Symbols at 'Ain Ghazal
VOLUME 1
Published under the direction of Gary O. Rollefson and Zeidan Kafafi
'Ain Ghazal is a Neolithic site located near Amman, Jordan. It is currently being excavated by an American-Jordanian team directed by Gary O. Rollefson Director, the 'Ain Ghazal Research Institute and Zeidan Kafafi, the University of Yarmouk at Irbid, Jordan.
'Ain Ghazal was first settled about 7250 B.C., during the so-called Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period. In a matter of a few centuries the village of stone houses had spread over 30 acres along the Zarqa River. During a prosperous period when the mixed economy increasingly relied on farming, ca. 7250-6000 B.C., 'Ain Ghazal witnessed what can be termed an explosion of symbolism that subsided only with a shift to nomadic pastoralism in the following PPNC period. The following WEB presentation deals with the uniquely rich and varied 'Ain Ghazal assemblage of symbols including tokens of many shapes, animal and human figurines, modeled human skulls, "monumental" statues and motifs painted on walls and floors of buildings.
The forthcoming final
report, Symbols at 'Ain Ghazal, will
be published by Ex Oriente, Free University, Berlin.
Table
of Contents
© Image Courtesy of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
