Day 5 – Station debris, burials and another camp

Today one team explored the western side of the modern railway embankment which loops around the plateau and encompasses many of the main tent rings. One team member identified what appears to be a small surviving section of the original Hejaz railway embankment, now superseded by the modern railway. Adjacent to this were what appeared to be five individual burials and a possible mass burial.

The same team then yomped down into the wadi at Batn Al Ghul and headed south along the line of the old Hijaz railway to re-visit a small fortified hill which projects out into the wadi. Re-examination of the fortifications revealed two possible loopholes, (man-made slits in the rock designed for firing rifles through), and perhaps the circular foundations of an Ottoman army tent. Following on south down the slope they re-visited half a dozen or so tent rings and discovered within one a human shaped low mound which had been recently disturbed. There was no indication of human remains or any other finds. From this point they trekked back for an hour to the main working site.

Later this team went north to a large hill overlooking the main camp site on the beginnings of the Fassu-ah ridge and encountered another small encampment with what looked like associated burials.

Each day the landscape archaeologists add more insights into the sheer scale of the Ottoman militarisation of this landscape, almost all of which would merit further detailed study. We hope to be able to spend some time at least some of these this season.

Meanwhile, as the main group further examined the sieved extractions from the tent ring floors, the detectorists carried out a final sweep of that site, picking up further finds including numbers of the now often found Crescent and Star buttons.

Later this team crossed the railway line to examine the rubble and surrounding area of the former station at Batn AL Ghul. The seriously damaged site, with barely a fraction of one wall of the building remaining, was heavily strewn with metallic debris, some relatively modern, including wire, steel banding, waste tin cans and bits of railway paraphernalia. This made the detecting of that part of the site virtually impossible.

Moving further out into the flatter landscape in front of the ruined building however the detectorists did discover some evidence of military activity. Together with several fired cartridge cases and at least three different incoming rounds a large fragment of an expended Ottoman grenade was found. Whilst indicating that this site almost certainly did experience some form of military conflict these finds do not provide significant evidence for a major attack on the station. However the land around the station is so heavily disturbed by modern activity that it is possible larger scale conflict occurred, the physical remains of which has since been removed, destroyed or buried.

Day 4 - Soft Beds and Missing Buttons

Excavation of the tent ring at Batn Al Ghoul camp has now revealed evidence for deliberate deposits of soft sand in tent interiors. Today A vertical section was cut through one tent ring and this showed that a flat bottomed hollow had been cut and this appears to have been filled with the soft sand. We assume this was done because the occupants slept on the ground. We have found objects and food remains throughout these sand layers but especially towards the top.

Our plotting of finds inside the tent rings has shown the distribution to be random. Therefore the time has come to speed up the work. Tomorrow heavy tools will be used to remove the sandy fills while sieving for any last finds within the currently worked rings. Our plan then will be to move up to Fassuah ridge fort.

Meanwhile our metal detectorists have been working on the opposite side of the former Hizaj railway. In this area, where there are many more tent rings, now dubbed by us the Southern Camp, our metal detectorists have continued to find large numbers of lost military buttons. Speculation as to the reasons for the Ottoman military’s propensity to lose their buttons is rife.

Our landscape archaeologist, roaming the landscape of Batn Al Ghoul as usual, finally stumbled upon the remains of the late Ottoman railway station, which we had been seeking for two years. Amid great heaps of bulldozed rubble could be seen the remains of the lower courses of a single surviving wall. Projecting from the rubble was a single piece of Hijaz railway track.

For those interested the operational sites for this season are to the south of Ma'an in the map below.

Day 3 - The defences of Fassu-ah Ridge

One team went up to Fassu-ah Ridge fort with a Jordanian colleague to re-assess the evidence on the ground. It now seem s likely that the structures visible date to the thirteenth to 15th centuries AD, and are related to traditional uses of the routeway for pilgrimage and trade at the time. The fort then fell into disuse, being replaced by a 16th Century Ottoman fort about 5 km to the north, only to be re-occupied by late Ottoman troops during the Arab Revolt.

A smaller team continued west along the ridge and located several further Ottoman camps and structures including 15 to 20 tent rings. Evidence for Coal burning and a possible large oven were located. Further exploration to the north revealed another Ottoman tent camp with two rows of tent rings and possible observation and machine gun posts.

Meanwhile, on the main excavation site, the excavation of tent rings continued with large numbers of finds, but we had great difficulty in identifying the actual original living floors. Work continues.

It has become clear that the northern part of Batn Al Ghoul camp is separate from the southern part, and may therefore represent two separate phases of use. Certainly our metal detectorists have found much larger quantities of Otto military buttons on this site, bu little else – in contrast to the variety in the North area.

Very few expended munitions have been found among over 200 metal finds. Was Batn Al Ghoul never attacked during the revolt?

