Levant
The Journal of the Council for British Research in the Levant
ISSN: 0075-8914 (Print) 1756-3801 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ylev20
Water management of a Late Chalcolithic pastoral
culture in Jordan's south-eastern desert: case
study of Qulban Beni Murra
Jana Pokrandt
To cite this article: Jana Pokrandt (2014) Water management of a Late Chalcolithic pastoral
culture in Jordan's south-eastern desert: case study of Qulban Beni Murra, Levant, 46:2,
268-284, DOI: 10.1179/0075891414Z.00000000045
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/0075891414Z.00000000045
Published online: 08 Sep 2014.
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Water management of a Late Chalcolithic
pastoral culture in Jordan’s south-eastern
desert: case study of Qulban Beni Murra
Jana Pokrandt
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The excavations of the Eastern Jafr Project investigated one of the nine prehistoric wells that supply
watering complexes at Qulban Beni Murra. These are related to pastoralist populations present in
the area during the latter part of the Chalcolithic, and which marked the landscape characteristic of
megalithic burials. This well-based pastoralism was characterized by an approach to water
management that was probably transmitted to the later, well-based gardens of proto- and early
oases. The archaeological results of the well structures serve as the basis for further discussion
of the social and technical adaptations that appear to have paved the way for oasis
development on the Arabian Peninsula.
Keywords Mid-Holocene, well-/lake-based water management, pastoralism, climatic oscillation, watering- and well-complex
Introduction
This paper deals with water management by the MidHolocene pastoralists of Qulban Beni Murra, Jordan,
and aims to underscore the importance of pastoral
hydraulic technology within the context of the emergence
of oasis economies in the northern Arabian Peninsula.
Research on Qulban Beni Murra is an integral part of
the ongoing Eastern Jafr Project (EJP) hitherto codirected by Dr Hans Georg Gebel from the Free
University of Berlin and Professor Hamzeh Mahasneh
from the Mutah University Kerak, and which examines
the aceramic pastoral culture in the south-eastern corner
of the Jordanian desert (Gebel 2010, 2013; Gebel and
Mahasneh 2013). The research project is testing the
thesis (Gebel 2013; Gebel and Mahasneh 2013: 128)
that changing climatic conditions after the MidHolocene ‘Warm Period’ triggered the first oasis cultures,
as a result of the onset of cooler and more arid conditions
after the humid phase, and not, as is frequently assumed,
that oases are the direct result of the Mid-Holocene
‘Warm Period’. In terms of the history of Arabia, this is
a novel approach that claims that Mid-Holocene pastoral
(well-dependent) cultures were, in fact, the precursors of
Jana Pokrandt, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 5, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany;
email: [email protected]
268
© Council for British Research in the Levant 2014
Published by Maney
DOI 10.1179/0075891414Z.00000000045
the Arabian oasis cultures. This hypothesis is being
tested by the EJP and the new Saudi-German Rajājil
Project, co-directed by Gebel (2013: 122) in the
region of southern Jordan/northern Saudi Arabia.
The present author takes this hypothesis and within
the framework of a doctoral thesis investigates the
relationship between prehistoric hydraulic practices,
irrigation, pastoralism, early agriculture and horticulture, and changing Mid-Holocene climate, at a supraregional scale on the Arabian Peninsula. The aim is to
understand the possible relationship between aridification, a shifting prehistoric water management strategy
(barrage system, wells, retaining walls) and the introduction of a new economy based upon channel irrigation. The latter is tied to a very specific socio-economic
organization, which supported the establishment of
permanent sedentary life (oasis horticulturalists) in
arid environments. It is possible that this development/adaptation resulted more from the interaction
of independent knowledge and customs, than from a
unilinear evolution of oases on the Arabian Peninsula.
The palaeoclimate of the Mid-Holocene
(7000–5000 cal BP)
To better understand the complexity of socio-cultural/
economic dynamics, it is essential to internalize the
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Figure 1 Map showing climatic archives from the region and sites with relevant archaeological/archaeobotanical remains with radiocarbon dates.
Pokrandt
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environmental and climatic conditions that characterized the period of interest. The palaeoenvironment of
the Mid-Holocene Arabian Peninsula is characterized
by various partly contrasting climates and precipitation regimes. The region is influenced by different
wind regimes of mid-latitude westerly systems with
North Atlantic oscillations, the Red Sea low cyclones
and ocean monsoons, so that different spheres of
activity might interact, shift, appear or disappear
with respect to the geological position, elevation, altitude, and topography of the archives. Precisely
because the period between 7000 and 5000 cal BP is
marked by climatic turbulence, with fluctuations in
the level of precipitation, this span of time might be
the key to understanding the emergence of the oasis
economy in Arabia.
In the Levant, the isotope ratios of Jeita Cave,
Peqiin Cave, Ma’ale Efrayim Cave, and Jerusalem
West Cave point to generally humid conditions until
around 6000 cal BP (Fig. 1; Frumkin et al. 1999,
2000; Vaks et al. 2003; Verheyden et al. 2008: 379,
fig. 8). In contrast, the investigation of Soreq Cave speleothems (Bar-Matthews et al. 1997, 1999, 2003; BarMatthews and Ayalon 2011) has provided a more
precise distinction regarding the early phase of MidHolocene, probably due to its higher resolution. BarMatthews et al. (2003) indentified the peak of wet
climate conditions during the Mid-Holocene c.
6550–6450 cal BP, when the annual precipitation of
this humidity peak was estimated to be c. 700 mm
(Fig. 1). In addition, there were further wet events c.
6700–6680 cal BP and 6170–6100 cal BP (≥350 mm/
year), which alternated with short dry climatic events
c. 6650–6600 cal BP and 6250–6180 cal BP (BarMatthews et al. 2003; Robinson et al. 2006).
According to Bar-Matthews et al. (1997: 166) and
Bar-Matthews and Ayalon (2011: 169–70), the end
of the Chalcolithic is marked by more arid conditions
and an average annual rainfall of around 350 mm. A
further short dry climate event occurred c.
