Karak Resources Project

Soil science has made many contributions to archaeology during the past several decades in providing detailed descriptions and interpretation of stratigraphic units. Determining former surfaces and providing age relationships of soils at sites have aided archaeologists in developing the history of numerous sites. The soils at al-Mudaybi’ attest to the long history of the site. The 2 meters of accumulated sediment and the subsequent soils that have developed in the past 2700 years in some areas of the site show not only changes in artifacts with depth but also soil differences. These soil differences reflect the time of exposure of the various strata to environmental effects. For example, the well-developed buried surface (Profile 3) associated with the beginnings of the fort indicate a significant time of development perhaps a minimum of 50 to 100 years. On the other hand, the well-developed argillic (clayey) horizon at the base of many of the excavations indicate a long weathering period exceeding 10-15,000 years.

The more detailed chemical and mineralogical laboratory characterization provides additional information on the site. The P levels in the soil provide data on the length of time and effect of habitation on the site. The X-ray data have shown plaster to be mainly composed of calcite and that the slag found at the site is the result of burning limestone for the preparation of plaster.

Although we are still in the analysis phase of our studies at al-Mudaybi’ and the Karak Plateau, the preliminary data on soils have provided some important clues on the long and complex history of the archaeology of the study area.