The Sharara Team 

 

The core of the Sharara excavation team is comprised of skilled excavators who have spent numerous seasons excavating PPN sites in Jordan. Archaeological sciences, such as ancient DNA analyses, proteomic, and stable isotope analyses, play a critical role in prehistoric research, but are not always fully integrated with the complexities of site taphonomy. In an effort to increase awareness of the context and effort required to recover samples from these sites, we have also included team members who have a laboratory-based background, but no previous experience with field archaeology. 

 
 

Directors

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Prof. Cheryl Makarewicz

Cheryl has been excavating in Jordan since 2000. In addition to directing excavations at Sharara, Cheryl has been conducting excavations at el-Hemmeh, a PPNA and LPPNB settlement located 25 km upstream from Sharara. She also directs excavations at MPPNB Beidha with Prof. Bill Finlayson. Cheryl is also investigating the animal domestication process in the southern Levant and has been conducting zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses on PPN animal remains from Sharara, el-Hemmeh, Dhra', WF 16, Wadi Shu'eib, 'Ain Ghazal, and es-Sifiya. 

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Prof. Bill Finlayson

Bill has been excavating in Jordan since 1996 and, in addition to directing excavations at Sharara, has also directed excavations at Dhra and WF 16, two major PPNA settlements also located in southern Jordan.  Bill has been directing a series of heritage management and experimental projects at Beidha, a PPNB site  in the Petra park and one of the fixed points on the Neolithic Heritage Trail.

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Dr. Jade Whitlam

Jade is analyzing the abundant paleobotanical remains from Sharara and also PPNA el-Hemmeh. Jade is a British Academy post-doc at Oxford University pursuing her research "Farming before agriculture: investigating variability in plant management and consumption by western Asia’s earliest cultivators'.  

 

 

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Prof. Dan Contreras

Dan is an anthropological geoarchaeologist at the University of Maryland interested in human-environment interactions, particularly anthropogenic and geomorphic components of dynamic landscapes and environmental change.  At Sharara and elsewhere in the Wadi al-Hasa, particularly at el-Hemmeh, he uses geoarchaeological approaches to landscape reconstruction to examine the environmental context of early cultivation. Dana also works in the West Mediterranean, Greece, and Peru, where he examines landscape change and its relationship to long-term human occupation, as well as modeling impacts of past climate change. 

Lennart Brandstaetter CAU Kiel Sharara 2016, 2017; Hemmeh 2012, 2013, 2014, Beidha 2014

Lennart Brandstaetter CAU Kiel Sharara 2016, 2017; Hemmeh 2012, 2013, 2014, Beidha 2014

Sarah Pederzani CAU Kiel Sharara 2016; Hemmeh 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014

Sarah Pederzani CAU Kiel Sharara 2016; Hemmeh 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014

Magdalena Haller CAU Kiel  Sharara 2016, Hemmeh 2013, 2014

Magdalena Haller CAU Kiel  Sharara 2016, Hemmeh 2013, 2014

Benny Ostwald CAU Kiel   Sharara 2016; Hemmeh 2013

Benny Ostwald CAU Kiel   Sharara 2016; Hemmeh 2013

NIls Eberle CAU Kiel  Sharara 2017; Hemmeh 2012, 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014 

NIls Eberle CAU Kiel  Sharara 2017; Hemmeh 2012, 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014 

Sarah Elliot Sharara 2016, WF16 2009, 2010

Sarah Elliot Sharara 2016, WF16 2009, 2010

Taylor Hermes CAU KIel     Sharara 2017

Taylor Hermes CAU KIel     Sharara 2017

Lykke Schirk CAU Kiel       Sharara 2017; Hemmeh 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014

Lykke Schirk CAU Kiel       Sharara 2017; Hemmeh 2013, 2014; Beidha 2014

Pia Boden CAU Kiel Sharara 2017

Pia Boden CAU Kiel Sharara 2017

Philipp Steevens CAU Kiel Sharara 2017

Philipp Steevens CAU Kiel Sharara 2017

Richard Hagan MPI Jena Sharara 2017

Richard Hagan MPI Jena Sharara 2017

Tine Karck CAU Kiel Sharara 2017, Hemmeh 2014

Tine Karck CAU Kiel Sharara 2017, Hemmeh 2014

Sebastian Schultrich CAU KIel Sharara 2017

Sebastian Schultrich CAU KIel Sharara 2017

Khalid  Supplies Manager

Khalid  Supplies Manager