5250–5170 cal BP, becoming well known as the socalled 5.1 ka event, with around 220 mm (Fig. 1;
Bar-Matthews et al. 2003). Soreq Cave speleothems
also identified further markedly wet phases between
5760–5740 cal BP and 5500–5450 cal BP, which received
c. 350–500 mm of rainfall annually (Bar-Matthews
and Ayalon 2011: 168–70). In general, the cave deposits in the Levant confirm strong oscillations between
arid–humid conditions, and indicate that the position
of the Negev desert boundary and the 250 mm rainfall
isohyets some 20 km south compared with the present
day (Goodfriend 1991; Vaks et al. 2003: 188–89).
Despite a general disagreement between archives
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concerning the timing of the onset of a colder, drier
climate, the trend to aridification with cooler temperatures, is visible from around 6500 cal BP in most of the
region’s archives (Bar-Matthews et al. 1997, 1999,
2003; Frumkin et al. 1999, 2000; Vaks et al. 2003;
Verheyden et al. 2008; Finné et al. 2011: 3162, fig. 6).
The records of deep-sea cores (GeoB5804-4,
GeoB5844-4, GeoB5836-2) agree in placing the onset
of gradual aridity after c. 6500 cal BP and confirm
the warming of the Red Sea, resulting in increased salinity (Fig. 1; Arz et al. 2003, 2006; Lamy et al. 2006).
Parker et al. (2006a; 2006b: 468) have suggested that
the humid/arid oscillation during the Mid-Holocene
was the result of a switch to cyclonic winter rainfall,
with its origin in the Mediterranean Westerly
systems. The lacustrine archives of Tayma and Bir
Hayzan in the northern interior of the Arabian
Desert indicate humid–arid climate circulations, as
well as attesting to a decline in precipitation, resulting
in the appearance of saline sabkhas around 5000–4000
cal BP (Fig. 1; Schulz and Whitney 1986; Engel et al.
2011). The lacustrine archives in the interior of northern Arabia confirm a more gradual aridification,
which caused the drying-up of former permanent
lakes, resulting in salt marshes (Schulz and Whitney
1986; Engel et al. 2011) starting around 5000 cal BP.
Schulz and Whitney (1986) document several humid
periods, until c. 5400 cal BP, due to the combination
of lower temperature and heavier cloud cover.
Humidity in desert sand and groundwater transport
enabled standing water and lakes, including those
periods with more arid conditions (Schulz and
Whitney 1986: 175, 186–87).
The distribution map of the various climatic
archives with respect to the study area (Fig. 1)
reveals the central problem of palaeoenvironmental
studies in the interior. All the important archives are
situated in an entirely different geological and geographic location, which raises concerns regarding
their applicability to the study area of this paper. In
anticipation of a sensitive regional climate and hydrological regime of the research area, we cannot rule out
the possibility that the climate archives of the Levant
and the northern interior of the Arabian Desert are
not representative due to different wind regimes influencing the region. Consequently, it is absolutely essential to find regional climatic archives to answer the
question of climate optima/oscillation or alternatively
palaeoenvironment.
Cores taken from the palaeolake in the vicinity
of Tayma, combined with macrobotanical analysis of
archaeological structures, as well as investigations
of the present-day vegetation, seem to provide
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Water management of a Late Chalcolithic pastoral culture in Jordan’s south-eastern desert
promising results concerning the local palaeoenvironment (Dinies et al. 2011, in press) of the research
area. A sediment core from the south-eastern part of
the sabkha (Tay 34, Dinies et al. in press: 72, fig. 1)
preserved an excellent pollen record that enabled
reconstruction of Tayma’s regional/local vegetation
between 10 000 and 4000 cal BP. According to Dinies
et al. (in press: 74) the regional vegetation development of Tayma was characterized by high, yet fluctuating, levels of desert vegetation (Chenopodiaceae,
Plantaginceae, Ephedra, and Asteraceae), indicating
the persistence of desert vegetation (i.e. generally
arid environmental conditions) during the Early-toMid-Holocene. The attested fluctuations in frequencies of Chenopodiaceae (desert indicator) and
Artemisia (steppe indicator) pollen might reflect significant vegetation change due to a temporary
increase/decrease in moisture in the region (Dinies
et al. 2011: 12, in press: 75), indicating climatic oscillations. Evidently, palynological analyses of sabkha
cores qualify the, often general, results of speleothems
and deep-sea cores regarding a humid Early-to-MidHolocene climate and emphasize the importance of
regional/local climatic studies.
Study area and associated hypothesis
Field research started in 2006 (the first survey took
place in 2001) and concentrated on the drainage
systems of Wadi Sahab al-Asmar and Wadi Sahab
al-Abyad leading directly into the geological province
of the Jafr-Tabuk-Basin (Fig. 2): this large basin is
characterized by its widespread Lower Palaeozoic
and Tertiary Cretaceous outcrops north of the
Arabian Shield. It is bordered in the north by the volcanic flows of the Jabal ad Druze-Harrat ash Shamah
area, on the east by the northerly trending Ha’ilRutbah-Kleishe Uplift and the Wadi as Sirhan Basin
with Cenozoic sediments (Pollastro et al. 2004;
Edgell 2006: 34–35). Tracking through the Al-Jafr
Depression (around 914 sq km) with its mudflats covering c. 240 sq km (Qa’al Jafr), the team reached
Qulban Beni Murra near the Saudi border (named
after remnants of wells found in the area), which is
the principal site in the research area (Fig. 2).
Within the barren environment of this vast landscape, it is possible to record the extensive burial
remains of a Mid-Holocene culture within a deflated
landscape, clustering on the shallow and dissected
Figure 2 Map showing location of Qulban Beni Murra, Wadi Sahab al-Abyad, and Wadi Sahab al-Asmar.
