Jordan- Ancient oasis sheds light on early humans 

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) IN THE DRYING marshlands of the Azraq oasis lie the remnants of one of the earliest communities to roam the Levant.

Ayn Qasiyya - an Epipalaeolithic site dating back some 20,000 years located in the Azraq Wetlands Reserve - has yielded dozens of secrets from the prehistoric past and the oldest human remains ever uncovered in Jordan.

According to climactic records, eastern Jordan and Syria was arid and dry with little rainfall, leading many experts to believe that the southeastern Levant was incapable of supporting early human settlements.

Despite the inhospitable conditions, recent excavations at Ayn Qasiyya and nearby Qasr Kharaneh have proven otherwise, revealing that the basin supported some of the largest communities at the time and that one of the most remote desert oases was once a thriving, densely populated region.

Between 2005 and 2007, University College London (UCL), University of Cambridge and Department of Antiquities (DoA) teams unearthed a treasure trove of data shedding light on one of the earliest communities in Jordan, according to Tobias Richter, project director and University of Copenhagen professor.

The now nearly parched wetlands of Azraq would be almost unrecognisable some 20,000 years ago, according to archaeological records.

Excess water flowed into the Azraq basin, providing a life source for the plethora of animals and multiple human settlements that called the area home. Gazelle, wild ass and cattle roamed the wetlands and served as a major food source for the earliest communities. Almond trees bloomed along the oasis' edge and provided firewood and an additional food source for Epipalaeolithic humans.

People at the time were hunter-gatherers, living in semi-settled communities around the oasis. Predecessors to the Neolithic humans who would give rise to the first settled communities, Epipalaeolithic humans such as the settlers at Azraq dabbled in agriculture, hunted extensively and developed social patterns that would later develop into villages and cities.

The results of a series of excavations, which have been published in several academic journals, revealed that the people of Ayn Qasiyya were skilled craftsmen, fashioning microliths, long-blade knives and scrapers from flint used for hunting, hide skinning and drilling.

Human burial

Amidst stone tools and animal bones, DoA and UCL teams uncovered one of the most important Epipalaeolithic discoveries to date: the complete skeleton of a male in his 30s, the seventh complete human remains ever uncovered from the period and the second in Jordan.

"There is a very sparse record of human populations in the region during this period," Richter said in an e-mail to The Jordan Times.

What makes the discovery unique is not only the age - radiocarbon dating places the burial at some 20,000 years old - but the position in which the body was placed.

The deceased's legs were splayed wide apart in a crouching position, with the torso and skull collapsed together, leading experts to believe that the body was bound in an upright sitting position, the first such sitting burial to be discovered in Jordan.

Experts believe the people of Ayn Qasiyya most likely left the bodies of their deceased exposed to the elements, providing a possible explanation for the lack of existing human remains dating back to the period.

Human remains uncovered at nearby Qasr Kharaneh, which is currently being excavated as part of the greater Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project, however, were uncovered in a tomb-like structure.

The differences in burial may be attributed to one of the earliest cases of class distinction.

"Perhaps burial was preserved for people considered in some way special, while 'normal' people were given over to exposure, but it is very difficult to speculate," Richter said.

What the ceremonial burial practices of the peoples of Ayn Qasiyya and Kharaneh do show is that human burial rituals were developed hundreds of years earlier than previously believed.

Archaeologists are holding out hope that further DNA study of the remains will unlock even more secrets - such as the diet, biography and ancestry of the people who congregated on the Azraq basin and established communities hundreds of years before the first Neolithic settlements emerged.

Despite offering a treasure trove of data, one of scholars' closest glimpses into the Epipalaeolithic period in Jordan may not be around for much longer.

The rapid degradation of the Azraq Wetlands has exposed the site of Ayn Qasiyya, while the encroachment of modern development threatens many existing and potential archaeological sites located within the basin, according to archaeologists.

The DoA is working in cooperation with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in order to safeguard the site against encroachment, and ongoing work is being carried out to uncover and collect archaeological data in the greater Azraq area.

If experts do not act soon, some fear that many potential clues to the region's ancient past may soon become recent history.

Until then, experts hope an archaeological oasis amongst modern Azraq will continue providing answers to one of the lesser-known turning points in human prehistory.