Historical Imagery of Desert Kites in Eastern Jordan

Large mass-kill hunting traps known as desert kites are the badia's most visually striking and long-studied archaeological features. Kites are best understood from a vertical perspective with help from aerial and satellite imagery, most commonly modern Google Earth imagery. The declassification of historical U2 spyplane imagery from 1958–1960 provides a new dataset with which to reexamine kites and their spatial distribution. The distribution of desert kites as it appeared over fifty years ago has been mapped, allowing us to draw conclusions about the longterm preservation of kites and the relationship of kites to each other and to their environment.