Bayesian Modeling of a Peripheral Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Zahrat Adh-Dhra‘ 1, Jordan

Abstract

Analysis of 20 calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) ages reveals a chronology for the habitation of a unique peripheral settlement at Zahrat adh-Dhra‘ 1 (ZAD 1), Jordan during the Middle Bronze Age of the Southern Levant. Bayesian modeling distinguishes three phases of occupation between the first settlement at ZAD 1, perhaps as early as about 2050 cal BCE, and its abandonment by 1700 cal BCE. ZAD 1 represents a marginal community, both environmentally and culturally, on the hyperarid Dead Sea Plain, and exemplifies the peripheral settlements that are envisioned as important elements of Bronze Age Levantine society. Most importantly for this study, it is the only peripheral site in the Southern Levant that provides a Bayesian model for its habitation during the growth of Middle Bronze Age urbanized society. The timing of ZAD 1’s constituent phases, early in Middle Bronze I, across the Middle Bronze I/II transition and in Middle Bronze II, correspond well with emerging chronologies for the Middle Bronze Age, thereby contributing to an ongoing reassessment of regional social and settlement dynamics.