Places still available on GARP 2010 dig - see main web site for info.
http://www.jordan1914-18archaeology.org/
or click below for the prospectus
http://www.jordan1914-18archaeology.org/prospectus
Thanks
Roger
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
REMINDER - One Day Special Lawrence Conference
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Wednesday, 24 February 2010
GARP 2010 Prospectus
The Prospectus for this season's work in Jordan is now available - it may be downloaded via the front page of the main GARP web site. (Link to the right of this text).
The Prospectus contains all the most important information about dates, plans for the season, logistics and costs, so please do have a look if you are interested in joining in with this amazing project.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
GARP main web site updated
GARP web site just updated to include the CWA article by Anna Gow and Lisa Corti, (in Reports Section) and three articles by Neil Dearberg (in new History Notes section) giving his Australian perspective.
http://www.jordan1914-18archaeology.org/
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Lawrence Conference May 2010
Current World Archaeology/Great Arab Revolt Project
one-day conference
Lawrence, the Arabs, and the genesis of modern guerrilla warfare
Saturday 15 May 2010
Clore Management Centre
On the 75th anniversary of T E Lawrence’s death, three leading academic specialists assess his role in the desert war of 1916-1918 and his relevance in understanding the conflicts of the last 90 years. Neil Faulkner and Nick Saunders are joint directors of a pioneering new field project that is investigating the archaeological remains of the conflict along the line of the former Hijaz Railway. Jeremy Wilson, author of Lawrence of Arabia: the authorised biography of T E Lawrence , is widely recognised as the world’s leading authority on his subject. Together, on the basis of radically new evidence and interpretation, they offer a day of illustrated talks and discussion that will reassess Lawrence Ottoman Empire in 1918 and unfolding disaster of the ‘war on terror’ today.
Programme
9.30-10.00: registration (tea and coffee available)
10.00-10.15: introduction to the day
10.15-11.30: Jeremy Wilson: A legend on record? Researching the archive of Lawrence
11.30-11.45: short break
11.45-1.00: Nick Saunders: Fire on the desert: conflict archaeology of the Great Arab
Revolt
1.00-2.15: lunch (not included)
2.15-3.30: Neil Faulkner: Lawrence
3.30-4.00: tea and coffee
4.00-4.30: Images from Lawrence of Arabia’s war
4.30-5.30: Plenary
The price of the conference for early bookings is £29 (before 31 March). Standard booking price (after 31 March) is £39. Payment can be by cheque in the post (payable to Current Publishing) or credit/debit card over the phone: Current Publishing, Lamb House, Church Street , London , W4 2PD , 08456
(Note - previous GARP team members, i.e. those who have been part of any of the fieldwork seasons in Jordan, are entitled to a discount. Please contact Angie Hibbitt (angie@gwag.org) for information and to register)
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
GARP on BBC
New Lawrence documentary in 2 parts.
Those GARP team members who were in Jordan for the 2008 season will remember the visit of Rory Stewart and a BBC film crew to us whilst working at Fassu-ah. Rory's tv documentary (possibly!) including interviews with some of the team and film of us working is scheduled for Saturday 16th and 23rd of January on BBC TWO at 8.20pm. (BBC schedules can change)
Hopefully the documentary will give a flavour of the work we are doing in Jordan and also provide an interesting perspective on the legacy of Lawrence.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Day 14 - 2009 Season summed up
What have we learnt this season? Completing the field reconnaisance of the railway from Ma’an to Aqabat Hijaz, and carrying out detailed investigation of selected sites on this stretch of the line, we have discovered much more about how the Ottomans operated in the region. One of two contrasting juxstaposed interpretations is that they attempted to dominate the landscape and prevent guerrilla attacks.
Between stations were a series of intermediate military posts. These posts were intervisible, capable of mutual support and ensured that the entire length of the line was kept under observation. From them, undoubtedly, regular patrols were sent out to check for mines and to discourage guerrilla interventions by their visible presence in the field.
This may have represented a relatively static counter insurgency strategy, but it must be regarded as an intelligent enough attempt to keep the railway line open with the limited resources available.
