Architecture in Kharaysin from the late PPNA to the middle PPNB

Abstract

The study of the architectural remains discovered at the Early Neolithic site of Kharaysin (Zarqa, Jordan) casts light on the evolution of building techniques in the Jordan Highlands from the late 10th millennium, at the end of the PPNA, to the mid-8th millennium cal BC, during the Middle PPNB. Five main architectural levels are identified. Oval sunken dwellings were built at the end of 10th and the beginning of the 9th millennia cal BC. In ca. 8800 cal BC, important changes are observed in a transitional period, with the first indications of square architecture, the use of lime plaster floors and the construction of large rooms (30m²). In 8400–8300 cal BC, during the Early PPNB, square agglomerated houses with rounded corners and lime plaster floors were built, though one of the dwellings, probably with special symbolic meaning, is perfectly square in shape. At the end of the 9th millennium, extended square houses start to be the standard architecture at the site, as can be observed all over the Fertile Crescent during the PPNB. Ca. 7800 cal BC, lines of square houses were built in parallel rows, perpendicular to the natural slope, as it is also observed in ´Ain Ghazal.