| Sedimentation at two Early Bronze Age sites of Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, located on alluvial terraces east of the Dead Sea graben in Jordan, has been studied.; The analyzed sediment samples include the Lisan Marl (crops out only at Bab edh-Dhra), clay, sand, gravels, mud brick, plaster, ash, puddling, slope wash (sampled only at Bab edh-Dhra), and soil.; Characterization of the sediments of these two archeological sites was possible following textural, mineralogical, and chemical analyses of 334 sediment samples. The sediment facies possess unique characteristics that allow their identification.; Application of cluster analysis to the laboratory data resulted in the segregation of the sediments into four facies: pre-occupational, occupational, post-occupational, and soil. The sediments were amalgamated on the basis of their similarity coefficients. The Lisan Marl, clay, sand, and gravels were clustered in the pre-occupational facies; the mud brick, plaster, and ash were amalgamated in the occupational facies; the puddling, slope wash, mud brick collapse and detritus were joined together in the post-occupational facies; and the soils constitute the fourth facies.; Application of factor analysis to the mineralogical data matrix produced a four-fold classification of the analyzed sediments: siliciclastic, argillaceous, carbonate, and evaporite. The proportions of sediment types in the four categories are 27 percent, 20 percent, 46 percent, and 7 percent respectively.; Sources of mud brick and plaster were derived from the results of the textural, mineralogical, chemical, and multivariate analyses. The Lisan Marl, clay, and sand are the source materials for these two cultural products. However, they vary in proportion among the two products and between the two sites. The two cultural products are more marly at Bab edh-Dhra and more sandy at Numeira.; The location and topography, bedrock geology, and occupational history at the two sites are the causes of the differences in the characteristics of their sediment piles. Bab edh-Dhra sediments are finer grained, better sorted, and more finely skewed than those at Numeira. At the latter, they contain more quartz and less calcium carbonate while there is more calcite, aragonite and calcium carbonate at the former. |
