Later Prehistory of the Badia

The Jordanian badia is an arid region that has been largely protected from modern development by its extreme climate and has preserved a remarkably rich record of its prehistoric past. This is the second of two volumes to document extensive surveys and excavations in the region from Al-Azraq to the Iraqi border over the period 1979-1996.

Broadly, it covers the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic of the eastern badia. Over time, an outline prehistory of the region has emerged. Late Epipaleolithic campsites have been found in the north-west of the harra in the foothills of Jebel Druze, while the central basalt region saw a floruit of activity in the late Aceramic Neolithic, when it was used extensively for hunting.

This volume covers the following period, which witnessed a further spread of campsites and short-term occupation out around the edges of the harra and across the hamad as far as the lands bordering the Euphrates to the north and east. This period was marked by the first appearance of sheep and goat as one element of the steppic economy alongside traditional practices of hunting and foraging. The concluding chapter discusses these changes and proposes models for the introduction of domesticated animals into the steppe as a precursor to a full nomadic pastoral economy.