Understanding contrast at Busayra: Geophysical surveys of an Iron Age settlement in Southwest Jordan

In 2014 geophysical surveys were conducted at Busayra, southwest Jordan, as part of collaboration between and the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Arkansas' SPARC (Spatial Archaeometry Research Collaborations) program. The settlement of Busayra is suspected of being the capital of the Iron Age polity of Edom. British excavations in the 1970s revealed monumental buildings, fortifications, and domestic residences on Busayra's acropolis that confirm the settlement's stature as an administrative center. With the objective to further investigate Busayra's sub-surface features, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Magnetic Gradiometry were employed to survey the site's unexcavated areas and yielded interesting results about the settlement's layout and primary construction materials. While few Gradiometery surveys in southwest Jordan have yielded notable results or have even been attempted, the data from Busayra provides an understanding of the settlement's design and highlights the need for multi–method approaches in the region. Underlying limestone architecture contrasts strongly with surrounding soil in the magnetic data set, but the GPR varied in success in identifying the same architectural features. The differences between the results from the two methods can provide insight into the geologic and geomorphologic properties of the features and soils at the site. In addition to understanding soil contrasts at Busayra, questions regarding "empty spaces" where little to no contrast can be identified in the current geophysical data invites suggestions for what further methods could provide results at the site.

Christine Markussen, Katie Simon, Benjamin Porter, Stephanie Brown