Cartography: Keilholz; Google Earth
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banks
of
Wadi
al-Sahab
al-Abyad
(at
30°03′ 50′′ –30°05′ 04′′ N and 37°14′ 35′′ –37°15′ 35′′ E;
867–865 m NN), where it covers more than 1 sq km
of the hammada (Gebel 2013: 114). The present
hyper-arid and barren environment reinforces the
impression of an extensive mortuary landscape that
revealed clearly visible cairn fields, and isolated megalithic burials with standing stones. There were also
water harvesting installations, watering/well complexes, and campsites with circular, pen-like structures,
implying pastoral activities due to water resources and
vegetated landscape.
The crux of all investigations in this hyper-arid
region is dating, due to the lack of datable materials
and frequent re-occupations of the area during the
Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic/Early Bronze. Until
2010, the fossile directeur, the ‘fan scraper’, was the
only datable evidence testifying to a pastoral Late
Neolithic/Chalcolithic landscape reminiscent of
Maitland’s Mesa (Rowan et al. 2011; Wasse et al.
2012) and al-Thulaythuwat (Abu-Azizeh 2010).
Gebel explored the meaning of the early, complex
Bedouin cultures that probably reached Risqeh near
Aqaba and Rajājil near Sakaka in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, he argued for a peak in pastoral occupation during the Mid-Holocene climatic optima on
the grounds that steppic vegetation, lakes, and high
water tables, would have brought life to what is
today the hostile study area of Qulban Beni Murra
(Gebel 2013: 123). These climatic/hydrological conditions probably favoured a progressive increase in
flocks, a large population of wild ungulates (gazelle,
deer etc.) for hunting, and wild dates for storing and
Figure 3
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transporting during pastoral movement. Migration
and long-distance trade routes used by pastoralists to
cross the Arabian Peninsula might have resulted in
aceramic pastoral networks accompanied by an
exchange of meat, cereals, flint artefact, and beads
(Gebel 2010, 2013; Gebel and Mahasneh 2013).
During Mid-Holocene wet phases, Gebel hypothesizes
‘locally restricted (horizontal) transhumant patterns
[…] in favourable locations […]’ with ‘[…] tendencies
for at least seasonal or even permanent philopatry/
sedentism’ (Gebel 2013: 123). The regions of Wadi
Sahab al-Abyad and Wadi Sahab al-Asmar, where
the present project is focused might have offered just
such favourable locations, where inselberg pen campsites testify to (semi-)sedentism. When environmental
conditions became drier and colder, the steppic vegetation, lakes and high aquifers disappeared, and a
hitherto mobile society retreated to hydrologically
favoured locations, before finally becoming sedentary
oasis horticulturalists. Experience gained through pastoralist hydraulic technology (well building, channeltype watering systems) could have been the basis for
the new oasis irrigation system, with its emphasis on
the domesticated date palm (Gebel 2013: 123).
While part of the EJP, the present author focuses
special attention on the relationship between prehistoric hydraulic technology, climate change, and the evidence of early agriculture and horticulture during the
Mid-Holocene. Focusing on the development phase
of early hydraulic technology, we use the model of
the ‘water cube’ (Brunner and Kohler 1997; Brunner
2012: Abb.1), which illustrates irrigation systems
through the analyses of their parameters, namely
Qulban Beni Murra, unexcavated Structure D19, a potential watering complex with well opening (depression) and
cluster of sub-rectangular, circular, and oval-shaped basins.
Photograph: H. G. K. Gebel
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Figure 4 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15. Left: Well opening (mouth) with adjacent ‘well room’ Space 2 and stairs leading to the well. Right: View from inside the well showing corbelled
masonry of the upper well shaft in wadi gravels with OSL-sample at the right edge.
Photographs: Pokrandt
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Figure 5 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15: ‘the well room’ (Space 2) with stairs leading to the well mouth, from the east.
Photograph: Pokrandt
three sources of water, four distribution systems, and
six different kinds of water holdings. When the
various operating principles that are distributed
across the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent regions
are considered, it becomes clear that there are three
regions with very similar irrigation or water-harvesting
systems during the Mid-Holocene (Fig. 11). This
paper concentrates on the case study of Qulban Beni
Murra in southern Jordan, as well as the neighbouring
region of Rajājil and Rasif (Fig. 1) in northern Saudi
Arabia (Saudi-German Standing Stones Project/
Rajājil).
Contrary to Gebel’s hypothesis, however, the
present writer suggests that knowledge of well building, channel-type watering systems, and the like, illustrates a high level of adaptability, as they provide
flexible access to water for pastoralists when faced
with the initial Mid-Holocene climatic oscillations.
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With the onset of ecological stress, due to MidHolocene oscillation and subsequently aridification
(6500–5000 cal BP), the mobile cultures were transformed into (semi-)sedentary horticulture-based or
shadow gardening sites, wherever hydrological and
geological conditions (e.g. wadi courses, in close vicinity to sabkhas/dried-up palaeolakes) allowed the
application of rainwater harvesting techniques suitable
for the support of agri/horticulture. Consequently, the
knowledge of rainwater harvesting techniques, gained
by mobile pastoral populations in the northern
Arabian Peninsula (Zarins 1979; Zarins et al. 1979;
Engel et al. 2011; Wellbrock et al. 2011; Gebel 2013;
Gebel and Mahasneh 2013) was transferred and
extended to embrace irrigated rainwater harvesting
techniques (channels and check dams) with the start
of oases horticulture. Unlike Gebel, the present
author argues that the perception of early oasis
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Water management of a Late Chalcolithic pastoral culture in Jordan’s south-eastern desert
Figure 6
Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15: watering basin Space 3a with paved basin floor.
Photograph: Pokrandt
Figure 7
Structure D15, channel-like watering basin Spaces 7 and 8 with paved basin floor and transversal ‘retaining’ stones,
view from the north-east.
