Sort order:  

Status: 1 Treffer   •   Seite 1 von 1   •   10 Artikel pro Seite

2021-10-22 16:57:26   •   ID: 2274

Acheulian Handaxe from Wadi Rum / Jordan

Figure 1
What is today the Kingdom of Jordan is characterized by mostly desert plateaus in East and highland areas in the West. The Great Rift Valley, which played an eminent role during movements of Homo sp. and their pray during the Pleistocene separates the East and West Banks of the Jordan River.

This is a heavily patinated Handaxe, originally made from black flint, from Wadi Rum at the vicinity of Wadi Harad in Jordania, near the East Bank of Jordan, found during Geological Investigations in 1949 just after the Israeli independence war.

Typologically it may belong to a "Middle Acheulian" according to the Definition of Gary O. Rollefson-see here: 2203 , here: 1171 , here: 2076 , here: 1460 , and here: 2068

Typo-Technologically, some surface scatters, resemble the oldest industries from Israel with „Archaic Bifaces“ like Trihedrals and Chopping Tools and they may belong to the early Pleistocene. Unfortunately absolute dates are not available.

The same hold true for presumably final Acheulian findings, characterized by a soft hammer technique, Micoquian-like types and very symmetric handaxes-similar to those from El Kowm (Syria) and Bifaces of the classic Province in Northern France.

Figure 2
“Three surface sites in the Wadi Rum area have been assigned to the Middle Acheulian based on geochronological circumstances and techno-typology, including one at the base of Jebel al-Hattiya and two others on terraces along the Wadi Harad” (Rollefson 2018).

Today, the Wadi Rum Area is a deserted landscape that holds iconic landforms such as natural arches, mushroom rocks, narrow gorges and the world's most spectacular networks of honeycomb weathering features. This features were created by tectonic activity, and further shaped by erosion.

Regarding the Paleolithic, Wadi Rum is a rich cultural landscape, connected with the Prehistoric record on the right side of the Jordan River in Israel.

Sites from the Early and Middle Paleolithic, Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitional industries and upper to Epipaleolithic sites have been evaluated during the last 50 years at Wadi Rum and the adjacent areas.



Resources and images in full resolution: