- Anthropology, Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Anatolian Archaeology, GIS and Landscape Archaeology, Remote Sensing (Archaeology), and 37 moreSatellite Remote Sensing (Archaeology), Ground Stone Technology, Pastoral landscapes (Archaeology), Gift Exchange, Pastoralism (Archaeology), Cultural Exchange, Mobility (Archaeology), Arabian/Persian Gulf Archaeology, Anthropology of Mobility, Nomadic Peoples, Dromography (Historic Routes Research), Landscape Archaeology, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Syria (Archaeology), Archaeology of Jordan, Levant Prehistory, Stone axes (Archaeology), Archaeological GIS, Ancient Near East, Mesopotamian Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Landscapes in prehistory, Rock Art, Time Perception, Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant, Cultural Landscapes, Rock Art (Archaeology), Near Eastern Art and Archaeology, Digital Archaeology, Early Medieval Archaeology, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, Landscape, History of Archaeology, Iron Age, Archaeology of Caravans, Mobility/Mobilities, and Desert Road Archaeologyedit
- I am currently involved in the Maritime Endangered Archaeology project (or MarEA) for which I carry out a remote sens... moreI am currently involved in the Maritime Endangered Archaeology project (or MarEA) for which I carry out a remote sensing study of maritime landscapes in various parts of the Middle East and North Africa. I am based at Ulster University’s School of Geography & Environmental Sciences, Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Background:
I am a landscape archaeologist with an interest in processes of modifying and encountering human living space in the ancient Near East. I received my doctorate from the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University (2018) for my dissertation 'Mobile Peoples - Permanent Places' (see below). I have studied a variety of archaeological landscapes in Turkey, the Levant, and Arabia through remote sensing, field survey, and excavation projects. In addition, I assess archaeological landscapes for cultural heritage management purposes in the Middle East and North Africa, and I contribute to various research and management projects through my expertise in Geographic Information Systems.edit
Mobile Peoples-Permanent Places explores the relationship between nomadic communities who resided in the Black Desert of northeastern Jordan between c. 300 BC and 900 AD and the landscapes they inhabited and extensively modified. Although... more
Mobile Peoples-Permanent Places explores the relationship between nomadic communities who resided in the Black Desert of northeastern Jordan between c. 300 BC and 900 AD and the landscapes they inhabited and extensively modified. Although these communities were highly mobile, moving through the desert following seasonal variation in natural resources, they significantly invested in the landscapes they frequented by erecting highly durable stone architecture, and by carving rock art and inscriptions. Although these inscriptions, known as Safaitic, are relatively well studied, the archaeological remains had received little attention until recently. This book focuses on the architectural features, including enclosures and elaborate burial cairns, that were created in the landscape some 2000 years ago and which were used and revisited on multiple occasions. It explores how nomadic communities modified these landscapes by presenting new data from remote sensing, field surveys, and excavations. To better understand the purpose of these modifications and how this changed through time, the landscape is further analysed on various temporal and geographic scales. This book particularly deals with the archaeological landscapes of the Jebel Qurma region of northeastern Jordan. It is part of the Landscapes of Survival project, a research programme based at Leiden University that has brought together both archaeologists and epigraphers to work on this fascinating region.
Research Interests:
Tell Sabi Abyad is a major Late Neolithic settlement mound in Northern Syria, belonging to the seventh and early sixth millennium bc. This book presents the results of large-scale fieldwork conducted at the site between 1994 and 1999,... more
Tell Sabi Abyad is a major Late Neolithic settlement mound in Northern Syria, belonging to the seventh and early sixth millennium bc. This book presents the results of large-scale fieldwork conducted at the site between 1994 and 1999, under the auspices of the Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities and Leiden University. For six successive field campaigns, the relatively low and gently sloping southeastern part of Tell Sabi Abyad – termed Operation I – was the focus of broad horizontal excavation and a diverse, interdisciplinary series of investigations, aimed at the exploration of the sequence of local Late Neolithic (or Pottery Neolithic) villages dating from around 6200-5850 BC.
Because of the large-scale investigation at Tell Sabi Abyad, we are much better informed on the local development of culture and society in the Late Neolithic – an era which received little scholarly attention, if not sheer neglect, for a very long time but which has rapidly gained recognition in the past two decades.
This monograph takes the reader through an account of the excavation and an analysis of the material remains from the 1994 to 1999 field campaigns at Tell Sabi Abyad. The book provides reports on the stratigraphy, architecture, material culture, plant remains, human skeletal remains, and other finds from the various phases of Neolithic settlement at the site.
Because of the large-scale investigation at Tell Sabi Abyad, we are much better informed on the local development of culture and society in the Late Neolithic – an era which received little scholarly attention, if not sheer neglect, for a very long time but which has rapidly gained recognition in the past two decades.
This monograph takes the reader through an account of the excavation and an analysis of the material remains from the 1994 to 1999 field campaigns at Tell Sabi Abyad. The book provides reports on the stratigraphy, architecture, material culture, plant remains, human skeletal remains, and other finds from the various phases of Neolithic settlement at the site.
Research Interests:
This paper discusses the identification of nomadic camp sites in the Black Desert of Jordan between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic periods. It focuses particularly on two features that were studied through surface surveys and... more
This paper discusses the identification of nomadic camp sites in the Black Desert of Jordan between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic periods. It focuses particularly on two features that were studied through surface surveys and excavations in the Jebel Qurma region: enclosures and clearings. The archaeological remains suggest that they were used for residential purposes by short-term visitors to the region. Important in the identification and interpretation of such features are pottery sherds from the Classical and Late Antique periods. The camp sites identified in the Jebel Qurma region vary in morphology and location, and it is suggested that these differences may relate to the use of such features at different times of the year.
Research Interests:
This paper calls attention to the presence of countless ancient paths on the basalt-covered surfaces characteristic of harra landscapes in north-eastern Jordan. These paths have developed over the course of at least the last two... more
This paper calls attention to the presence of countless ancient paths on the basalt-covered surfaces characteristic of harra landscapes in north-eastern Jordan. These paths have developed over the course of at least the last two millennia, and potentially prior to that, by trafficking of nomadic peoples and animals. These paths facilitated movements through terrains that were otherwise difficult to traverse. Paths can be recognised on high-resolution satellite imagery, which allows for systematic documentation and the reconstruction of potential routes through the landscape. The identification and mapping of these paths is important for better understanding mobility patterns of nomadic peoples who inhabited these desert landscapes in antiquity.
Research Interests:
Recent fieldwork in the Jebel Qurma region, in the basalt wasteland east of Azraq, revealed a large number of prehistoric sites, dating from the 7th to the late 4th millennia cal BC. While some sites were little more than lithic scatters... more
Recent fieldwork in the Jebel Qurma region, in the basalt wasteland east of Azraq, revealed a large number of prehistoric sites, dating from the 7th to the late 4th millennia cal BC. While some sites were little more than lithic scatters over a few dozen square metres, others were of impressive size, up to 8 hectares in extent and characterized by hundreds of stone-built structures. The new data demonstrate considerable diversity in site layout as well as clear shifts in habitation patterns and locational preferences through time. These new insights require a re-evaluation of current thoughts on settlement and community organization in the basaltic uplands of northeastern Jordan in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.
Research Interests:
In June 2013, an archaeological survey was carried out in the Hazimah plains, situated in the Jebel Qurma region of north-eastern Jordan. These plains surround the so-called Black Desert or harra, which has been known to contain an... more
In June 2013, an archaeological survey was carried out in the Hazimah plains, situated in the Jebel Qurma region of north-eastern Jordan. These plains surround the so-called Black Desert or harra, which has been known to contain an extremely rich archaeological and epigraphic record. In contrast to the harra, little is known about the archaeology of the surrounding hamad landscapes, and the survey presented in this paper aims to contribute to filling in this gap of knowledge. Initially, the survey aims to investigate the long-term history of settlement and land-use of this seemingly hostile environment, and, at the same time, seeks out an efficient methodology for locating the remains of the largely mobile communities that inhabited the Hazimah plains in the past.
Research Interests:
Short introduction (in Dutch) to my PhD research
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Near Eastern Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Near Eastern Studies, Middle East History, Landscape Archaeology, and 6 moreAncient Near East (Archaeology), Jordan (History), History and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Archaeology of Jordan, Iron Age Jordan, and History and Religion of Iron Age Jordan
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article presents the remains of a T-shaped burnt building found in trench V6 in Operation II at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria. The burnt building closely resembles the so-called Burnt Village excavated earlier at Tell Sabi... more
This article presents the remains of a T-shaped burnt building found in trench V6 in Operation II at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria. The burnt building closely resembles the so-called Burnt Village excavated earlier at Tell Sabi Abyad in Operation I, level 6, but is slightly older. Many objects were discovered in the ruins of the burnt building, but the most striking discovery was the burial of a young woman. In this paper we present the V6 burnt building and its remains. We argue that the building was purposely set ablaze as part of a ritual related to fire and death.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This poster presents a remote sensing approach to the Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape, located in eastern Jordan’s basalt desert. In this area many archaeological features, mostly the remains of hunter-gatherer and mobile pastoralist... more
This poster presents a remote sensing approach to the Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape, located in eastern Jordan’s basalt desert. In this area many archaeological features, mostly the remains of hunter-gatherer and mobile pastoralist societies, are still standing above-ground, as the landscape has not suffered greatly from erosion, sedimentation or human action during the past millennia. High resolution satellite imagery, complemented with aerial photographs can therefore be used efficiently to conduct an assessment of this largely unknown archaeological landscape. Combining the remote sensing data with geographic and environmental data in a Geographic Information System provides a platform to further investigate the economic and social landscape context of the archaeological remains, and of the past societies they belonged to. This approach thus provides new opportunities for a more complete understanding of the archaeology of such desert landscapes.