. Routledge and Andrew T. Wilson Introduction and occupational history of the site. The article The Dhiban Excavation and Development also includes preliminary information on the Project (hereafter DEDP) integrates archaeolog- glass, faunal and palaeoethnobotanical remains ical practice with sustainable site development. at the site. The article concludes with a discus- The project’s focus is the site of Tall Dhπbån sion of how the DEDP envisions integrating (Fig. 1) where the DEDP has excavated for four archaeological excavation with the community seasons (2004, 2005, 2009 and 2010). Overall, and twenty-first century digital media. Informa- the project has focused on recovering data that tion in this article complements and expands assists in the reconstruction of local societies upon the information available in earlier ADAJ from the site’s earliest habitation (Early Bronze articles about the DEDP’s research (Porter et al. 1b, circa 3100 BCE) to the modern day. To fur- 2005; Porter et al. in press). ther this understanding, research objectives during these seasons have included: Palaeolandscape Assessment: Landscape and 1. Creating a digital topographic site map for use Hydrology in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Dhπbån is located on the Dhπbån Plateau, software. which forms the southern edge of the Wadi al- 2. Re-excavating and improving excavation ar- Wålå watershed (Fig. 1). The site is flanked by eas from former projects (especially “Area the Wådπ Sakrån to the west and Wådπ Dhπbån L” on the uppermost part of the site). to the north. These local incised valleys effec- 3. Linking human activities to local environmen- tively isolate the tall as a topographic feature tal data at various periods of occupation. distinct from the adjacent town and agricultural 4. Co-ordinating excavation with the Department land. On a regional scale, the Dhπbån Plateau is of Antiquities’ conservation and preservation formed by the deeper wadi systems of the Wådπ efforts, and preparing the site for public pre- al-Wålå to the north and the Wådπ al-Møjib to sentation. the south. While both of these larger systems The following reports represent a significant contain water year-round, the pluvial inputs of step forward in our understanding of human ac- these systems are not identical. Local topogra- tivities at Dhπbån, particularly regarding the na- phy indicates that the Wådπ al-Møjib would not ture of the Middle Islamic settlement and human receive hydrologic inputs from rainfall in the activities during the site’s recent history (Byzan- Dhπbån region, which would instead flow into tine to present day). This article presents infor- the Wådπ al-Wålå system and west to the Dead mation about Dhπbån’s local environment, then Sea. discusses the creation of the digital site map that Incision within these wadi systems was a has aided researchers’ understanding of the size function of hydrologic inputs and regional tec- 1. This article is the first of two bringing ADAJ readers up in the next issue of ADAJ, contains specific informa- to date on the DEDP’s research at Dhπbån. It contains tion regarding on-site survey, excavation, architectural reports on mapping, the environment, numismatic phasing and preliminary ceramic vessel reports from data, glass finds, plant and animal remains, and digital the 2009 and 2010 seasons. documentation. The second article, which will appear -249- ADAJ 55 (2011) 1. Map showing the location of Dhπbån in west-central Jor- dan and related topographic features. Note Dhπbån’s central location between Wådπ al-Wålå to the north and Wådπ al-Møjib to the south. tonics. More localized wadi systems are rela- downcutting and nominal sediment accumula- tively shallow, whereas larger systems down- tion in the wadi channels immediately adjacent stream from local drainages form significantly to Dhπbån. deeper valleys. The geomorphic expression of Despite the presence of several large regional these wadi systems reflects stream order as well faults and folds (al-Hunjul 1993a, 1993b), the as headward adjustments to base level changes limestone bedrock in the immediate area of Tall during the Quaternary (e.g., de Jaeger and de Dhπbån exhibits minimal localized folding. Bed- Dapper 2002). However, the fact that archaeo- rock instead maintains a flat to slightly dipping logical construction at Dhπbån occurs at the base (primarily to the south-east, though significant of the site, almost within the local wadi systems, local variation exists) orientation. Local topog- also indicates that minimal downcutting has oc- raphy has been defined by the erosional action curred during historic periods. Wadi incision in of the wadi networks examined above, creating these upstream areas was likely more frequent isolated high points despite a lack of evident lo- during periods of higher rainfall and wetter cli- calized uplift. Wadi formation and morphology matic conditions, which occurred during the has been determined in part by bedrock (de Jae- Pleistocene (Cordova 2007). The last several ger and de Dapper 2002), particularly in regions thousand years seem to have resulted in minimal north of Tall Dhπbån where wadi systems are -250- D. S. Fatkin et al.: Technical Reports from the Dhπbån Excavation and Development Project significantly incised. Despite their depth, these walls contain rounded clasts, which indicate flu- wadis remain passable on foot. vial deposition and transport as opposed to a col- The expression of the landscape around luvial origin. Walls were therefore constructed Dhπbån has likely been maintained without sig- in trenches dug into extant wadi deposits. The nificant changes since at least Roman times, and presence of architectural features within local potentially throughout the period of habitation wadi bottoms may indicate a need to stabilize lo- of the site. The lack of recent incision within cal hillsides against further degradation. Repeat- wadi drainages, paired with limited soil devel- ed episodes of colluvial deposition, followed by opment and minimal sedimentary inputs, leaves landscape stability, may indicate that colluvial a landscape affected primarily by degradational action has responded to environmental triggers, processes. The Dhπbån Plateau as a whole has possibly in the form of human activities further been exposed to significant fluvial and aeolian upslope or changes in local climatic conditions. activity during the Quaternary, and erosion has Hypotheses developed by Cordova (1999) and been the dominant geologic process in this area others suggest that regional sedimentary ac- during the Holocene. While this means that cumulation within wadi systems may correlate wadi systems in this region are more likely to with agriculturally induced soil degradation have had sedimentary deposits removed than to on local hillsides. Although a limited amount have preserved depositional records, it also in- of pottery found within trenches indicates that dicates a level of exposure for historical periods these colluvial deposits correspond with periods that may be a benefit to archaeological investi- of occupation at the site, further chronological gations. control as well as sampling for agricultural in- Quaternary deposits, including those associ- dicators will be necessary to make any claims ated with the archaeological sediments of the of causation for hillslope sediments at the site. site, occur directly on the Cretaceous limestone Beyond the immediate site of Dhπbån,

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