Insights

Welcome to Insights! Formerly our long-running quarterly e-update, since 2020, Insights has been our blog, hosting essays by fellows, interns, staff, and others.

Life After Collapse: Water and Environment in the Late Neolithic of Southern Jordan

Sep 17, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Research Tagged with Archaeology, CAORC, neolithic, UCSD, wadi fidan

Recent ACOR-CAORC fellow and archaeologist Kathleen Bennallack writes below about her current research in southern Jordan. During the 2015–16 academic year, I spent more than six months at ACOR conducting dissertation research—learning stone tool types and how they change through time; learning how to read climate data; finding publications that are nearly impossible to find…

Framing Jordan: The Country Inside and Outside the Camera

Aug 24, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Research Tagged with arab films, jordanian films

Recent ACOR-CAORC fellow George Potter writes about his current research into Jordanian films and the social geography of locations in Jordan and Palestine included in those films. As I finish my research in Jordan, much of the world has turned its attention to the Summer Olympics. I spend most of my nights watching film, theater,…

NEH Fellow Dr. Aseel Sawalha researches “Amman’s Art Scene”

Aug 21, 2016 Posted in Fellows, NEH, Profile Tagged with art, NEH 2016-17

Reality shifts under an artist’s brush. Are urban communities also transformed by the presence of artists? This is one of the research questions pursued by Dr. Aseel Sawalha, a professor of anthropology at Fordham University in New York City. She is ACOR’s 2016-2017 NEH Fellow, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), pursuing…

The Aftermath of ‘Ain Ghazal: What Happened after 7000 BC?

Aug 18, 2016 Posted in NEH, Research

Long-time ACOR scholar, frequent ACOR fellow, and leading prehistorian Dr. Gary Rollefson writes below about his current research in the eastern desert of Jordan. An ACOR Video Lecture by Dr. Rollefson expanding on this topic is also available here. Publication of the results of the ‘Ain Ghazal excavations is still a continuing process, but after…

Why We Need Drones – An ACOR Video Lecture by Dr. Austin “Chad” Hill

Jul 31, 2016 Posted in CAORC, VideoLectures Tagged with austin hill, chad hill, drones, hill, lecture, may, video lecture

The ACOR Video Lecture Series provides accessible discussions of new research into the past and present of Jordan and the broader Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean worlds. This sixth video in the series, adapted from the May 2016 ACOR public lecture delivered by Dr. Austin “Chad” Hill, opens with a general discussion of drone technology…

USAID SCHEP Brings New Voices to Jordan’s ICHAJ

Jun 28, 2016 Posted in SCHEP Tagged with About Us, Amman, Archaeology, conference, Cultural Heritage, Feature, ICHAJ, Jordan, SCHEP

It was nearly a week after the end of the 13th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ), and the students who attended were still buzzing. Four Jordanian university students, selected to attend the conference through the USAID Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP), gathered at ACOR to…

Heritage in Stone—Assessing the Geologic Stability of Jordan’s Rock Art

Jun 13, 2016 Posted in Research Tagged with Cultural Heritage Management, Epigraphy, Inscriptions, Jordan, research

Driving north from Azraq on Jordan’s Highway 5 and turning off onto a dirt track that gradually approaches the region’s looming volcanic mountains, one eventually comes to Wadi Hassan, a picturesque desert watercourse dotted with small seasonal pools. There, surrounded by towering columnar basalt cliffs, the visitor is greeted by an overwhelming sight. I’m…

Piotr Makowski, 2016–17 Bikai Fellow

Jun 8, 2016 Posted in Fellows, Profile Tagged with Bikai Fellowship, Poland

Piotr Makowski is a field archaeologist who has participated in excavations in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Poland and the Ukraine. He first visited Jordan in 2015 with a small study tour supported by the University of Warsaw. The Pierre and Patricia Bikai Fellowship has enabled Piotr to work on a research project that will contribute…

Catherine Maier, Groot Memorial Fellow, Summer 2016

Jun 7, 2016 Posted in Fellows, Profile Tagged with black desert, Groot Fellow 2016-17

Catherine Maier is an undergraduate in Anthropology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Her passion for geology and archaeology led her to apply for the Groot Fellowship to join excavations at Wadi Qattafi and work with Dr. Gary Rollefson as part of the Eastern Badia Archaeological project. The summer 2016 dig aimed to uncover…

A Recipe for Public Archaeology in Cyprus – An ACOR Video Lecture by Dr. Andrew McCarthy

May 30, 2016 Posted in VideoLectures Tagged with CAARI, CAORC Fellowship, Cultural Heritage, Cyprus, History, libraries, public archaeology, research

The ACOR Video Lecture Series provides accessible discussions of new research into the past and present of Jordan and the broader Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean worlds. This fifth video in the series, adapted from the February 2016 ACOR public lecture delivered by Dr. Andrew McCarthy, has two parts. The first relates how the Cyprus…

Mohammed “Abu Ahmed” Adawi awarded the ASOR Albright Service Award

May 29, 2016 Posted in Life@ACOR

ACOR Chef Mohammed Adawi was recognized for his long service to ACOR and given the Albright Service Award in Amman in a special ceremony. This award was announced during the annual American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) conference in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2015. The W. F. Albright Award honors individuals who have made outstanding…

Austin “Chad” Hill

May 18, 2016 Posted in Fellows, Profile Tagged with black desert, drones

Austin “Chad” Hill, 2015–2016 CAORC Post Doctorate Fellow Chad Hill preparing to launch a fixed wing drone at Feifa, Jordan 2014 (Photo by Morag Kersel) Chad Hill is an archaeologist who specializes in the rapidly developing field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based surveying. He uses aerial photography and 3D photogrammetry to identify archaeological sites, document excavations, and…

Suzanne Richard, 2015–2016 CAORC Post Doctoral Fellow

May 18, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Profile

Dr. Suzanne Richard is an ACOR-CAORC post-doctoral fellow in residence at ACOR in the summer and autumn of 2016. A distinguished professor of history and archaeology at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, she has been working in Jordan for more than thirty years. A leading expert in the archaeology and history of the Early Bronze…

“Why We Need Drones” by Dr. Austin (Chad) Hill

May 17, 2016 Posted in Lecture Tagged with Archaeology, austin hill, chad hill, drones, hill, lecture, may

Chad Hill preparing to launch a fixed wing drone at Feifa, Jordan 2014 (Photo by Morag Kersel)

Why We Need Drones: Case Studies from Archaeological Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Surveys in Wadi al-Qattafi and Feifa, Jordan Dr. Austin (Chad) Hill ACOR-CAORC Senior Fellow Tuesday 17 May 2016 at 6:00 p.m. Reception to Follow About the Lecture: In recent years, advances in technology, falling prices, and popular demand have contributed to a worldwide…

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