AMMAN — Between 2008 and 2022, the Eastern Badia Archaeological Project continued to study the area around Wisad Pools, a site in the Black Desert.
The architecture at Wisad Pools stretched over ca. 1.5 km2, and it is estimated that in that expanse there were more than 400 small buildings that were inhabited seasonally for many years by pastoral groups that may also have been associated with the large “kite” traps that permitted “industrial hunting” of gazelle, noted Professor Emeritus Gary Rollefson from Whitman College and San Diego State University.
"The dwellings were not distributed randomly over the landscape: instead, they clustered together in relatively small numbers [from 6 to 25 structures], each cluster very close to others, although it is unlikely that many of these clusters were absolutely contemporaneous, although some of the clusters might have been occupied simultaneously by kinship-related groups,” Rollefson continued.
The professor added that the clusters might be considered as “neighbourhoods” that the inhabitants returned to several years in a row but then abandoned for a time before returning again a few years later for another term of temporary residence.
Although no absolute dates have been obtained for any of the clusters, they probably span the entire range of the Late Neolithic period (ca. 6,900-5,000 BCE), although there is abroad and dispersed series of very large structures that range from the Early Bronze to at least the first part of the Iron Age (3,400-700 BCE), but the later structures are not associated with long-term habitation.
"The structures in the clusters share a general design pattern: Small circular shelters with basalt stone walls are the most common forms, although some buildings had external extensions of stone-walled enclosures that may have been workspaces during the stay," Rollefson explained.
The professor added that the dwellings were probably roofed with organic material that deteriorated relatively soon after each habitation period.
Some pollen samples from the Black Desert settlements produced pollen from palm trees, the fronds of which might have provided roofing as well as mats for flooring. Not all structures were dwellings: some clusters also include stone enclosures that were probably corrals for small herds of goats and/or sheep.
The images show three groups of clusters in the north-western parts of Wisad Pools, Rollefson continued, saying that in Panel a, there are two clusters (Numbers 201-209 and Numbers 210-222a).
"They clearly have different opinions on how a neighbourhood is prepared: The buildings in the smaller cluster [ca. 9 families]were constructed on ground that was covered by relatively dense basalt rubble, while the residents of the larger neighbourhood [ca. 13 families]prepared the ground by removing much of the basalt ground cover," Rollefson underlined.
Notably, there are three circular enclosures in the smaller neighbourhood possibly used as corrals, while this kind of construction is absent in the larger neighbourhood.
"The are also two other clusters within Panel A: BC-1 [Burial Cemetery-1] consists of small piles of basalt, probably burial cairns of people who were related to the 201-209 neighbourhood, a view based on the presence of basalt rubble of somewhat reduced density in the process of building the burial cairns.”
“Nearby BC-2 has a small number of burial cairns on a meticulously cleaned ground surface [as in Cluster 210-222a] partly set off by a stone wall; BC-2 is also in the centre of a cleared roughly circular ceremonial [?] pathway, a strong indication that the residents of both clusters were not culturally related," Rollefson highlighted.
The clusters in Panel B differ from each other, particularly in terms of size and in the apparent absence of an associated Burial Cemetery in the smaller of the two, the professor said.
The larger neighbourhood (ca. 25 families)shares many aspects of the larger neighbourhood in Panel A, including a small burial cairn area (BC-3), although in Panel B there are seven or eight circular enclosures absent in the large neighbourhood in Panel A, Rollefson said.
The smaller neighbourhood(c. 5 families) has a structure that stands out from the rest: A cairn surrounded by a circular stone wall, with a curious U-shaped appendage extending outwards.
"Panel C shows clusters at the very western edge absent [W] of Wisad Pools, and the loose grouping of more dispersed structures suggests a less integrated group of pastoral people who remained in the apparently more arid area with little indications of water resources to extend a stay beyond a few days," Rollefson explained.
There are many more neighbourhoods at Wisad that reflect recurrent returns to the same place on a seasonal basis, even if interrupted for a few years. The other major prehistoric site in the Black Desert is Wadi Al Qattafi, where each of the more than 20 mesas has it own variety of multiple structure clusters.
"And beyond Wisad Pools and Wadi Qattafi, even more very large settlements [mostly Late Neolithic?] in the Black Desert are now under consideration for an extended series of archaeological projects," Rollefson underscored.
