Magnetic and Electromagnetic Induction Studies at Archaeological Sites in Southwestern Jordan

In support of ongoing archaeological excavations in southwestern Jordan, a number of geophysical studies have been performed in this region. The work reported was executed in three different years and, in the first year, electromagnetic induction, magnetometry, and ground penetrating radar studies were performed at three sites in the region known to have buried stone walls. While integrated geophysical methods were planned, this first field experience revealed that electromagnetic induction provided, by far, the most useful results and this became the mainstay of subsequent geophysical investigations. To date, five large sites and numerous smaller sites have been surveyed ranging in dates of occupation from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Iron Age. Results from three of the larger sites are reported here. These sites are sufficiently large that they cannot be completely excavated in a single field season and the results of the geophysics are used to identify the most interesting areas at a particular site for subsequent excavation. At the oldest site, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, the three-dimensional structure of buried stone walls are characterized. At an Iron Age site, walls and magnetic artifacts within a fortress are revealed and a possible tomb containing metal artifacts was discovered immediately outside of the fortress. A third site surveyed, a Biblical copper mine, was exploited by cultures spanning several millennia.