Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500-6500 BCE)·PPN Culture·🇯🇴 Amman Governorate, Jordan
About
About Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier
Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier in Amman Governorate, Jordan is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500-6500 BCE) ancient village attributed to PPN Culture. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal platform 8 × 6 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 32.0122N 35.9807E controls access to Amman Governorate resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey ancient-village for Amman Governorate, illustrating PPN Culture construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Construction labor organization
- 02Chronology and phasing
Theories
- 01Ancestral burial reuse over centuries
- 02Astronomical alignment hypothesis
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 7600 BCE
- Period
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8500-6500 BCE)
- Culture
- PPN Culture
- Purpose
- Settlement with domestic structures and ancillary ritual space
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 7600 BCE
Initial construction of Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier main structure
c. 1381 BCE
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically at Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier
1989–2012
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
32.0122° N · 35.9807° E · 713 m · 3 mapped features
Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier — Main Ancient-Village Feature
plazaPrimary plaza at Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier — burial gallery with stratified deposits
32.0105° N · 35.9826° EAin Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier — Secondary Enclosure
reservoirAncillary reservoir at Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier — enclosure wall with stratified deposits
32.0110° N · 35.9824° EAin Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier — Outlier Rock Art Panel
moundOutlier mound panel linked to Ain Ghazal Courtyard Shrine East Terrace — Eastern Outlier ceremonial landscape
32.0121° N · 35.9789° E