Photograph: Pokrandt
agriculture/shadow gardening based on the (wild or
domesticated) date-palm should be replaced by the
idea of shadow gardening using a floral substitute,
e.g. tamarisk (Tamarix ssp.) or fig ( ficus carica) ( personal communication, Reinder Neef and Michèle
Dinies [German Archaeological Institute/Tayma
project]). Thus, a fully developed oasis agriculture,
which appears around 5100 cal BP, must have been
the result of long-term technical and social
adaptations that have their origins in pastoral/transhumant campsites and their accompanying hydraulic
technology.
Palaeohydrology of the study area
The research area is characterized by various hydrological features, although they are often not obvious in
the present-day environment. The Jafr-Tabuk Basin
is littered with non-perennial watercourses (widyan),
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Figure 8 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15, Space 9 an oval-shaped basin/trough, view from the east.
Photograph: Pokrandt
Figure 9 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15; the watering complex, view from the west.
Photograph: Pokrandt
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Figure 10 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15: Above: The well/watering complex dated to the second half of the 5th millennium
BC (field records: Pokrandt/Keilholz; graph: Purschwitz). Below: Graph of section A from south to north, and section B
from north-west to south-east.
Graph: Pokrandt
Figure 11
Modified ‘water cube’ according to Brunner and Kohler (1997: 172; Brunner 2012: 175).
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ephemeral water bodies (sabkhas or mudflats, also
called qa’, khabra’, or faydah), as well as interior drainage basins (Edgell 2006). Various Pleistocene and
Holocene humid intervals (e.g. ‘Neolithic Wet
Phase’) created extensive river systems whose successive floods cut into earlier river gravels, creating
terrace gravel deposits (Edgell 2006: 309–10). There
is a series of ephemeral streams (widyan), such as
Wadi Sahab al-Asmar and Wadi Sahab al-Abyad,
which flowed into confined drainage basins.
Nowadays, most of these interior drainage basins
have typically a desiccated, mud-cracked, and clayed
surface (e.g. Qa’ al-Jafr, or the khabra’ deposits). The
total area of mudflat deserts in Arabia is estimated
at around 5270 sq km, although science suggests that
there are twice as many interior drainage basins in
the desert, due to the numerous and often quite
small qa’ and khabra’ features in Arabia (Edgell
2006: 351).
In addition to interior drainage basins, there are
also numerous lakebed deposits throughout Arabia,
which are distinguished from mudflats, qa’, and
khabra’ deposits by their larger extent and association
with more permanent lakes ( palaeolakes) (Edgell
2006: 361). The most prominent lakebeds in the vicinity of the research area are the Qa’al-Jafr, a seasonal
lake in the east and the Wadi al Sirhan seasonal
lake, which lies in Saudi Arabia in the West. Our
immediate research area is also characterized by such
palaeolakes, but they generally show a lesser extent
and dependability (Keilholz 2012: 82–83).
While the Arabic term sabkah ( pl. sibakh) originally
described coastal saline deposits, this term has subsequently also referred to inland saline deserts. The
inland sibakh (at least 14,000 sq km in all of Arabia)
are the result of a high and saline water table, combined with capillary action and/or the evaporation
of saline water from rare, inflowing, non-perennial
watercourses (widyan).
The palaeo-hydrology of the region was investigated
by Patrick Keilholz (Universität der Bundeswehr
München) in co-operation with the geoarchaeologist
Bilal Khrisat (Queen Rania Institute of Tourism and
Heritage, The Hashemite University). Using remote
sensing data, Keilholz created a terrain model that
illustrates the drainage basins of Wadi al-Sahab alAsmar (280 sq km) and Wadi al-Sahab al-Abyad
(400 sq km), and depressions that might be dried
palaeolakes (Keilholz 2012: 82–83, fig. 9). The calculation of present precipitation ratios and its distribution within the region indicates that rainfall is
greater in the lower catchments of Wadi al-Sahab alAsmar and al-Abyad than in surrounding regions
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(Keilholz 2012: 82–84). Given that the favoured topographical features probably also existed in prehistoric
times, the area is of great relevance to efforts to
identify the beginning of an oasis economy. The
south-eastern region is characterized by various topographical features related to water supply, including
natural depressions and palaeolakes. In addition,
Keilholz also documented khabrat or seasonal water
harvesting depressions that are often provided with
small stone dams to catch runoff water (Fig. 2).
Besides khabrat, there is also evidence of tapped aquifers by pools (arab. mshāsh), as well as wells with
watering places or troughs (Figs 3–10; Keilholz 2012:
89–92).
The mortuary and pastoral landscape of Qulban
Beni Murra
The following section is concerned with the archaeological remains that indicate the mortuary and pastoral
landscape of Qulban Beni Murra. As neither the mortuary landscape nor the potential area occupied by
pastoralists is the main object of this paper, this paragraph is restricted to the radiocarbon dating of bone
remains and charcoal samples. Investigations have
revealed the complexity of the Mid-Holocene funeral
fields. The ( party) megalithic graves of Qulban Beni
Murra and Wadi al-Sahab al-Asmar attested multiple
lootings (both ancient and recent), and may have also
involved ritual ‘cleaning’ through the burning of
human remains.
Radiocarbon dates taken on 10 bone samples indicate that cairn chambers at Wadi Sahab al-Asmar
were re-used over many centuries, and include numerous secondary burials.1 Isolated megalithic chamber
cairns/graves with ashlars at Qulban Beni Murra provided additional dates (KIA 45877: 5074 ± 34 bp,
3959–3794 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 45880: 5135 ± 30 bp,
3993–3926 cal BC (2σ)).
