Sustainable Development and Nature Conservation in Jordan - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 300

FIGURE 16.4 Locally produced crafts: metal jewelry and decorated ostrich eggs.

The lower end of Wadi Dana contains one of the largest and most important archaeo-
logical sites in southern Jordan (Findlater 1997), including remains of Bronze Age vil-
lages and Byzantine churches, cemeteries, and water works (Figure 16.9). The site is
most famous, however, for its rich mining history (Figure 16.10), and its role as a major
source of copper throughout the ancient Near East. In particular, the four-thousand-year-
old remains of a copper mine are located here which at one time the government had
wanted to reopen. Because this might have destroyed the reserve, the RSCN, aided by
Queen Noor, protested against the plan and provided an alternative which convinced the
government cabinet to abandon the idea. In its place the RSCN built a small and very