Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Amateur Archaeology
Digging Up the Past
Take any path off the beaten track in central Jordan and you will be sure to stumble on
something ancient - a fallen column with poppies dancing on the capital, coloured tesserae
from a broken mosaic, a coin of indiscriminate currency. Look more carefully, and you'll
probably see the remains of a fence enclosing a patch of land fast returning to wilderness -
evidence, if any were needed, that Jordan has been the site of intense archaeological scru-
tiny for decades.
You don't have to be Indiana Jones to take an interest in these sites: anyone with a curi-
osity for the past can gain pleasure in rummaging around the hilltop at Hesban or Khirbet
Tannour, or indeed at any of a hundred sites across Jordan. If just looking isn't enough, and
you can't resist getting physical with the past, then you'll need to join a group of experts
who will guide you in the subtle arts of archaeology. This chapter gives you a few ideas on
how to get involved in amateur digs and suggests some of the sites of archaeological in-
terest to focus on.
Two Centuries of Archaeology in Jordan
In many respects, the modern study of Western archaeology
was founded in what we now call Jordan, arising out of a fas-
cination with tracing the traditions of the Bible to the unearthed
ruins of the Holy Land - on both sides of the River Jordan. For
decades, this was an occupation that attracted largely foreign in-
terest as the people of the region were more focused on the de-
mands of the present than on digging up remnants of the past.
Today this is no longer the case, as Jordanians have the time
and the means to take a greater interest in their heritage and
education helps new generations to come to a better appreci-
ation of the country's position within the cradle of civilisation.
Each year more funding is put aside for archaeological explora-
tion, with the result that some of the greatest finds, involving
teams from universities in Jordan and abroad, have been made
within the last 30 years, culminating in 2008 with the world's
Digs on the
Web
»
»
Madaba Plains Project
ban
»
»
Great Temple Excavation
ments/Joukowsky
_Institute/
Petra) Brown University's
Petra excavations
»
»
Virtual Karak
(
www.vkrp.org
)
Castle archae-
ology
