Description

This volume presents the results of a brief program of survey and excavation conducted under the directorship of the author at the site of Kataret es-Samra, strategically located at the interface of the ghor and the zor of the Eastern Jordan Valley, to the north of the confluence of the Wadi Zarqa (Biblical Jabbok). It reports on the excavation of a Middle Bronze/Late Bronze Age tomb that contained eleven interments strengthening the argument, suggested by earlier salvage work at the site, that this is but part of an extensive MB-LB cemetery. Material recovered from both survey and soundings on neighboring "Tell" Kataret es-Samra suggest that it was most probably the home of those who were buried in the tomb. Study of the pottery and other facets of material culture from both tomb and tell has been brought up-to-date and incorporated into the status of present scholarship through the contributions of Teresa Burge and Peter Fischer, emphasizing comparanda from Transjordanian (occupational) sites excavated since the Kataret es-Samra field work was completed in 1985. Study of the faunal remains (Priscilla Lange) suggest that the settlement at Kataret es-Samra was based primarily on a pastoral economy.