“Amazing discovery in Jordan reveals ancient societies’ strategies for facing crises”
A Discovery that Rewrites the History of Ancient Levant
In the arid hills of southern Jordan, an international team of scientists made an extraordinary discovery: a ceremonial complex dating back 5,500 years consisting of dozens of stone monuments. The findings, published in the Levant journal, document over 95 dolmens and megalithic structures in Murayghat, and collective gatherings during the dawn of the Bronze Age.
Murayghat: A Sacred Landscape between Desert and Mountain
Excavations on top of a central hill revealed a monumental set of dolmens, standing stones, and ceremonial enclosures. The dolmens – stone tombs formed by horizontal slabs supported by vertical ones – were built between 3,500 and 3,000 BCE and were surrounded by spaces where offerings and ritual banquets were held.
According to Kerner, “rather than the large domestic settlements with small sanctuaries typical of the Chalcolithic period, Murayghat shows groupings of monuments dedicated to ritual gatherings and communal burials.” This shift, interpreted by researchers, indicates that power no longer resided in a central authority, but in communal cohesion through ceremony and shared memory.
Traces of a Society in Transformation
Among the material findings are fragments of Early Bronze Age pottery, large communal bowls, grinding stones, flint tools, and small copper objects. These pieces, along with animal bones and horn cores, point to collective banquets and funeral rituals, possibly in commemoration of ancestors.
