Tall Dhiban 2004 Pilot Season: Prospection, Preservation, and Planning

iSONt PK« )PLANN! Benjamin Porter, Bruce Routledge, Danielle Steen, Carla Parlsow, Lidewijde de Jong, and William Zimmerle Introduction The Dhiban Archaeological Project seeks to de- velop strategies for ensuring the long-term sustain- ability of archaeological research and archaeolog- ical landscapes in Jordan by integrating traditional research questions with site development. These two activities converge at Dhiban on the question of local connections to place in the face of long- term and apparently radical changes in the modes and intensity of dwelling, land-use, and collective identification. Even when apparently abandoned, Dhiban has remained a place of significant human activity, as is attested by the history of the Bani Hamida tribe who settled the modern town in the early twentieth century after more than a century of seasonal use of the site. This long term pattern of attachment to place manifest through widely di- vergent intensities and modes of settlement is a central characteristic of Jordanian history and one of the distinct intellectual insights to be gained from its archaeological record. What follows is a report of the pilot season of the Tall Dhiban Pro- ject undertaken from June 2-26, 2004^ Douglas Tushingham concentrated their soundings in the southeast corner of the site, exposing an Iron Age fortification system, a Nabataean temple, Byz- antine church, and Early and Middle Islamic dwell- ings (Winnett and Reed 1965; Tushingham 1972). William Morton conducted an additional three sea- sons in 1955, 1956, and 1965, concentrating on Dhiban's acropolis (Field L) and north side (Field H) (Morton 1989). Archaeological excavations at Tall Dhiban ceased for nearly 35 years until Jor- dan's Department of Antiquities initiated an ex- cavation and restoration program in 2002 (al- Mahameed 2003) and 2004. This work suggests Tall Dhiban was settled in- termittently from the end of the Early Bronze lb period (ca. 3100BC) until some point late in the Mamluk era (latel5th or early 16th century AD). Particularly prominent in these excavations were the later Iron Age (900-600 BC), the Nabataean pe- riod (140BC-106AD), the Byzantine, Umayyad and Abbasid Periods (ca. 400-800 AD) and the Ayyubid-Mamluk Period (ca. 1250-1500 AD). This work also showed that architectural elements from these periods were well-preserved and accessible by limited excavation. However, architecture vis- ible on the surface of the site is in relatively poor condition due both to G. Lancaster-Harding' s re- moval of a significant number of above ground walls and arches in 1949 and to the lack of post- excavation conservation on the part of earlier ex- cavators. Context and Previous Investigations The tall of Dhiban is a mid-sized mound of ca. 5 hectares approximately 70 kilometers south of 'Amman (Figs. 1 and 2). While devoid of modern settlement, the mound is immediately adjacent to the modern community of Dhiban (Fig. 3). The site is well-known from both the discovery of the Mesha' Inscription in 1868 as well as for the pi- oneering excavations of the American Schools of Oriental Research from 1950 to 1953 and again, in 1955 and 1956. Fred Winnett, William Reed, and 2004 Season Objectives Four objectives shaped this year's research de- sign: don), Aubrey Baadsgaard (U. Pennsylvania), William Zim- merle (U. Pennsylvania), Carla Parslow (U. Toronto), John Hakes (U. Liverpool), Jennifer Jacobs (U. of Pennsylvania) and Jamie Porter (Montana State U.). 2. Lancaster-Harding, then director of Jordan's Department of Antiquities, apparently stripped the stone and had it donated for the construction of a nearby road in order to render Dhi- ban more attractive to archaeologists interested in the site's pre-Islamic layers (Winnett 1964: 11). 1. The University of Liverpool, the University of Penn- sylvania, Stanford University, and the National Science Foundation sponsored the Dhiban Archaeological Project in 2004. Staff included Dr. Bruce Routledge (U. Liverpool, Director), Benjamin Porter (U. Pennsylvania, Associate Di- rector), Danielle Steen (Stanford U . Associate Director), A l i al-Khayyat (Department of Antiquities representative), Reem Shqour (Department of Antiquities representative), Lidewijde de Jong (Stanford U.), Jack Green (U.C. Lon-

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