In this gallery, we are highlighting results from recent archaeological field seasons through their reports as they appear in Archaeology in Jordan 2 (ACOR, 2020)!
Click the images to enlarge and explore further via the links at left.
The projects covered by AIJ 2 (2018 and 2019 seasons) ask and address exciting questions, test new approaches, and re-evaluate research priorities. Of particular interest is an increasing engagement of local communities with restoration and presentation processes in order to achieve both their own economic sustainability and preservation of their cultural heritage. Community engagement is especially represented by the restoration of the Matan Heritage Village, the CBRAER program in Wadi Rum, Umm el-Jimal, and the development of the new archaeological museum in Madaba.
Mohammad Domayan and Dr. Niccole Cerveny removing latex paint vandalism in Khazali Canyon as part of a conservation workshop facilitated by the Community-Based Rock Art and Epigraphic Recording Program (CBRAER). Core team members participated in this workshop alongside graduates and local tour guides. Afterwards, graffiti removal kits were left with Wadi Rum Protected Area staff for continued use and basic conservation. (Photo by C. D. Allen.) Find out more here: https://publications.acorjordan.org/articles/wadi-rum-community-based-rock-art-and-epigraphic-recording-2018-2019/ 
Scaffolding for consolidation of stone walls of traditional late 19th-century houses at the site of the projected new archaeological museum in Madaba. The Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project (MRAMP) is a joint American, Italian, and Jordanian endeavor to establish a new state-of-the art regional archaeological museum in the historic downtown. The project has long committed itself to community archaeology, seeking to preserve and safeguard Madaba’s considerable cultural heritage, develop economic opportunities for the region, and assure future sustainability through capacity-building and training. (Photo courtesy of the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project.) Find out more here: https://publications.acorjordan.org/articles/the-madaba-regional-archaeological-museum-project/ 
A general view of the Matan Heritage Village with the cluster under development and showing in the background the mount of Busayra archaeological site, 2020. Located in Tafila, in southern Jordan, Matan Heritage Village is an example of a rural village that was abandoned in the 1980s as villagers moved away to nearby towns that offered more services and space. The village is well known for its breathtaking natural landscape and rich history, having first been inhabited by the Edomites and then later by the Nabataeans. Today, an applied cultural resource management project seeks to restore and rehabilitate the village through a tourism development model that directly engages the local community in the site’s preservation. (Photo: Tarmeem Center for the Preservation of Heritage, 2020; photo by Toqa Al Oran.) Find out more here: https://publications.acorjordan.org/articles/tafila-matan-heritage-village-2018-2019/ 
Archaeologist and program coordinator Muaffaq Hazza of the Umm el-Jimal Archaeology Project (UJAP) giving a ceramics lesson at the Interpretation and Hospitality Center completed in late 2019. His master’s thesis on the Nabataean to Umayyad archeological history of Umm el-Jimal is one of several recent research publications on the site at Jordanian universities. The UJAP represents increasing engagement of local communities with the restoration and presentation processes of archaeological sites, in order to achieve both their own economic sustainability and preservation of their cultural heritage. (Photo by Ali Barqawi.) Find out more here: https://publications.acorjordan.org/articles/umm-el-jimal-archaeological-project-2018-2019/