In close vicinity to Qulban Beni Murra, Gebel also
documented the remains of functionally diversified
structures ( pens, domestic structures, silo-type features, hearths, terrace walls). The radiocarbon dating
of a charcoal sample (KIA 45684: 7056 ± 38 bp,
6012–5875 cal BC (2σ,)) from a domestic structure of
Wadi Sahab al-Asmar (Wadi al-Sahab al-Asmar 6)
confirms the dating of the (semi-)sedentary site to an
Early-to-Mid-Holocene position, similar to the
1
KIA 45875: 5150 ± 35 bp, 4004–3933 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 45876: 4944 ±
31 bp, 3781–3655 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 45878: 4884 ± 27 bp, 3703–3640 cal
BC (2σ,); KIA 45879: 4804 ± 29 bp, 3602–3524 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 45881:
4427 ± 31 bp, 3119–2924 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 43945: 4349 ± 35 bp,
3028–2896 cal BC (2σ,); KIA 43946: 4720 ± 36 bp, 3466–3375 cal BC
(2σ,). The calibration is based on ‘CALIB rev 5.01′ (calibration curve
‘IntCal04’) (Leibniz Labor Kiel).
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dating of Maitland’s Mesa (Rowan et al. 2011) and alThulaythuwat (Abu-Azizeh 2010), both of which date
to Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic. Contrary to the
project’s expectation, these newly identified pen campsites located at the foot of the inselberg probably do
not witness a local transition from pastoral ‘well cultures’ to semi-sedentary cultures (Gebel and
Mahasneh 2013), but rather precede the ‘well cultures’
of Qulban Beni Murra. Nonetheless, the foothill zones
of inselbergs seem to have been the preferred settings
for campsites, probably because they functioned as
windbreaks and barriers/diversions for the aquifers,
and places for surface water to collect near wells or
mshāsh pools (Gebel 2010, 2013; Gebel and
Mahasneh 2013).
The well/watering complex of Qulban Beni
Murra
Description
The drainage system of Wadi al-Sahab al-Abyad
attests to a subsurface topography forcing groundwater up to the wadi surface near the central part of
Qulban Beni Murra.
In this favourable hydrological location, there is a
concentration of at least nine prehistoric wells supplying different watering complexes located in the wadi
floor (Area D, see Fig. 3). In 1944, Kirkbride and
Harding (1945) counted the remains of at least seven
prehistoric wells. In 2008, the EJP selected the ‘well
structure’ D15 for investigation. This took the form
of a sand-filled circular depression (c. 5–6 m in diameter, c. 0.5 m deep) and an adjacent small mound
standing c. 0.5 m above the surrounding hammada
and wadi bed. The mound was formed by a mixture
of reddish material, aeolian sand, and irregular and
regular stone structures, forming clusters of oblong,
oval-shaped, and curvilinear spaces.
The well shaft was buried under a thick layer of
aeolian sand located in the circular depression. After
exposing the well opening, the excavation of the well
shaft was stopped at a depth of 4.50 m due to safety
Table 1 Qulban Beni Murra, Structure D15. Calculation of the
area and volume of ‘troughs’
Space
∼Length
(m)
∼Width
(m)
Area
(sq m)
Water
level (m)
Volume
(qb m)
3a
4a
7+8
9
10
11
3.00
2.50
8.00
4.00
4.50
6.80
2.50
2.00
0.75
1.50
2.00
0.75
5.89
3.93
4.71
4.71
7.07
4.00
30.30
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.59
0.39
0.47
0.47
0.71
0.40
3.03
In total
concerns. The upper 1.20 m of the well shaft consists
of stone corbelling resting on natural wadi deposits
(Fig. 4 right). In the interior walls of the vertical well
shaft (1.20 m in dia.), one can still recognize small cavities that seem to have served as steps or supports.
After they abandoned the aim of reaching the well
bottom, the excavators focused on the surrounding
structures and revealed a depression indicating the
‘well room’ with a staircase leading to the opening of
the well (Fig. 4 left, Fig. 10, Space 1 and 2).
Adjacent to the ‘well room’, oblong, channel-like
structures (Figs 7 and 10; 1.50–11 m long; space 3b,
4b, 7, 8 and 11) and sub-oval/curvilinear spaces or
basins (Figs 6, 8, 9 and 10, Space 3a; Space 4a,
Space 5, and 6 strongly eroded) seem to be troughs
leading off from the ‘well room’, creating a multispaced watering complex. Without exception, all
spaces identified were paved with smaller stones and
lined by a single row of small ashlars and slabs. The
latter were around 0.5 m in height, and were placed
upright to form a sub-rectilinear shape. There are
two channel-like spaces stretching from north-west to
south-east (Fig. 10 above, Spaces 7 and 8) and from
west to east (Space 11). These rectilinear corridors
are also stone paved; yet show some subdivisions in
the form of transversal ‘retaining’ stones, creating
small chambers or rather troughs (Fig. 7). Again,
there are circular paved basins (Figs 8 and 10,
Spaces 9 and 10) at each end. Soundings excavated
in the watering complex proved that the thick deposit
of reddish soil was the remains of the material used
to seal the troughs.
The section through the watering complex reveals
that the spaces are arranged in a stepped construction,
with their highest points close to the opening of the
well (Fig. 10, sections A and B). The angle of inclination from channel-like Spaces 7 and 8 leading to
the most north-westerly circular basin/Space 9 is
approximately 3.7 per cent (Fig. 10, section A),
while the inclination from the channel-like Space 11
leading into the south-easternmost basin/Space 10 is
close to 3.45 per cent.
The author perceives the well opening with its ‘well
room’ (space 2) and the stairs giving access to the well,
as the central part of the watering complex (Fig. 4 left).
It is possible that this part of the complex had a domeshaped roof and covering over the well opening, to
offer protection against contamination, insolation,
and wind-borne sand. The dome-like roof might
have consisted of brushwood and branches and the
well opening was probably covered using the same
material as used for roofing, or perhaps leather and
branches. The perishable nature of these materials
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means that this must, of course, remain a suggestion.
