Maitland's Mesa West Slope Kites (Maitland's Fort West Flank)
Maitland West Slope Kites · Mesa Maitland West Kite Line
Late Neolithic to Early Bronze·Badia Late Neolithic with EB reuse·🇯🇴 Mafraq Governorate, Maitland's Mesa (Qasr Usaykhim) West Slope, Jordan
About
About Maitland's Mesa West Slope Kites (Maitland's Fort West Flank)
West-slope kite descent from Maitland's Mesa fortress hill (710 m) — the basalt-capped mesa that gave Maitland (1927) his 'works of old men' name. Holds 4 large kites descending 45 m scarp to wadi floor west of hill, each with 22–38 m pen at slope break and guiding walls 180–560 m. Walls incorporate Maitland's 'fort' hill spur bastions; kite MA-W02 reuses Early Bronze bastion stones in pen. Kites exploit west-draining wadi leading to Azraq basin; pen pits 2.2 m diam contain gazelle metapodia C14 5200 BCE. Threatened by quarry on mesa west flank.
Why it mattersHistoric type-site where Maitland named 'desert kites' — west-slope descent kites.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01EB bastion reuse—contemporaneous or robbed
Theories
- 01Fort hill hunting base
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.6000 – 5000 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic to Early Bronze
- Culture
- Badia Late Neolithic with EB reuse
- Builders
- Azraq basin hunters; EB bastion builders reuse
- Purpose
- Mesa-scarp gazelle drive from hill fort hunting base
- Abandoned
- c.3000 BCE EB fort abandonment
- Rediscovered
- 1927 Maitland aerial 'Maitland Hill' photo; 2015 Maitlands Mesa survey; 2019 west slope kite mapping
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
6000 BCE
Earliest west-slope kites
1927
Maitland aerial photographs 'Mesa'
On the ground
Structures & features
31.8800° N · 36.8500° E · 710 m · 2 mapped features
Maitland West Pen MA-W02 Reused Bastion
desert kite38-m pen reusing EB bastion stones, 2.2 m pits
31.8780° N · 36.8480° EWest Scarp 560-m Guiding Wall
wall560-m longest wall descending to Azraq wadi
31.8820° N · 36.8520° E