Kites in Context
Overview
The Kites in Context project investigates the relationship between Neolithic hunting and herding communities in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan. Launched in 2022 with support from the National Science Foundation, the project examines thousands of large-scale animal traps known as “desert kites,” some constructed as early as 7000 BC and potentially used for millennia. Combining historic aerial photography, satellite imagery, drone mapping, excavation, and scientific dating, Kites in Context explores when and how these structures were built and used—and what they reveal about human movement, subsistence, and changing relationships with the desert landscape.
Drone view of a desert kite at Bakhita
Kites in Context team in flooded camp
Flooded storage tent during field season
Neolithic building at Bakhita
The Kites in Context Team
Kites in Context: Survey, Documentation, and Excavation in the Black Desert of Eastern Jordan
Initiated in 2022 with National Science Foundation funding, Kites in Context explores the relationship of Neolithic hunting and herding networks in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan. The project is designed to answer ongoing questions about the function, dating, and impact of thousands of animal traps, known as “desert kites”. These kites, constructed as early as 7000 BC, may have continued in use for millennia. The project operates at several scales of inquiry. At the broadest level, kite distribution is investigated using declassified historic aerial imagery and satellite imagery. At the regional scale, select kites and related structures will be investigated and mapped via intensive use of Unpiloted Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or drones). Finally, at the smallest scale, kites and related structures are excavated and dated to understand the timing and function of kites and the surrounding human occupation of the landscape.
Yorke Rowan | Beyond the Fertile Crescent: Late Prehistoric People of the Black Desert
Yorke Rowan | Kites, Tombs, and Houses in the "Land of Conjecture"
Select Publications
- Austin Chad Hill, Yorke M. Rowan, Ali Atallah Al-Hajj, Jennifer Feng, Joseph Harris, Blair Heidkamp, Morag M. Kersel, Megan Nishida, and Amelie Schmücker. "Fieldwork in an Increasingly Variable Climate: The Kites in Context Project 2023 Field Season." Journal of Field Archaeology 49 (2024): 4–20.
- Austin Hill, Bilal Fawwaz Boreni, Quinn Comprosky, Jennifer Feng, Rosemary Hanson, Blair Heidkamp, Morag M. Kersel, Kathleen D. Morrison, Gary Rollefson, and Yorke Rowan. "Kites in the Desert: Placing Ancient Animal Traps in Context." Neo-Lithics 22 (2024): 5–12.
- Austin Chad Hill and Yorke M. Rowan (2024). "Desert Kites: Neolithic Infrastructure in the Margins." In Infrastructure in Archaeological Discourse: Framing Society in the Past, edited by G. Ellis, C. DeSanto, and M. Howey, pp. 92–112. New York: Routledge, 2024.