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Pre-Historic Wadi Yabis (Wadi Rayyan) Basin [Bibliography]

Overview: The Wadi Yabis flows from the Ajlun Mountains to the Jordan Valley Ghor and is one of the few perennial streams east of the Jordan ..... The survey area covers approximately 190 square kilometres including the entire Wadi Yabis drainage system from the high plateau north of the modern city of Ajlun down to the central Jordan Valley ..... The intensive survey of the Wadi Yabis basin has led to the discovery of almost 250 archaeolgical sites from Lower Paleolithic to Ottoman times ...

Selected Excerpts on Wadi Yabis

The Oxford Encyclopedia of
Archaeology in the Near East

Eric Meyers (Editor) [ASOR]
LC # DS 56 O9 1997

The Neolithic of the Levant (1978)
A.M.T. Moore (Oxford University)

Chapter 5: Neolithic 3 North Palestine Wadi Yabis Site

In part to explain that A.M.T. Moore describes
Wadi Yabis as a singular site see this .....

Since the 1950's limited excavations have been conducted at several Jordan Valley sites near the Wadi Yabis mouth dating variously to the ..... Neolithic (*)

A Neolithic Site at Wadi Yabis by Diana Kirkbride
Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
Volume 3 (1956) Pages 56-60 [LC # DS 153.3 A3]

Some Sites Included in the Wadi Yabis Excavations

Pre-History and Archaeology Glossary

Excavations were conducted at the Pre-Pottery Early Neolithic (PPNA) cave site of Iraq Dubb (Cave of the Bear) located in the forested highlands of Wadi Yabis. The majority of the cultural deposits and all of the structures date to the Early Neolithic Period (10500 - 9300 BP). Deposits below this level date to the terminal stages of the Late Natufian Period (12800 - 10500 BP) [Bibliography]

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Three weeks of test excavations were conducted at the Iron Age II site of Khirbet Hedamus. The site is located on a spur at 950 metres above sea level near the village of Ishtafeina. Two small trenches were opened on one of the site's upper terraces. Walls founded on bedrock preserved to a height of up to 2 metres were found immediately below the surface. Charcoal found in a hearth was analyzed: the absloute uncalibrated date obtained was 2700 +/- 70 BP.

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Soundings were conducted at Tell Meqbereh where excavations revealed almost 5 metres of archaeological layers dated between the 12th and ninth centuries BC (Iron Age I to Iron Age II). This long series of Iron Age occupation was unexpected considering that the nearby large site of Abu Kharaz does not show a similar history of occupation.

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A sounding was conducted at the Neolithic site of Rahib. This village lies on a terraced slope and is dated by the materials found to the PPNB Period approximately 8500-8000 BP. An in situ deposit consisting of a 1 metre thick stratigraphic sequence was excavated. An analysis of the animal bones shows sheep and goat to be the most commonly represented species. The lithic or stone industry is mostly made out of fine-grained chert. Among the retouched stone tools Byblos - Jericho - Helwan projectile points were represented.

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The Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age I settlement at Jelmet Shariyeh. The test trench revealed 1.5 metres of cultural deposits comprised of three major strata. The basal stratum contained a large 75 centimetre wall founded on bedrock with associated typical Late Chalcolithic flint tools and pottery .....

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SEE ALSO: Middle Paleolithic Northwestern Jordan
(Reconnaissance and Survey) [John Shea]

This project involved reconnaissance - survey - test excavations at sites in the Ajlun District of both Wadi Yabis and Wadi Kufrinja. Our test excavations at Ar Rasfa revealed a deep sequence of early Levantine Mousterian occupations on terrace deposits near the edge of the Lisan Paleo-Lake. Surveys in Wadi Kufrinja discovered a number of cave sites - most disturbed by recent shepherd activity. One deep cave site - Iraq Wahaj - appears likely to contain paleontological remains and it will be the target of future fieldwork ...

Investigations in Wadi Yabis and Wadi Kufrinja
John Shea and Patricia Crawford (1999)
Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
Library of Congress # DS 153.3 A3

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium