Archaeological Survey of the Kerak Plateau, Conducted During 1978-1982 under the Direction of J. Maxwell Miller and Jack M. Pinkerton.

• Author: Aufrecht, Walter E.

This report of an archaeological survey of 443 sites in the Kerak plateau in southern Jordan, conducted between 1978 and 1982, contributes significantly to the advancement of knowledge. In chapter 1 (pp. 1-22), J. Maxwell Miller discusses the limits, characteristics, and occupants of the survey area; previous publications, both ancient and modern; the goals and methods of the survey; and its relationship to other archaeological projects. The primary goal of the survey "was to develop an accumulative and comprehensive gazetteer of the archaeological sites on the plateau" (p. 18).

This goal is achieved in chapter 2 (pp. 23-167). For each site, the following information is provided: site number and name (if identifiable); map reference and field number; Palestinian Grid and Universal Transverse Mercator Grid coordinates; descriptions of visible archaeological features; summary of previous information about the site; and finally, a report and analysis of the findings of the present survey. The survey was not designed to record every feature or assemblage in the area, but to "provide the context for more concentrated examinations of smaller sections of the plateau" (p. 19). Therefore, a middle road was taken between a simple listing of features and their interpretation. Unfortunately, specialists for pre-historic periods were not included, and the authors acknowledge the weakness of the volume in that regard (p. 19). This tends to undermine the intention of producing a comprehensive archive of pottery from the Kerak plateau through sampling of sherds (p. 19).

Chapter 3 (pp. 169-279), by Robin M. Brown, reports on the ceramics. The organization of the chapter is by period, from Chalcolithic to Modern. Within each period, there is a description of the pottery with notes on comparative typology and chronology, and a summary discussion. The authors caution that ceramic typology is not an exact science and surface sherds present particular diagnostic problems, so they call their work "tentative" (p. 19). But these qualifications not-withstanding, the pottery discussion presents an extremely useful introduction to the ceramic history of the region. One is not...