Wadi Jilat Explained

Wadi el Jilat
Alternate Name:Qilat, Wadi Qilat
Map Type:Jordan
Location:Amman Governorate
Region:Jordan
Type:Wadi
Area:150m2 drainage catchment
Height:738m (2,421feet) above sea level
Epochs:PPNB
Cultures:Neolithic
Archaeologists:Andrew Garrard, Sue Colledge
Condition:Ruins

Wadi Jilat is a seasonal stream (wadi) in the Badia of eastern Jordan. Part of its course runs through a steeply-incised ravine that retains water for much of the year, an unusual feature in the desert region.[1]

The area is known for its archaeological significance, including a still-functioning dammed reservoir that may date back as far as the Nabataean period.[2] Thirty two prehistoric sites were also discovered in the area by Andrew Garrard in the 1970s–80s.[3] They include Wadi Jilat 6, an Early Epipalaeolithic occupied from approximately 20,500 to 18,000 years ago. Together with Kharaneh IV, it is one of the two largest prehistoric sites in the Levant (c. 19,000 m2) and has been interpreted as an seasonal aggregation camp.[4] Wadi Jilat 7 is an early Neolithic site,[5] providing the earliest known evidence of domesticated einkorn wheat, radiocarbon dated to 9500–9200 years ago.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Azraq Basin Project. Garrard. Andrew. UCL Institute of Archaeology. University College London. en. 2017-07-09.
  2. Politis. Konstantinos D.. 1993. The Stepped Dam at Wadi El-Jilat. Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 125. 1. 43–49. 10.1179/peq.1993.125.1.43. 0031-0328.
  3. Book: Beyond the Fertile Crescent: Late Palaeolithic and Neolithic Communities of the Jordanian Steppe. Garrard. Andrew. Byrd. Brian. 2013. Oxbow Books. 978-1-842-17833-1. Levant Supplementary Series 13. Oxford. en.
  4. Richter. Tobias. Maher. Lisa A.. Garrard. Andrew N.. Edinborough. Kevan. Jones. Matthew D.. Stock. Jay T.. 2013. Epipalaeolithic settlement dynamics in southwest Asia: new radiocarbon evidence from the Azraq Basin. Journal of Quaternary Science. en. 28. 5. 467–479. 10.1002/jqs.2629. 2013JQS....28..467R. 130436456 . free.
  5. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/paleo_0153-9345_1988_num_14_2_4453 Garrard A. N., Colledge S., Hunt G., Montague R. Environment and subsistence during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in the Azraq Basin, Paléorient, 1988. Volume 14. Issue 14–2. pp. 40–49.
  6. https://www.academia.edu/1475230/When_and_where_did_domesticated_cereals_first_occur_in_southwest_Asia Nestbitt, Mark., When and where did domesticated cereals first occur in southwest Asia? in R.T.J. Cappers & S. Bottema (Eds.) The Dawn of Farming in the Near East. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 6, 2002 (1999). Berlin, ex oriente.