Burials from Wadi Mudayfa'at and Wadi Abu Khasharif, southern Jordan - Results of a survey and salvage excavations

This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey and excavations conducted in 2006 on small cemeteries at Wadi Mudayfa'at and Wadi Abu Khasharif, which are located c. 30 km southeast of the village of al-Hussayniah on the Desert Highway in southern Jordan. In total five graves were excavated. Preservation was excellent including human and other organic materials (hair, leather, textiles). Preliminary scientific dating points to the period between the second and fourth centuries AD. The research questions discussed are: the date, the relationship between the cemeteries and surrounding sites, the significance of this area, the identity of the groups buried, the burial techniques and practices adopted and what influenced them and the funerary gifts included with the dead.