Dates of Excavation: Summer 2000
Description of Excavation
The site of Ya'amun is a multicomponent site with occupation evidence for all of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods. The 1999 excavations uncovered Early, Middle/Late Bronze, Roman and Byzantine tombs. Test excavations on the Tell revealed the multicomponent occupations as well as a wonderfully intact Early Byzantine church mosaic floor. The 2000 excavations will focus upon both the Roman and Byzantine tombs and the church area of the Tell.
The field school emphasizes the excavation of tombs and teaching the techniques of mortuary site archaeology and preliminary osteological laboratory methods. Whenever possible students are given the opportunity to supervise the excavation of a tomb and all have the opportunity for note taking, cataloging, mapping, drawing, and writing final reports.
Laboratory sessions held after the field work each day in the Anthropology laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University focus on cleaning, cataloging and preliminary skeletal analysis. There are also opportunities for full time osteological and artifactual laboratory work.
Residence in university apartments on the Yarmouk campus enables the student to become familiar with life at a university in Jordan. Each apartment is equipped with washing machine and kitchen. Travel to the site is by bus each day. As a joint field school with Jordanian students enrolled at Yarmouk University there are many opportunities to meet people and participate in Jordanian life. The five-day workweek with some weekends free of field trips provides time for social events. There will be field trips (one with a two night hotel stay) to such sites as Petra, Jerash, Kerak Castle, and desert sites.
Periods of Excavation: Roman and Byzantine
Directors: Dr. Jerome C. Rose, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and Dr. Mahmoud El-Najjar, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
Contact Person: Fulbright Institute, Office of Study Abroad, 722 West Maple St., Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (501) 575-7582
FAX: (501) 575-7402
E-mail: studtabr@cavern.uark.edu or jcrose@comp.uark.edu
Web: http://www.uark.edu/~jcrose/field/
Accepting students/volunteers? Yes.
Cost: $2,575, plus undergraduate tuition of $600 ($1,062 for graduate tuition) includes 6 credits, round trip airfare (Chicago-Amman), local travel, residence in Yarmouk University apartment, drinking water, and 4 field trips, including an overnight in Petra.
Academic credit available? Yes
Application deadline: 10 March 2000