Hundreds of stone tombs discovered in Jordan

Excavations at Jebel Qurma in Jordan’s region called “the land of dead fire” revealed hundreds of ancient stone tombs, some of which consist of mounds of stones.

Documentation of a stone mound (by Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project)

The site consists of numerous tombs covered by mounds of stone, or cairns, and tower tombs. Many of them have been pillaged by tomb robbers through the centuries, but the unearthed remains provide evidence about the population that used the site between the late 3rd millennium BC and the early 1st millennium BC. Archaeologists discovered that the site stopped being used around 4000 years ago and was re-inhabited in the early first millennium BC.

Excavations at the site (by Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project)

Experts state that the reasons for leaving and returning to the site remain a mystery, but can possibly be linked to climate change. n the late first millennium BC, people living in this desert began building a type of tomb that was larger and harder to construct. Some of these tower tombs were constructed with stones that weigh 300 kilograms and measuring up to 1.5 metres in height and 5 metres in diameter. They were constructed with large, flattened basalt slabs.

3D model of a tomb (by Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project)
Burial uncovered within a stone tomb (by Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project)

(after Jebel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project & Live Science)

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