Day 2 - Ottoman Army emerges from Desert Sand

Excavation of Batn Al Ghoul Ottoman Army Camp has already revealed on the first day spectacular finds. As anticipated, the stone tent rings forming the camp are proving to be rich in the micro debris of everyday military life.

Six teams of three volunteers each excavated a tent ring and discoveries included food debris such as date stones, peach stones, and animal bone; fragments of rope, canvas and military uniform; and such special finds as Ottoman uniform buttons, a playing card, and a bank note.

As work proceeds we hope to build up an intimate picture of the everyday life of Ottoman soldiers engaged on the Arab front of the First World War.

At the fort at Fassouah Ridge overlooking Batn Al Ghul camp another team began a photogrammetric survey of the remains of the Ottoman Officers quarters. This involves placing targets along a stretch of wall and taking a series of overlapping photographs which can later be digitised and turned into a 3 D image. This work will continue for several more days.

Another team explored the area south of the railway line and discovered an avenue made up of two parallel rows of ten tent rings which may well be an extension of the main Ottoman camp. In addition approximately 15 further tent rings were discovered to the west of the avenue of 20.

The most spectacular find of the day was a button inscribed “Garde Imperiale Ottomane”.

Day 1. Introductions and acclimatisation.

After arriving at 3.30 am local time the main party swiftly retired to meet again at 11.30 for an introduction and briefing session. The team were introduced and the aims and history of the project together with specific activities for this season were outlined by Neil Faulkner. The main sites to be worked on were confirmed as the large encampment at Batn Al Ghul and the hilltop fortress at Fassouah 2. Work on these will begin tomorrow with a team assigned to each site.

Following this we travelled north east to investigate a new site at Uneiza which had been identified by our field archaeologist, John Winterburn, by painstaking research over several months using images from Google Earth. This is a large circular trench system with tent rings and other WW1 military workings at the top of a series of hills. The 2 km trek from the road over and up the steep basalt strewn landscape soon gave the new members of our party an insight into the harshness of this terrain. The Google Earth coordinates of this site are 767076 3376533 for those interested and the militarised landscape elements can be clearly seen from around 3000 metres, with a 250m trench easily visible running from NE to SSW.

In the short time we were there today several ottoman shell cases were found on the surface near the trenches. These were quickly identified as being Ottoman rounds fired during WW1. As to whether they represent evidence of battle at this site remains the subject of further investigation and research. This looks like it might be a possible site for the team to return to in a subsequent season.

Tomorrow this season’s work begins in earnest with the incredibly exciting prospect of new finds at the site of the discovery of the Ottoman army tunic last season and the beginnings of systematic recoding of the fortress.

Lastly many thanks again to the Candles Hotel in Petra for their kindness in allowing us to freely use their internet access to upload this blog. We are extremely grateful for their assistance again this year.

Two Days To Go - pre-trip preparation information.

The advance party set off today and are hopefully arriving about now in Jordan. They will be joined by the main group, mostly leaving from Heathrow on Wednesday, together with several others travelling from various locations around the world. Hopefully the airport formalities will go without a hitch this year, and it will be really good if the equipment sails through at both ends. Last year the metal detectors and other technical equipment were held by the authorities at Alia Airport in Amman overnight, which was both a logistical pain and meant that the group had a disjointed start to proceedings, as two members remained in Amman to accompany the kit the next day.

As we arrive at our hotel very early on Thursday morning that day is scheduled for fairly light activities, with briefings and acclimatisation visits scheduled for the afternoon. The work proper begins on Friday and daily reports from the desert will appear on this blog from then. Please do have a look at last year's blog and the GWAG/GARP websites via the links on the right to get a feel for the project.

Back to Jordan: preparing for the third season in the field

We are now preparing for our third field season in Southern Jordan. A team of 28 will be flying out on 12 November for a two full weeks’ work. What are we hoping to achieve?

Excavating an Ottoman camp

At Batn Al-Ghoul, the site of an abandoned and demolished railway station, we will be excavating part of a former Ottoman camp. The preservation here in the dry desert conditions is superb, with surviving wood, rope, canvas, sacking, and even parts of uniforms. We plan ‘micro-excavation’ – careful exposure and recording of artefacts and food remains in situ – in order to reconstruct something of the everyday life of Ottoman soldiers guarding this remote desert outpost.

Exploring an Ottoman fort

Nearby, on a high ridge overlooking Wadi Rutm, where we worked in 2006 and 2007, we will be investigating the well-preserved remains of a large Ottoman fort, complete with breastworks, trenches, blockhouse, oven, and trackways. The local rumour is that this was a major command-and-control centre for the anti-insurgency war in the area. We aim to find out.

Reconstructing an Arab Revolt battleground

At Jerdun, a new site, we are planning preliminary work to test the archaeological potential. Contemporary records show strong defences around the railway station here and describe a major battle to capture it. We are hoping that we can trace the trenches on the ground, and, from scatters of expended munitions, to begin to build a picture of the battle itself.

More information and images here