Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Resource Production and Environmental Degradation in Jordan

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The human impact on marginal environments is a deep-time challenge that has especially affected societies in the Middle East during the past 3,500 years. In particular, the impact of ancient pollution on food systems and human health is poorly understood. To address this, Kyle Knabb will analyze ancient soil samples collected from agricultural terraces during the 2011 season of fieldwork of the UC San Diego Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project in southern Jordan, under PI Prof. Thomas Levy. The Faynan valley is located in a hyper-arid desert zone approximately 50 km southeast of the Dead Sea, at an elevation of roughly 200 meters above sea level. The Faynan valley is also the largest natural resource zone rich in copper ore, and home to one of the most prominent Iron Age and Roman (1200 BCE - 400 CE) settlements, where agricultural crops and copper was produced at a massive scale. Because this site was continuously occupied over this 1600 year period, it provides an ideal case study to examine the human impact on the environment. Mr. Knabb's research will use cutting-edge laboratory techniques, such as luminescence dating, mass spectrometry, and isotope analysis, to measure the timing and the extent of environmental pollution that resulted from hundreds of years of industrial copper smelting. The geo-science laboratory work is supervised by Prof. Yigal Erel of the Hebrew University Institute of Earth Sciences.Some of the most significant political and economic developments in the history of human societies took place in arid, marginal environments. Such development often permanently altered the character of these fragile landscapes. Environmental degradation, especially heavy metal pollution, is a poignant example of the deleterious effects that large-scale production can have on an environment. This project will contribute to anthropological and archaeological knowledge about the relationship between industrial-scale resource production and environmental degradation. In particular, it will lead to a better understanding of the spread of environmental pollution and the potential impacts of ancient pollution on the environment and to humans. The project also seeks to make a broader impact beyond the archaeological research. An essential element of this project is interdisciplinary collaboration with domestic and international institutions. This will include travel to Israel for Mr. Knabb's graduate student training and laboratory work, enhancing interaction between archaeology and geo-science disciplines and international partnerships between the UC San Diego Department of Anthropology and the Hebrew University Institute of Earth Sciences. Collaboration will also lead to joint publication in cross-disciplinary journals. Furthermore, this research supports multi-disciplinary approaches to discovering our human past through geophysical, geochemical, archaeological, and geographical methods. The research will be an important step towards a better understanding of the history of environmental pollution in the Middle East. In doing so, this project will increase knowledge about the potential health and environmental consequences that ancient and modern mining can have.