Test Excavations at MUGHR EL-HAMAMAH, AJLUN DISTRICT, JORDAN: A Newly Identified Paleolithic Cave Site in the E. Jordan Valley

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Aaron Stutz, Dr. Liv Nilsson Stutz, and an interdisciplinary research team will conduct summer 2010 test excavations at the prehistoric cave site of Mughr el-Hamamah, Ajlun Governate, Jordan. Unknown to archaeologists until it was identified by a recent field survey in 2006, "The Caves of the Doves" was subsequently mapped - with any surface artifacts identified and collected - by Dr. Stutz and colleagues in 2008. A diverse assemblage of flint blades and points, along with tell-tale flint tool manufacturing waste, was found eroding out onto the main cave chamber and terrace surface. These artifacts provide the critical indication warranting intensive test excavations. The surface materials demonstrate the potential of buried, stratified archaeological layers dating from the Middle Paleolithic (250,000 - 50,000 BP [before present]), Upper Paleolithic (50,000-20,000 BP), and Epipaleolithic (20,000-12,000 BP) periods. In Southwest Asia this broad time range encompasses (in chronological order): the emergence of anatomically modern humans from Africa; the neandertals' southward expansion from Europe; the subsequent virtual disappearance of neandertal anatomy from the modern human pool of variation; the associated major expansion of anatomically modern humans - and the Upper Paleolithic societies they constituted - from the Southern Levant; and the long-term emergence of sedentary settlement, food storage, and horticulture. Excavations at Mughr el-Hamamah may help to explain how and why these major developments unfolded at the crossroads between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Located in only a preliminarily explored district of Jordan, Mughr el-Hamamah is well positioned geographically to yield a higher resolution understanding of the biocultural evolution of Homo sapiens. Mughr el-Hamamah has only been subject to non-intrusive investigation. The 2010 test excavations, supported by the NSF program High Risk Research in Archaeology and Physical Anthropology, are designed to evaluate preservation and stratigraphy of prehistoric deposits at the site. If they prove substantial, the archaeological deposits from Mughr el-Hamamah have the potential to elucidate the biocultural evolutionary processes that shaped the emergence of modern human biological variation, while also structuring long-term trends in demography, social networks, and technology. The broader impact of investigating Mughr el-Hamamah is twofold. First, the intellectual merit of investigating a new Paleolithic site in a geographically key region links to wider questions of contemporary concern: why has the genus Homo exhibited recurrent, long-term increasing impacts on our ecosystem, and how have demographic and cultural processes played a role in these impacts? Second, the proposed investigation of Mughr el-Hamamah is part of a long-term project to document and excavate cave and open-air sites in the Ajlun District, Jordan. The project will help to build local and regional support for cultural resource management and education in the Ajlun District and Jordan Valley areas of Jordan.