The same applies to methods of drawing water, as
neither the ‘well-room’ nor the well opening produced
any traces of a block or winch arrangement. Although
we cannot rule out water withdrawal using a wooden
installation, the author suspects that the Neolithic pastoralist community were more likely to have resorted
to an organic water container, such as a leather bag
raised and lowered on a rope, by hand.
The watering of the livestock was managed by filling
the watering basins, in a sequence beginning with that
closest to the ‘well-room’ (e.g. Space 3a, 4a [eroded]
and 6 [strongly eroded]), to suit the level of demand
for water and the size of the animal herds. The
filling of the troughs could be extended to include
channel-like basins (Figs 7 and 10, Space 7, 8, and
11), which funnelled the well water towards the circular basins in the north-west and south-east (Figs 8–10,
Spaces 9, 10). The circular, oval, and channel-like
basins were paved, and their walls and floors were presumably sealed with organic material that has not yet
been detected in the archaeological record.
Water capacity, sediment analyses, and radiocarbon
dating of the watering complex
While the south-eastern part of the well and watering
complex D15 at Qulban Beni Murra is strongly
eroded, it was possible to excavate the potential drinking troughs located to the north, northwest, west, and
southeast of the well shaft. The egg-shaped basins
(Figs 6, 8 and 10; Spaces 3a; 4a, 9, and 10) had an
average surface area of 4–5 sq m, equating to a potential water capacity of around 0.9–1.4 m3 on the
assumption of a 0.1 m water level (Table 1).
Although the elongated channels (Figs 7 and 10,
Space 7 and 8, 11) were designed to funnel the water
to the oval troughs, these spaces also served as drinking troughs directly accessible to livestock. Assuming
that the water stood around 0.1 m deep within the
basins, the estimated volume of water contained
within each of these basins is approximately
0.4–0.5 m3 (Table 1, Fig. 10). If the well resources
were sufficiently high, the total rated capacity of the
watering complex could be around 3 m3 for a single
complete filling. Keilholz ( personal communication)
thinks it unlikely that the well would have been able
to supply such a volume every day. Rather, this
would have been possible roughly every 2 or 4
weeks. The project hydrologist refers to the formation
of a cone of depression, which is a funnel-shaped drop
in the surface of the aquifers caused by the withdrawal
of well water leaving the water there, below the level of
the surrounding aquifer. According to Keilholz, the
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rate of withdrawal would have equalized very slowly,
which suggests a shifting usage of the various wells
according to the replenishment of the aquifer.
Grain size analysis of the reddish material indicated
a fine, clay silt within, and a reduced, clay silt outside
the trough structures. In terms of mineral composition,
both samples consisted of quartz and calcite, yet differed in their concentration of kaolinite (feldspar).
Mineral analyses determined that the reddish colour
is a result of the presence of ferric oxide that was not
detectable in either sediment using x-ray diffraction.
In the research area, there was only one further site
examined that produced such a reddish sediment,
namely mshāsh Sahab al-Asmar. This indicates that
the reddish colour might be the result of iron contained within the groundwater. Analyses indicated a
higher content of organic material outside the
troughs and a lower content within them. This
makes sense in terms of livestock standing in front of
the troughs to drink, and thus dropping their dung
outside, rather than inside the troughs.
A charcoal sample from the reddish material provides a date in the second half of the 7th millennium
BP for the watering complex (KIA 43373: 5568 ±
35 bp, 4459–4346 cal BC (2σ,)) and thus confirmed
the well’s use in the Chalcolithic period.
Unfortunately, the radiocarbon date refers only to
the troughs/watering complex that encompassed the
well opening, although the construction and use of
the well might have preceded this by centuries.
Prior to the new radiocarbon evidence, the dating of
cairns, domestic structures, and watering/well complexes of the area was based on the presence of ‘fan
scrapers’, these being the only truly diagnostic tooltype found by the research project. Comparative
examples of Mid-Holocene wells or watering places
from what is now hyper-arid Arabian Peninsula are
restricted to a potential Chalcolithic well with stonelined troughs at Rajājil (Zarins 1979), along with the
wells from al-Naqab, the ‘Uvda Valley, and Ma’laleh
Shaharut (Avner 2002: 25, figs 2, 84–85; Gebel 2013:
112) which also date to the 7th millennium BP. This
begs the question of whether these instances of prehistoric hydraulic technology are unusual examples, or if
their scarcity reflects a lack of research, and that we
might expect further examples to be found in Arabia
in the course of future investigations.
The well and watering complex in light of palaeoclimatic
records
The integration of the radiocarbon dates with the isotopic records of climate archives from the Red Sea and
the Levant indicates that the well complex was
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probably maintained during the so-called MidHolocene ‘Warm Period’ (between the Early
Holocene Humid Phase and Rapid Climate Change
5.1 ka), which was characterized by variations in seasonal temperatures and fluctuating precipitation.
This chronological position allows for two different
interpretations. According to Gebel (2010, 2013), the
watering complexes of Qulban Beni Murra represent
the hydraulic competency of complex, mobile pastoral
societies that used lakes and aquifers with high water
levels to provision their livestock during a humid
phase of the so-called Mid-Holocene climate optima
(Gebel 2013: 123).
Unlike Gebel, however, the present writer argues
that the well/watering places of Qulban Beni Murra
represent an adaptation to earlier fluctuating precipitation rates, to cope with the watering of livestock
during dry periods of Mid-Holocene climatic oscillation. The well building and tapping of aquifer
groundwater would have represented an enormous
hydraulic technology challenge, as well as a considerable level of socio-economic and socio-cultural organization, and cannot simply be compared with the
harvesting of surface water. It is unlikely that human
groups would have risen to such a challenge except
during periods of exceptional circumstances, such as
those of fluctuating precipitation or aridification.
The range of opinion on this question, however, illustrates the importance of local climatic investigations,
to investigate the matter of climate optima or oscillation during the period of use of the watering
complex. Moreover, this must take full account of
the sensitive local hydrological, palynological conditions, and the various wind regimes of the region.
