Although kite structures are known from several areas of the southern Levant and the Near East (e.g. Sinai, Negev, Syria, Saudi Arabia), their distribution in Jordan was thought to be restricted to the north-eastern basalt harra landscape. From the point of view of arid peripheries settlement dynamics, the gap left in southern and southeastern Jordan was puzzling in view of the clear continuity in human occupation evidenced by recently intensifying research in this region.This paper presents the first occurrences of kites identified in this hamada landscape in the framework of the joint French-Jordanian South Eastern Badia Archaeological Project (SEBAP). Despite obvious similarities with the examples known from the harra, the two distinct sets of kites uncovered show clear local specificities in their layout and use of topography, which will be emphasised through the description of survey and excavation results. The evidence clearly supports a function of hunting structures and some clues regarding dating, although still preliminary, are expressed as well. Some lines of investigation to grasp the diversity and regionalism of the kite phenomenon are also explored, as different kite-building traditions seem to emerge from the growing body of evidence available.

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Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. late 7th-4th millennia B.C.). Agropastoralists expanded into areas previously only sparsely occupied and secondary animal products played an increasingly important economic role. In the arable parts of the southern Levant, the olive in particular became increasingly significant and may have played a part in expanded exchange contacts in the region. Technological expertise developed in craft production, and the volume and diversity of status goods increased, particularly in funerary contexts. Mortuary and other ritual practices became increasingly pronounced. General study syntheses, however, rarely include more than a cursory mention of the more arid regions of the southern Levant (i.e., Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and Syria). Recent investigations indicate that intensive exploitation of the regions may date to these late prehistoric periods, yet this evidence has been difficult to attribute to specific chronological period or cultural affiliations. The Eastern Badia Archaeological Project investigates two regions for a potential florescence of building and occupation during the late prehistoric periods in the eastern desert of Jordan.

The availability of building materials in this region, specific climatic/weather conditions, and the presence of oases as well as periodically advantageous grazing lands are some factors that have been cited to explain the preference for this location (Helms and Betts 1987: 41-2).The apparent total absence of these desert kites on the hamada limestone plateau of south-eastern Jordan remained puzzling for a long time, especially in view of their existence in the neighbouring arid regions of the Negev and Sinai. This absence became all the more perplexing as the intensification of archaeological research started to find evidence of important Late Prehistoric (Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age) human occupation in this area W. Abu-Azizeh, M. Tarawneh, R. Crassard and J.A.S Priego. 2021. Discovery and excavation of desert kites in the south-eastern Badia of Jordan. In A. Betts and P. van Pelt (eds), The gazelle's dream: game drives of the Old and New Worlds. Adapa Monographs. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Dès les recherches entreprises au début des années 1980 dans le sud jordanien, en particulier dans le secteur compris entre Aqaba et Ma’an, un mode d’occupation basé sur le pastoralisme nomade a pu être mis en évidence pour les périodes du Chalcolithique et du Bronze ancien. L’image reflétée par cette extension de l’occupation “ timnienne” contraste avec celle du peuplement des zones agricoles sédentaires. Les données récentes fournies par l’étude micro-régionale du secteur de al-Thulaythuwat, ainsi que celles issues de l’exploration du désert profond du sud-est jordanien, permettent de réaliser une première synthèse sur des stratégies de subsistance attestées dans cette région. À travers l’analyse de l’organisation des campements constitués d’enceintes de pierres et la mise en parallèle avec les itinéraires historiques de transhumance, il est possible de définir les différents schémas de mobilité de ces populations nomades associés à la conquête et à la mise en valeur de territoires reculés du désert. Bien qu’une dichotomie culturelle assez nette soit perceptible entre cette occupation pastorale nomade et le monde sédentaire, la mobilité et l’exploitation des ressources naturelles spécifiques au désert, pour la production d’éclats corticaux par exemple, semblent avoir ouvert la voie à de fortes interactions et à l’intégration d’un système d’échanges avec le désert dans l’organisation socio-économique plus globale du sud levantin au cours du Chalcolithique et du Bronze ancien.