Drinking water storage strategies at Early Bronze Age Jawa (NE-Jordan): Experimental utilisation of archaeological, speleological and geophysical methods for the identification and exploration of natural cisterns

• Applicant: Dr. Bernd Müller-Neuhof
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies ; Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management ; Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 520997944

The earliest evidence to-date for complex hydraulic systems in southwest Asia have been discovered in the direct vicinity of several Early Bronze Age hillfort sites in the basalt desert of northeastern Jordan. These systems collected local surface runoff during rainy seasons for irrigation purposes and stored water in open reservoirs. While water stored in open reservoirs can be used for watering livestock and domestic purposes, it is undrinkable for humans. The strategies as to how potable water was provided for the hillfort populations remain unexplained, and will be investigated in this project. The use of lava caves as natural cisterns is one possible strategy for storing potable water to be considered. Such lava caves, in which water naturally accumulates during rainy seasons and stays potable due to the exclusion of sunlight, have been identified at several spots in the basalt desert, where some of them are used for water supply even today by local Bedouin. Recent illicit looting at the Early Bronze Age hillfort site of Jawa exposed three natural caverns below the settlement surface and provides the first possible evidence for the presence of lava caves directly beneath the surface of a hillfort site. The aim of this project is the verification of this discovery by archaeo-speleological documentation and archaeo-hydrological investigation of these caves regarding their possible utilization as potable water cisterns. Additionally, for the adjustment respectively further development of geophysical methods for the localization of hidden lava caves several geophysical methods will experimentally be applied in test areas in the area around the identified caves at Jawa. In the event of a successful outcome the successful method(s) will be applied in a future project in the remaining areas of Jawa and at other contemporaneous hillfort sites in the Jordanian basalt desert. The control of natural potable water reservoirs in such arid environments provided a strategic advantage in the Early Bronze Age and was probably a major motivation for the construction of the fortification.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants