Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace
Pre-Pottery Neolithic (7500-6500 BCE)·PPN Culture·🇯🇴 Petra region, Ma'an, Jordan
About
About Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace
Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace in Petra region, Ma'an, Jordan is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (7500-6500 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 enclosure 11 × 4 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 30.4108N 35.4533E controls access to Petra region, Ma'an 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 Petra region, Ma'an, illustrating PPN Culture construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Nature of burial rites and population
- 02Landscape function
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. 7000 BCE
- Period
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic (7500-6500 BCE)
- Culture
- PPN Culture
- Purpose
- Settlement with domestic structures and ancillary ritual space
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 7000 BCE
Initial construction of Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace main structure
c. 1064 BCE
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically at Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace
1991–2022
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
30.4108° N · 35.4533° E · 1150 m · 3 mapped features
Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace — Main Ancient-Village Feature
rock artPrimary rock art at Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace — platform mound with stratified deposits
30.4114° N · 35.4537° EBa'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace — Secondary Enclosure
hydraulicAncillary hydraulic at Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace — enclosure wall with stratified deposits
30.4098° N · 35.4518° EBa'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace — Outlier Rock Art Panel
necropolisOutlier necropolis panel linked to Ba'ja Clifftop Cistern Terrace North — Western Terrace ceremonial landscape
30.4123° N · 35.4534° E