An alternative interpretation of the various discoveries we have made is that they represent camps for construction labourers in the period preceding WW1. The distribution and location of many of the tented encampments suggests that whilst moving down the line to build it, the camps were still in need of defending. However the defensive locations were a lot weaker than ensuing military occupation of larger sites have revealed, as the ‘enemy’ in the case of line construction workers would have been the local Bedouin tribes rather than an Ottoman force.
This does not of course preclude a degree of military occupation across all sites as and when needed during the war.
As the GARP project progresses and more seasons are undertaken the data provided will enable us to refine the model of occupation of this landscape.
Investigations at Wuheida have revealed different aspects of the war. This site, located close to Ma’an on the road to Aqaba, displays the intensity of the fighting in this sector as the Anglo-Arab forces fought their way northwards from the Red Sea in the second half of 1917. The Ottoman position consisted of three strong hilltop redoubts on the main eastern hill and outworks on the Northern and western hills covering the approaches to that main position. We are not clear as to the strength of the holding force at the time of initial attack. Nonetheless the position was taken and the advancing Arab forces are also then represented on this site by significant numbers both on the hill tops and sides and in the wadi.
The archaeological imprint of the Arab army could not be more different from that of the Ottoman army, consisting of complexes of irregular stone alignments representing, we think, enclosures and tents, each probably reflecting the campsite of a different Arab tribe. A scatter of bullets, cartridges and cartridge clips throughout the site confirmed the Arabs were using munitions supplied by the British.
As usual, we have found new sites faster than we can investigate the old. There is recording still to be undertaken at Wuheida, but we also hope to look at sites deeper into the desert on the line of the Hijaz railway to the East. GARP’s picture of the war between Arab and Ottoman in the deserts of Southern Jordan between June 1917 and September 1918 is yet far from complete.
STOP PRESS...
Next year's Prospectus out soon… Season dates 23rd October - 6th November... Keep checking back for more information and updates…
Thanks to all who have contributed to the blog this season.
Between stations were a series of intermediate military posts. These posts were intervisible, capable of mutual support and ensured that the entire length of the line was kept under observation. From them, undoubtedly, regular patrols were sent out to check for mines and to discourage guerrilla interventions by their visible presence in the field.
This may have represented a relatively static counter insurgency strategy, but it must be regarded as an intelligent enough attempt to keep the railway line open with the limited resources available.
An alternative interpretation of the various discoveries we have made is that they represent camps for construction labourers in the period preceding WW1. The distribution and location of many of the tented encampments suggests that whilst moving down the line to build it, the camps were still in need of defending. However the defensive locations were a lot weaker than ensuing military occupation of larger sites have revealed, as the ‘enemy’ in the case of line construction workers would have been the local Bedouin tribes rather than an Ottoman force.
This does not of course preclude a degree of military occupation across all sites as and when needed during the war.
As the GARP project progresses and more seasons are undertaken the data provided will enable us to refine the model of occupation of this landscape.
Investigations at Wuheida have revealed different aspects of the war. This site, located close to Ma’an on the road to Aqaba, displays the intensity of the fighting in this sector as the Anglo-Arab forces fought their way northwards from the Red Sea in the second half of 1917. The Ottoman position consisted of three strong hilltop redoubts on the main eastern hill and outworks on the Northern and western hills covering the approaches to that main position. We are not clear as to the strength of the holding force at the time of initial attack. Nonetheless the position was taken and the advancing Arab forces are also then represented on this site by significant numbers both on the hill tops and sides and in the wadi.
The archaeological imprint of the Arab army could not be more different from that of the Ottoman army, consisting of complexes of irregular stone alignments representing, we think, enclosures and tents, each probably reflecting the campsite of a different Arab tribe. A scatter of bullets, cartridges and cartridge clips throughout the site confirmed the Arabs were using munitions supplied by the British.
As usual, we have found new sites faster than we can investigate the old. There is recording still to be undertaken at Wuheida, but we also hope to look at sites deeper into the desert on the line of the Hijaz railway to the East. GARP’s picture of the war between Arab and Ottoman in the deserts of Southern Jordan between June 1917 and September 1918 is yet far from complete.
STOP PRESS...
Next year's Prospectus out soon… Season dates 23rd October - 6th November... Keep checking back for more information and updates…
Thanks to all who have contributed to the blog this season.
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