Interpretation and conclusion
It is likely that oscillations in the Mid-Holocene
climate would have impacted on the contemporary
human populations. Some evidence provided by the
EJP in southern Jordan highlights certain qualities
of these pastures, which also adapted to the fluctuating
rainfall. The radiocarbon dating of the watering
complex in Area D located in the wadi floor of
Qulban Beni Murra (KIA 43373: 5568 ± 35 bp,
4459–4346 cal BC), as well as the dating of a burial,
part of a chain of isolated megalithic single/doublechamber cairns with ashlars (KIA 45877: 5074 ±
34 bp, 3959–3794 cal BC; KIA 45880: 5135 ± 30 bp,
3993–3926 cal BC) flanking Area D (wadi floor)
point to a Chalcolithic pastoralist culture (Gebel
2010, 2013; Gebel and Mahasneh 2013). It is not yet
clear whether these Mid-Holocene pastoralists benefitted from a wetter climate, as well as a steppe
landscape, including lakes, on the Arabian Peninsula
(Mid-Holocene Wet Event; c. 6550–6450 cal BP; BarMatthews et al. 2003, Gebel 2013: 123); or passed
through the initial climatic oscillation with fluctuating
water tables that demanded the periodical watering of
livestock (Fig. 1). Future work by the EJP and the new
Saudi-German Rajājil Project (co-directed by Gebel)
will consider questions of regional climatic change
by seeking to identify local climatic archives.
Irrespective of the onset of climatic oscillation/aridification, the gradual decrease in monsoon rainfall,
accompanied by a progressive decline in steppic vegetation and the deflation of former plentiful pasture
areas, is evidenced in almost all climatic archives
since at least c. 5200 cal BP (Fig. 1). Consequently, formerly pastoral societies (e.g. those of Qulban Beni
Murra) had to adapt to new environmental conditions
through altering, or adding to, their previous subsistence economies.
Mid-Holocene hydraulic technology
A successful survival strategy to tackle a reduction in
precipitation might be a (semi) sedentary way of life,
accompanied by fairly simple hydraulic techniques,
and a two-tier subsistence economy of pastoralism/
transhumance, with perhaps incipient horticulture/
agriculture. A simple pastoral hydraulic technology
may be evidenced in the archaeological remains of
the wells and troughs at Qulban Beni Murra, and in
mshāsh pools (seasonally used artificial water holes)
and dam-like, terrace walls along the flanks of Wadi
Sahab al-Asmar (Gebel 2013: 121). Unfortunately,
most prehistoric hydraulic technology remains are
hard to date, and Gebel (2013: 121) suggests that
further ‘wells and watering complexes […] have been
buried by the wadi’s post-occupational gravels’. The
neighbouring Rajājil Project also reveals examples of
Mid-Holocene water management systems (dams,
troughs, wells) at the depression of Rasif and Rajājil
(Zarins 1979; Gebel 2013: 122). Apparently, the
north Arabian Peninsula benefitted from special
hydrological and geological conditions, e.g. wadi
courses and natural depression like sabkhas/dried
palaeolakes, which facilitated the use of special rainwater harvesting techniques by Mid-Holocene
mobile populations. The functional principle of this
is illustrated through the model of the ‘water cube’
(Fig. 11; Brunner and Kohler 1997; Brunner 2012:
Abb.1), which analyses the various irrigation systems
according to their sources of water, distribution
systems, and types of water holdings. The ‘water
cube’ illustrates that northern Arabia is characterized
by a system of rainwater harvesting, using small
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stone walls to reduce the wadi runoff, and making use
of upper flooded basins for grain cultivation; earliest
evidence occurs at Pre-Pottery Neolithic B systems in
the Jafr Basin (Fujii 2007, 2008). A little later, pastoralists at Qulban Beni Murra, Rasif, and Rajājil
exploited groundwater through wells and troughs,
and probably also surface water through the use of
khabra (not datable) and dams (Zarins 1979; Gebel
2010, 2013; Gebel and Mahasneh 2013). One of the
most prominent Chalcolithic sites, Tell Hujayarat alGhuzlan, demonstrates a complex irrigation system
of basins, open canals, and integrates terraced fields
based on groundwater (Klimscha 2010, 2012;
Müller-Neuhof et al. 2004).
It is the author’s hypothesis that the knowledge of
rainwater harvesting techniques attested by pastoralist
groups in the north Arabian Peninsula (Zarins 1979;
Zarins et al. 1979; Engel et al. 2011; Wellbrock et al.
2011; Gebel 2013; Gebel and Mahasneh 2013) was
probably specific to irrigated rainwater harvesting
techniques (channels and check dams) at the beginning
of horticulture/shadow gardening. Concomitantly,
these formerly mobile groups might have transferred
into (semi) sedentary occupations wherever the hydrology and geology permitted the adoption of rainwater
harvesting techniques appropriate to the new subsistence economy of horticulture/shadow gardening
(oasis).
The (semi-)sedentary sites of early to Mid-Holocene
The main challenge for future archaeological research
concerns the provision of evidence regarding agriculture and sedentary/horticulture sites. The contemporary deflated hyper-arid landscape is hostile to the
preservation of organic material (e.g. botanical
macro remains, pollen, and charcoal), or distinctive
soil profiles that would allow the reconstruction of
occupational phases, vegetational development, or
the presumed subsistence economy of horticulture/
shadow gardening (oasis). The EJP has located
several aceramic pen campsites at the foot of inselbergs
in Wadi Sahab al-Abyad (Wadi Sahab al-Abyad 14;
Gebel et al. 2011; Gebel 2013: 121) and neighbouring
Wadi Sahab al-Asmar (Wadi al-Sahab al-Asmar 6
[Gebel 2013: 118, fig. 7, 121] 16, 20, 21, and 23).
