Maitland East Ridge Chapel Kites (Eastern Jabal Maitland Sacred Ridge)
Maitland Chapel Kites · East Maitland Sacred Kites
PPNB Late–PN (7100–6000 BCE)·Maitland Mesa chapel-associated trappers (SE Badia Late Neolithic)·🇯🇴 Mafraq Governorate, Black Desert, Jabal Maitland Eastern Ridge (Maitland's Mesa East) — chapel hill, Jordan
About
About Maitland East Ridge Chapel Kites (Eastern Jabal Maitland Sacred Ridge)
Eastern ridge table of Jabal Maitland (Maitland's Mesa) 750 m, 18 km southeast of Wisad, Black Desert. 8 km² with 8 kites on edge and unique co-association with ‘chapel’ — small 3×4 m Late Neolithic mortuary chapel with plastered floor and infant burial, built 40 m from kite pen QEM-03 (Kersel 2015 Maitland’s Mesa SS-11 style). Chapels suggest ritual post-hunt feasting. Kites walls 260–540 m to kite-shaped (triangular) pens 15–20 m ( Maitland type triangular vs Wisad star) with only 2 pits.
Pen interiors contain ground stone querns used for butchery slab. Radiocarbon chapel floor 6700±80 BCE contemporaneous with kite OSL 7100 BCE. Landscape classified by Maitland 1927 as ‘land of conjecture’ — kite–chapel pairing defines Maitland cultural facies versus Wisad’s shrine–kite. Threat: basalt table being levelled for military training area.
Why it mattersOnly chapel–kite ritual complex defining Maitland facies — triangular pens vs Wisad star; chapel infant burial directly adjacent to trap.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chapel function — feasting vs mortuary vs both
Theories
- 01Hill Rowan 2017 kite-shrine ritual pairing extension to Maitland chapel
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.7100 – 6000 BCE (PPNB–PN, OSL 7100, chapel 6700 BCE)
- Period
- PPNB Late–PN (7100–6000 BCE)
- Culture
- Maitland Mesa chapel-associated trappers (SE Badia Late Neolithic)
- Builders
- Maitland eastern ridge chapel–kite community
- Purpose
- Trap–chapel ritual complex — triangular pen mass kill then chapel feasting/ burial adjacent to pen
- Abandoned
- c.5500 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1927 Maitland RAF; 2015 Kersel Maitland's Mesa chapels; 2022 east ridge UAV 8 kites
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1927
Maitland RAF notes kites from air
2015
Kersel SS-11 chapel with burial 3×4 m
2022
East ridge 8 kites chapels UAV
On the ground
Structures & features
32.3800° N · 37.6200° E · 750 m · 3 mapped features
Triangular Pen QEM-03 (15 m)
desert kiteTriangular Maitland-type pen 15–20 m with 2 pits and quern slab
32.3810° N · 37.6210° EChapel SS-Style (3×4 m)
structurePlaster-floored 3×4 m chapel with infant burial 40 m from pen
32.3820° N · 37.6220° EQuern Butchery Slab in Pen
structureGround stone quern slab in pen interior — butchery surface
32.3810° N · 37.6200° E
Gallery