The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West-central Jordan

This report presents the archaeological evidence for human settlement and land use in the Tafila-Busayra region of southern Jordan from the Palaeolithic (ca. 500,000 BP) to the 20th century AD. The 480-square-kilometer survey stretched from Tafila and Busayra in the west to Jurf ad-Darawish in the east, adjoining areas earlier surveyed by MacDonald - the Wadi al-Hasa (1979-1983) and the southern Ghor and northeast Arabah (1985-1986). Using a combination of random and purposive sampling, reinvestigation of documented sites, and aerial photography, the survey recorded some 290 sites, ranging from the well known Iron Age citadel at Busayra to architectural ruins, camp sites and cemeteries along with isolated sherd or lithic scatters and other cultural features such as watch towers, terraces, water channels, quarries and roads.