Surveying the rural village of Al-Jāyyah (Ma’an Governorate, Jordan): archaeological methodologies and first results

Abstract

Surveying the rural village of Al-Jāyyah (Ma’an Governorate, Jordan): archaeological methodologies and first results. A contribution to the knowledge of the Shawbak territorial settlement in the longue durée This paper presents some preliminary results about systematic Light Archaeology surveys (integrating Building and Landscape Archaeology) that the author is leading in the village of Al-Jāyyah, SE ofthe Shawbak castle, within the archaeological investigations on the landscape surrounding the fortress managed by the Italian archaeological Mission‘Medieval Petra,’ University of Florence. The aim of the surveys is to investigate the historical connection between the castle and the village, suggested by some Medieval written sources. The research’s preliminary outcomes are confirming that even if the present appearance of the village is modern, it preserves significant Medieval material evidences plausibly linked to the Crusader suburb and the Islamic madīnah of Shawbak.

Keywords

• Light Archaeology
• Building Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• vernacular architecture
• rural villages