Although the archaeological investigations of the pen
campsites have, as yet, produced limited results from
excavation, preliminary surveys, and topographic
mapping, document an extensive diversity of function,
impressive dimensions and evidence for seasonality
that might justify the term settlement (Gebel 2013:
121). According to Gebel, the preliminary results of
the pen campsites (e.g. one radiocarbon date, KIA
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45684, Fig. 1) hinder us form making clear statements
regarding chronology, seasonality or (semi) permanent
status, he has in the meantime developed various occupational scenarios (Gebel 2013: 121–24, fig. 11).
The agricultural indices of the Mid-Holocene
The third key component in the investigation of the
beginning of oasis/horticulture is the palaeo-botanical
evidence of domesticated plants that require irrigation/rainwater harvesting. At the present time,
however, neither the EJP nor the Rajājil Project can
provide archaeobotanical remains or palynological
analyses to confirm agricultural practices in the
desert interior of the northern Arabian Peninsula at
this time. However, Dinies et al. (2011, in press) used
the pollen record of cores from the sabkha in the vicinity of Tayma, some 300 km from Qulban Beni Murra,
to reconstruct the local/regional vegetation history.
The sediments of an Early-to-Mid-Holocene sequence
(Dinies et al. in press: 73, fig. 2) attest to fluctuating
frequencies of desert plant species (Chenopodiaceae)
and steppe plant species (Artemisia), indicating
strong variations in plant cover as a result of changing
precipitation rates (Dinies et al. 2011, in press: 74).
Additionally, the palynological analyses pointed to
oasis cultivation in Tayma from around the 6th millennium BP on the basis of pollen types, and seeds and
fruits from archaeological contexts at Tayma that
belonged to plants typically cultivated in oases
(Fig. 1; Dinies et al. in press: 76, table 2). The most
striking results of the pollen and macro remains analysed to date, concern the absence of date palms
(Phoenix) yet the existence of figs (Ficus) and vine
(Vitis). The apparent absence of date palms at
Tayma is consistent with investigations in the Middle
East and Egypt that argue that date palms became
important only from the Early Bronze Age
(Tengberg 2012). Thus, the shade-giving date palm
was probably not cultivated during the early stages
of oasis agriculture, although the horticulture/oasis
culture is based on shadow gardening. Consequently,
initial oasis cultivation was probably characterized
by shadow gardening of crops under a suitable substitute, e.g. tamarisk (Tamarix sp.) or fig (Ficus) ( personal communication, Reinder Neef and Michèle
Dinies (German Archaeological Institute/Tayma
project). The palynological analyses of Dinies et al.
(in press: 77) confirm the presence of both figs and
olive trees at Tayma during the Mid-Holocene, but
do not exclude their natural propagation, rather than
the definite cultivation of oasis plants. However, the
evidence of pollen, seeds, and charcoal remains of
Vitis is a clear anthropogenic indicator for the
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cultivation of vine in the oasis of Tayma. The AMSdating of the first record of vine pollen in the pollen
sequence of the Tayma-core places the beginning of
vine cultivation at around 5250 cal BP (∼3300 cal BC,
Dinies et al. in press: 77).
Given the results of the various climatic records and
the variable levels of precipitation and the presence of
arid periods (Fig. 1), it seems likely that the beginning
of vine/oasis cultivation was encouraged by either
naturally occurring high groundwater levels, irrigation,
or at least suitable rainwater harvesting techniques
during the 6th millennium BP. In conclusion, I
suggest that the irrigation/rainwater harvesting practices essential to early oasis cultivation were based
on the hydraulic technology of the Mid-Holocene pastoral societies that had migrated across the northern
Arabian Peninsula. Migration and long distance
exchange routes among these groups might have
resulted in pastoralist networks that facilitated the
trading of goods, shared cultural behaviour, and
even knowledge of cultivation, agricultural, and
hydraulic techniques and irrigation itself.
The author’s future research will focus on the two
remaining regions illustrated by the ‘water cube’ and
that reveal the same functional principles of MidHolocene irrigation/water-harvesting systems as the
northern Arabia (Fig. 11) — the southern and southeastern Arabian Peninsula. The author anticipates a
similar pastoral background for the hydraulic technology for those Mid-Holocene water management
systems based on rainwater harvesting in those areas
(Frifelt 1976, 2003; Orchard 1995; McCorriston
et al. 2005; Harrower 2008, 2009, 2010; Cleuziou
2009; Cleuziou et al. 2011; Brunner 2012: 176–77;
Pietsch and Kühn 2012), and thus comparable with
the fundamental hydrological knowledge of the northern pastoral cultures. It is expected that the pastoral
practice of rainwater harvesting was the catalyst in
the development of oasis agriculture/horticulture,
which ultimately evolved into a complex use of
surface water through a system of check and diversion
dams for retarding and diverting floodwater (Frifelt
1976, 2003; Orchard 1995; McCorriston et al. 2005;
Harrower 2008, 2009, 2010; Pietsch and Kühn 2012),
as well as groundwater use by fortified wells (e.g.
Hili 8 [Cleuziou 2009; Cleuziou et al. 2011], Bāt
[Frifelt 1976, 2003; Orchard 1995] and Maysar
[Orchard 1995; Frifelt 2003]).
Acknowledgements
The study described here was embedded in the Eastern
Jafr Project, which examines the aceramic pastoral
culture in the south-eastern corner of the Jordanian
desert. I am indebted to the director of the project
Dr Hans Georg K. Gebel (ex oriente e.V. at Free
University of Berlin) not only for support in the
field, but also for his guidance and suggestions regarding the scientific approach. Jürgen Baumgarten
offered constructive comments and encouragement. I
wish to thank the following for their generous
support: Patrick Keilholz (hydrologist, Universität
der Bundeswehr München), Dr Reinder Neef and Dr
Michèle
Dinies
(archaeobotanists,
German
Archaeological Institute). I appreciate the feedback
offered by Dr Bernd Müller-Neuhof (German
Archaeological Institute) and two anonymous
reviewers whose comments greatly improved the
manuscript.
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