Early farmers crop up in Jordan
By Bruce Bower
In the Middle East, around 10,300 to 9,300 years ago, a crucial but still poorly understood social transition occurred—small nomadic groups set down roots to form large farming villages.
An ancient site discovered in southern Jordan dates to that pivotal period and promises to yield new clues to the origins of agriculture, according to a report in the August-October Current Anthropology.
An archaeological team led by Steven Mithen of the University of Reading in England has excavated three small trenches at the site, known as Wadi Faynan 16. Even this preliminary effort has yielded a large and diverse array of stone tools, butchered animal bones, and exotic items, such as marine shells and polished bone and stone objects.