The Petra North Ridge Project - Overview
Brockport students participated in a six week archaeological field school in Petra, Jordan in conjunction with North Carolina State University and East Carolina University. Students where not only learned archaeological methods and techniques first hand but also gained an incredible cultural experience by living in a developing world village and working with the local Bedouin population.
The Petra North Ridge Project - Goals
Despite the extent of archaeological research within Petra, surprisingly little is known about the city’s ancient inhabitants, especially the non-elite population. The Petra North Ridge Project seeks to address this gap by excavating Nabataean (primarily 1st century A.D.) tombs and Roman/Byzantine (1st-6th century) domestic structures along the North Ridge. The project is examining Petra’s population through several avenues of research.
This project combines disparate kinds of evidence (ancient texts, material culture, and skeletal evidence) to allow insight into the economic, cultural, and social life of Petra’s people as well as their connections with other populations.