Aerial photo of the site Tulul al-Ghusayn seen from the south side. Photo: R. Bewley/APAAME (CC-BY-NC-ND).
Excavations in the Basaltørkenen in Jordan for the past six years has revealed three fortified settlements with artificial irrigation systems for terrassehager. Archaeologists believe they are 6,000 years old, and the evidence of a surprisingly advanced technology for such an ancient settlement, reports the israeli newspaper Haaretz.
the Findings were made on a åsrekke at the brink of the volcanic desert north-east of Jordan, near the border with Syria. Radiokarbondateringer relates the settlements to be between 4.000 and 3.500 before Christ, around 1.000 years before the pyramids were built.
the Discovery came as a surprise, since it is not made equivalent to the old finds in this inhospitable area in the past. It has been assumed that the area simply would have been uninhabitable for early bronsealdersamfunn.
see also: Walker found a 1,200-year-old vikingsverd on the Haukeli
– don’t Know who they were
In the 1970s and 80s was the fortified settlement of Gratis been excavated to the west of the area.
– This dates from the fourth millennium before Christ, and has so far been considered as the easternmost bronsealderbosetningen in the region, ” says dr. Bernd Müller-Neuhof, who has led the utgravningsprosjektet, to Haaretz.
The three new sites located further into the desert, and will perhaps prove to be older.
the Investigation is still ongoing.
the Settlements on the hills had fortified stone walls and built houses in stone. Together with the traces of systems of artificial irrigation, this indicates that an advanced society had settled in these desert areas around the fifth to the fourth millennium before Christ. Exactly who these people were, and where they came from is still a mystery.
The fortified settlements can be the earliest of its kind in the Levant, or indeed in the whole of western Asia, believes the archaeologist who leads the study, according to Haaretz.
Article continues below the image.
Photograph of the terraces in the crater to the Tulul al-Ghusayn-volcano. Photo: R. Bewley/APAAME (CC-BY-NC-ND).
“Civilization’s cradle”
They were not the first people who settled in the area, but it is the first time they have found the remains of permanent settlements from the period.
the Remains of a defensive wall by utgravningsstedet Tulul al-Ghusayn. Foto: B. Müller-Neuhof/DAI Orientabteilung (CC-BY-NC-ND).
Six years of research has uncovered traces of flintgruver and, the age taken into consideration, the advanced techniques of agriculture. Since the area had not regularly access on the water, built residents a sinnrikt system where rainwater was put into action to terrassehager. Drinking water was probably obtained by means of wells and the use of lavagrottene in the area as natural cisterns.
There are also signs that the terraces were used to cultivate corn, and they have found stones used for grinding corn by hand. The terraces may prove to be the earliest known example of the agriculture with artificial collected rainwater.
the Findings increase the understanding of the earliest kulturutviklingen in Mesopotamia and the southern Levant, sometimes called “civilization’s cradle”.
Read more about the findings on The German arkeologiskeinstituttets website
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