The al-Jafr basin and a comparative study of the inland Levantine prehistoric cultures.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The purpose of this research project was :1) to construct database of the material, mainly chipped stone artifacts, collected in the al-Jafr basin, southeastern Jordan, in 1995 ;2) to make a comparative study within the framework of the inland Levantine arid regions, focusing on the chronological and cultural assessment of the al-Jafr basin.The results was as follows :1) Database : A card-type database including drawings and some photos as well as qualitative/quantitative descriptions was constructed.2) Comparative studies :(a) The comparative studies suggested that the collection included the wide range of stone implements from Middle-Upper Paleolithic, late Neolithic, Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age. Hence the al-Jafr basin turned out to be a promising candidate to fill the spatial hiatus between the Azraq basin and the Negev-Sinai regions -an obstacle to comparative studies of the inland Levantine prehistory.(b) Al-Jafr No.9503, the most interesting site among the spots of the collection, included not only tabular scrapers but also their cores and debitage. Hence the site turned out to be the first-confirmed mega-factory site of tabular scrapers, belonging to the late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age. Given this, the site provides a clue to exploring the dynamism between early nomads and urban society of the southern Levant from the late half of the 4th millennium to the 3rd millennium. Further investigations are needed to