The Acheulean handaxes from Faysaliyya (Shawbak directorate, southwestern Jordan), 2017 season

Abstract

This paper presents the inventory of 23 Lower Paleolithic handaxes surface collected at the Faysaliyya archaeological site in 2017. The purpose of the paper is to inform about a new collection of handaxes found in the highland region of southern Jordan, provide its detailed description, and draw some preliminary conclusions which may be useful for further studies on numerous lithics materials from Faysaliyya. The site is located in southwestern Jordan, in the northern part of the geographical and historical region of Edom, the Edom Highland. It was discovered during rescue surveys in 2016 and has been exacavated since 2017 by a Polish team from the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University within the framework of the HLC Project. The presented handaxes were made of relatively high quality local flints. They all are characterized by a state of preservation typical for lithic artefacts obtained from a desert environment (patina, weathering). Moreover, most of them bear traces of abrasion and damages, which suggests that they could have been brought to Faysaliyya by fluvial transportation. The handaxes have been classified according to F. Bordes’ typology. They mostly include amygdaloids and sub-cordiforms but several coridiforms, discoidals, sub-triangulars, and a single Miqocian ficron have been distinguished as well. Two artefacts have been classified as miscellaneous forms. In a very few cases, traces of reutilization as flake cores, or some kinds of modification/rejuvenation are visible on the handaxes. Due to their finding context, the group of handaxes presented in this paper cannot be considered as a homogenous assemblage and may consist of artefacts of various chronology. Generally, the analysed handaxes reveal features which are typical of the Late Acheulean, but it cannot be excluded that some of them may be dated to the Middle Acheulean (alternatively Large Flake Acheulean). Thus, the presented inventory seems to be similar to others surface collections of handaxes from southwestern Jordan, such as Fjaje, Wadi Faynan or Wadi Qalkha.