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EDOM 2015. Maasalama, Jordan!

EDOM 2015. Maasalama, Jordan!

From early September to mid October 2015, a team of JU archaeologists braved the inaccessible mountains of Jordan as part of the EDOM 2015 expedition. Read on for a summary of the team's daily research activities, featuring translated fragments of the log written by its members.

The team – Piotr Kołodziejczyk, Marcin Czarnowicz, Jacek Karmowski, Julia Kościuk, Michał Wasilewski, and Ola Węgrzynek – worked within the framework of the Heritage–Landscape–Community project, which aims to analyse the southern Jordan microregion around the Sela site, along with adjacent valleys and hills. The archaeologists wanted to identify the most important routes used by the inhabitants of this region to communicate and trade with the surrounding settlements and describe its society, which developed over the course of several thousand years.

4 September: "We observed the beautiful sunrise over the rocky walls of Petra. The weather is perfect, warm and sunny, ideal for work."

10 September: "The whole Middle East, from Cairo to Damascus, is engulfed by a dense hot cloud of dust, swept across from the inland deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Temperatures over 40°C and the ever-present dust make the working conditions extremely unfavourable."

14 September: The team investigated the Moab Mountains, famous for both archaeological and paleontological sites. "The highest layers of rock are made of limestone and contain dozens of fossilised ammonites, sea urchins and slugs."

21 September: One of the members described their archaeological find: "This extraordinary tool could be well over 100,000 years old and was probably used by our Neanderthal ancestors: the hand axe was made from a piece of flint and skilfully wrought (bifacial retouch)."

23 September: "Bedouins traditionally used make-up not only for aesthetic reasons, but also to protect themselves from dust and sunlight – and much more effectively than with expensive Ray-Bans."

28 September: "We encounter species of mammals we did not expect to see in this part of the world, like the badger. We have also came across numerous lizards, such as chameleons and Sinai agamas."

29 September: "We have discovered over 2,000 ceramic ware fragments! Together with the findings from last year, we have accumulated several thousand fragments and  over 1,500 flint tools. Our collection features items from the Neolithic Age as well as Bronze Age and Iron Age."

5 October: This entry describes the discovery of a lovers' meeting point: "In the ancient times, when there was no smog nor light pollution, it must have been a very beautiful place. People must have also like it back then. We have found a lot of oil lamp fragments and glass bracelets from the period between the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The number of oil lamps found suggests that the place was frequently visited during the night."

14 October: "We know for certain that this area was very important to the inhabitants of this region. Contrary to its current "Martian" appearance, it was abundant with water and suitable for pastures. It also features many traces of agricultural terraces. People have lived here for a long time."

The members of the team summarise their expedition in the following words: "We have conducted research in an extremely difficult area covering about 12 square kilometres. We have collected over 2,500 items from several time periods.  We have also made plans for the next season, and hopefully we will be able to begin regular excavations."

Maasalama, Jordan! See you next year!

Original text: www.nauka.uj.edu.pl

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