Orbiting the Oasis: Protein Residue Analysis Illuminates Past Interspecies Interactions in Jordan

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Water in the Desert: Human Resilience in the Azraq Basin and Eastern Desert of Jordan" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Lithic tools excavated at Shishan Marsh (SM-1) dating to approximately 250,000 years have provided insight into human adaptability to the factors of climate change, water shortage, and ecological stress. Shishan Marsh was likely a refuge due to being a wetland in the middle of a desert, the paleomarsh setting episodically expanding into a lake. This attracted ancient humans, and wildlife no longer regionally extant, such as elephant, ostrich, rhinoceros, lion, and hippopotamus. Protein residue analysis, including the production of custom antisera, was instrumental in helping to investigate the interplay between humans, animals, plants, and water over time from the Pleistocene era into modernity. An overview of findings, methods, and potential for protein residue analysis to contribute to broad-based studies of this type will be discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Water in the Desert: Human Resilience in the Azraq Basin and Eastern Desert of Jordan

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40382.0