Earthworks in Jordan

Mysteria

Earthworks in Jordan · Mysteria

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Wadi al-Qattafi Kite Field (Three-Arm Wadi System)

Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic (Ghassulian) · Black Desert nomadics

Three-arm wadi with 38 kites on basalt mesas above the Qa al-Qattafi playa: densest Black Desert kite field.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Wadi Al-Qattafi Central Gorge Slot Kites (Central Arm Narrows)

PPNB Late to PN (7000–5800 BCE) · Central Qattafi gorge bottleneck trappers

7 bidirectional central gorge kites 710 m in 3.2 km 25 m-deep narrows — 150 m walls plus deepest 1.6 m pits with 21 gazelle skeletons in situ.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Maitland East Ridge Chapel Kites (Eastern Jabal Maitland Sacred Ridge)

PPNB Late–PN (7100–6000 BCE) · Maitland Mesa chapel-associated trappers (SE Badia Late Neolithic)

8 Maitland triangular-pen kites 750 m with chapel 40 m from pen QEM-03 — quern butchery slab and infant burial chapel.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Maitland's Mesa Kite Enclosure (Maitland's Hillfort Mesa)

PPNB to Late Neolithic · Harrat pastoral foragers

Historic type-site where RAF pilot Maitland coined 'desert kite' (1927): 11 kites and cairn chain on basalt mesa.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Wadi Al-Qattafi South Mesa Chain Kites (Southern Basalt Mesas Qattafi)

PPNB Late to Late Neolithic (7200–5000 BCE) · Qattafi basin pastoral trappers (Wadi al-Qattafi group)

10 south mesa kites 695 m: 320–780 m walls using 40% natural escarpment as barrier, mesa-lee pens with burial cairn cutting wall.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jabal Wisad Desert Kites (Wisad Pools Black Desert)

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B to Pottery Neolithic · Black Desert pastoral foragers

Jabal Wisad plateau kites: 14 funnels on Black Desert inselberg above Neolithic Wisad Pools.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jabal Wisad East Fallout Kites (Eastern Piedmont Debris Fan)

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Late to Pottery Neolithic (7000–6000 BCE) · Wisad east fan pastoral hunters

9 eastern tephra-fan kites 685 m: Y-branch walls 180–420 m and oval pens with desert wheels and fossilized hoof prints.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jebel Abu Khashaba North Ridge Kites (Northern Khashabiyeh Ridge Extension)

PPNA–PPNB Early to Late (8400–6500 BCE) · Jibal al-Khashabiyeh SE Jordan PPNA Ghassanian trappers

10 long-arm ridge kites 920 m: walls 520–1450 m to 12–16 m single-pit bag pens with pillar stone 1:10 scale kite engraving.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Earthwork

Wadi al-Khub Mustatils

Late Neolithic, Eastern Badia Neolithic · Eastern Badia Late Neolithic hunters

7 mustatil enclosures (5500-5100 BCE) on Wadi al-Khub hammada, northernmost Levantine mustatil bridging Arabia to Jordan kite province.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Qasr Azraq North Kite Field (Azraq Oasis Northern Fringe)

PPNB to Pottery Neolithic (wetland phase) · Azraq wetland foragers

Oasis-edge kite group on the Azraq mudflat–hamada beach ridge: 12 low-angle V-traps for wetland fauna.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jibal al-Khashabiya Desert Kites & Shrine Complex (SE Jordan Desert)

PPNB to Late Neolithic (Ghassanian) · Southeastern Badia foragers

Eight kites with engraved kite petroglyph pillar and twin shrines on chert pavement southeast of Amman.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Maitland South Cairn-Connector Kites (Southern Cairn Chain Kites)

PPNB Late to Late Neolithic (7000–5500 BCE) · South Maitland cairn-alignment community (Maitland Badia Late Neolithic)

9 linearly cairn-connected kites 715 m: 280–650 m walls linked by 2-m cairn chain every 45–80 m to Qasr Usaykhim.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jabal Wisad Central Plateau Kites (Central Wisad Basalt Table)

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Late to Pottery Neolithic (7200–6200 BCE) · Black Desert PPNB pastoral hunters (Wisad Pools group)

11 central plateau kites 730 m: funnel walls 280–620 m to star pens with chert anvil, highest packing density on Wisad.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Harrat Al-Sham West Edge Kites (Western Harra Scarp Line)

PPNB Late–PN (7500–6000 BCE) · Harra west scarp Harra limestone–basalt contact trappers

12 scarp-edge hybrid kites 820 m: 250–720 m split-material walls (basalt vs limestone) converging to brink chute with 8–12 m natural drop.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Maitland East Mesa Kite Chain (Ghabit–Maitland Corridor)

Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic · Black Desert ridge pastoralists

Ridge chain ESE of Maitland's Mesa: 9 notch-anchored kites along 6.2 km Ghabit basalt ridge.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Wadi Rashid North Meander Kites (Northern Loop Meander Field)

PPNB Late–PN · Wadi Rashid meander peninsula trappers

1 peninsula meander kite 700 m: only 500 m artificial walls (220+280) closing 320° natural cliff loop peninsula with star pen 24 m.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Earthwork

Jibal al-Khashabiyeh Kites

Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic · Eastern Badia Neolithic pastoral-hunters

16 interlinked limestone kite traps (5000-3500 BCE) forming 1.2-km chain blocking wadi mouths on Jibal al-Khashabiyeh.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works

Jawa Dam – World's Oldest Known Dam Network (3000 BCE)

Chalcolithic to Early Bronze IA (Levantine proto-urban) · Levantine Early Bronze proto-urban pastoralists

3000 BCE basalt proto-city with 5 dams and canals—the second-oldest hydraulic network.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Jabal Ithnayn East Col Kites (Twin Peaks Eastern Pass)

PPNB Late to LN (7000–5500 BCE) · Ithnayn twin-cone pass trappers (Maitland–Kheshabiyeh fringe)

6 pass-straddling kites 740 m: 900 m walls ascend 38° cone slopes to dual opposing pens in 420 m col — only ridge-break kite system.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Harrat al-Harrah Kite Cluster (Eastern Jordan Highlands)

Neolithic (Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) · Late PPNB steppe-hunting tradition

Eastern rim kite chain of the Jordanian Harrat basalt plain (880 m, 31°02′21″N 37°30′00″E) where basalt peneplain meets limestone Hamad: 18 desert kites arrayed along 17 km N-S per Jibal…

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph

Azraq Basin Desert Kites (Qa al-Azraq Deflation Rim)

Late Neolithic (PPNB-related) · Azraq oasis Neolithic foragers

Kite field on the basalt deflation rim of Qa al-Azraq sebkha (520 m, 31.83°N 36.82°E), the lowest point of the 12,700 km² Azraq Basin shared with Syria (94% in Jordan) and Saudi.

🇯🇴 Jordan · Geoglyph