A prehistoric investigation in southern Jordan resulted in the discovery of 81 sites with occupations that spanned most of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. A comparison of the cultural and environmental successions of the region with parallel sequences in the Levant reveals that the prehistoric inhabitants of southern Jordan interacted more strongly with populations of the northern Levant than with nearby southern Levantine groups. Only during markedly arid episodes were strong relationships established with southern Levantine populations. Prehistoric interaction spheres within the region appear to have been influenced more by environmental setting than geographic proximity.