Long-Term Research Fellowships in Jordan at the American Center of Oriental Research

FAIN: RA-264472-19

American Center of Research (Alexandria, VA 22314-2909)
Barbara A. Porter (Project Director: August 2018 to March 2020)
Pearce Paul Creasman (Project Director: March 2020 to present)

10 months of stipend support (1-2 fellowships) per year for three years and a contribution to defray costs associated with the selection of fellows.

ACOR, founded a half century ago, facilitates research concerning Jordan and the broader Middle East. Its thriving fellowship program supports scholars at all stages of their careers. This funding is requested in order to better meet the research needs of postdoctoral scholars, both those new to MENA and those who may know it well. Long-term fellowships would help them complete critical fieldwork, such as interviews and site visits, and provide concentrated research and writing time in ACOR’s exceptional library. This would also allow for more chances for in-depth scholarly exchanges, which are inherent in an ACOR residential fellowship as the center is a natural place to connect with other residents as well as Jordanian academics and international scholars due to its programs. [edited by staff]

Associated Products

Late Neolithic Variability in Lithic Technology and Typology from Two areas of the Black Desert of Jordan. (Article)
Title: Late Neolithic Variability in Lithic Technology and Typology from Two areas of the Black Desert of Jordan.
Author: Rollefson, G.
Abstract: NA
Year: 2019
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 13:261- 269

Walk on the Wild Side. Desert Archaeology in Jordan. (Article)
Title: Walk on the Wild Side. Desert Archaeology in Jordan.
Author: Rollefson, G.
Abstract: NA
Year: 2019
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 13: 271-289

The PPNC: Like a Bridge over Troubled Waters. (Book Section)
Title: The PPNC: Like a Bridge over Troubled Waters.
Author: Rollesfon, G.
Editor: Khalaily, H.
Editor: Valdi, J.
Editor: Milevski, I.
Editor: Reem, A.
Editor: Peterman-Lipschutz, C.
Abstract: NA
Year: 2020
Publisher: Israel Antiquities Authority
Book Title: Excavating the Neolithic “Mega-Site” of Motza. Preliminary Results and Comparison with Other Contemporary Sites in the Southern Levant: 1-32

Inscribed Landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and Kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan (Article)
Title: Inscribed Landscapes in the Black Desert: Petroglyphs and Kites at Wisad Pools, Jordan
Author: Rollefson, G.
Author: Hill, A.
Author: Rowan, Y.
Author: Wasse, A.
Abstract: Petroglyphs are well known in the Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and the Arabian Peninsula. Intensive documentation of hundreds of petroglyphs at the site of Wisad Pools in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan records animals, humans, hunting traps and geometric designs, connecting people and places to the larger landscape. These were recorded at the landscape scale with drones and photogrammetry, and the local scale through the construction of a database combined with GPS recording and terrestrial photogrammetry. Petroglyphs of animals and hunting traps are significant because the site is located within a landscape that includes enormous and enigmatic hunting traps (desert kites). Mapping these depictions highlights typological distribution, association of types, and relation to landscape features as well as the topography of the basalt boulders on which they were pecked. The depictions of animals and hunting traps provide clues about the use of desert kites, the social role of hunting, communal gatherings, and feasting in the region. Keywords: rock art, petroglyphs, desert kites, Jordan
Year: 2020
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 2020(1): 1-18

Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent: A History of Local Archaeological Knowledge and Labor (Book)
Title: Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent: A History of Local Archaeological Knowledge and Labor
Author: Allison Mickel
Abstract: For more than 200 years, archaeological sites in the Middle East have been dug, sifted, sorted, and saved by local community members who, in turn, developed immense expertise in excavation and interpretation and had unparalleled insight into the research process and findings—but who have almost never participated in strategies for recording the excavation procedures or results. Their particular perspectives have therefore been missing from the archaeological record, creating an immense gap in knowledge about the ancient past and about how archaeological knowledge is created. Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent is based on six years of in-depth ethnographic work with current and former site workers at two major Middle Eastern archaeological sites—Petra, Jordan, and Çatalhöyük, Turkey—combined with thorough archival research. Author Allison Mickel describes the nature of the knowledge that locally hired archaeological laborers exclusively possess about artifacts, excavation methods, and archaeological interpretation, showing that archaeological workers are experts about a wide range of topics in archaeology. At the same time, Mickel reveals a financial incentive for site workers to pretend to be less knowledgeable than they actually are, as they risk losing their jobs or demotion if they reveal their expertise. Despite a recent proliferation of critical research examining the history and politics of archaeology, the topic of archaeological labor has not yet been substantially examined. Why Those Who Shovel Are Silent employs a range of advanced qualitative, quantitative, and visual approaches and offers recommendations for archaeologists to include more diverse expert perspectives and produce more nuanced knowledge about the past. It will appeal to archaeologists, science studies scholars, and anyone interested in challenging the concept of “unskilled” labor.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/why-those-who-shovel-are-silent-a-history-of-local-archaeological-knowledge-and-labor/oclc/1200581497&referer=brief_results
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 9781646421268

Cultivating Trust, Producing Knowledge: The Management of Archaeological Labour and the Making of a Discipline (Article)
Title: Cultivating Trust, Producing Knowledge: The Management of Archaeological Labour and the Making of a Discipline
Author: Nylah Byrd
Author: Allison, Mickel
Abstract: N/A
Year: 2021
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: History of the Human Sciences 35

Legend of the Locked Doors: The Sexualization of Archaeological Site Workers in the Middle East (Article)
Title: Legend of the Locked Doors: The Sexualization of Archaeological Site Workers in the Middle East
Author: Allison Mickel
Abstract: N/A
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aman.13802
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: American Anthropologist 125(1)

25 Years of Community Engagement at Çatalhöyük (Book Section)
Title: 25 Years of Community Engagement at Çatalhöyük
Author: Lucy Bennison-Chapman
Author: Allison Mickel
Author: Patrycja Filipowicz
Editor: C. Tsoraki
Editor: I. Hodder
Abstract: N/A
Year: 2022
Publisher: British Institute at Ankara
Book Title: Communities at Work: The Making of Çatalhöyük

The Nabataean, Roman, and Early Byzantine Ceramics (Book Section)
Title: The Nabataean, Roman, and Early Byzantine Ceramics
Author: Sarah Wenner
Editor: S. T. Parker
Abstract: not available
Year: 2024
Publisher: American Society of Overseas Research
Book Title: The Roman Aqaba Project: Final Report, Volume 2. Excavation Areas and Material Culture

Roman Arabia (Book Section)
Title: Roman Arabia
Author: Sarah Wenner
Editor: B. Burrell
Abstract: Abstract not available
Year: 2024
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Book Title: A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire

Fieldwork in an Increasingly Variable Climate: The Kites in Context Project 2023 Field Season (Article)
Title: Fieldwork in an Increasingly Variable Climate: The Kites in Context Project 2023 Field Season
Author: Rowan Yorke
Author: A.A. Al-Hajj
Author: J. Feng
Author: J. Harris
Author: B. Heidkamp
Author: M.M. Kersel
Author: M. Nishida
Author: A. Schmücker
Abstract: n/a
Year: 2024
Primary URL: DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2023.2293584
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Field Archaeology, 49:1

A Space of Appearance: Romani Publics and Privates in the Middle East (Article)
Title: A Space of Appearance: Romani Publics and Privates in the Middle East
Author: Arpan Roy
Abstract: n/a
Year: 2023
Primary URL: doi:10.1177/14634996231194214
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Anthropological Theory 3 November 2023

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