After two years on the World Monuments Fund Endangered Sites List, the dolmen fields of Damiya have hopefully been spared any further destruction, with the formation of a new archaeological preserve in the Jordan Valley.
The Department of Antiquities (DoA ) Director General Ziad Saad, confirmed yesterday that a deal had been reached with the mining company last month to set aside a 60 hectare area in the northern part of the field – which contains most of the dolmens – as a national archaeological park.
Damaged dolmen at Damiya (courtesy World Monuments Fund)
Under the new agreement, 23 dolmens that remain within the mining concession area will be relocated to the protective zone, which was recently registered as an archaeological site and DoA property.
Dolmens are megalithic structures that mainly date to the Early Bronze Age (3600-3000BC). Their upright stones supporting enormous, horizontal capstones, have endured in the Jordan Valley for thousands of years, but their destruction by the mining company had created an outcry across the world. Approximately 300 dolmens still survive in the Damiya dolmen field, along with several other rock-cut tombs and circular stone-cut features; which altogether form a highly significant and rare landscape. In fact, this area of the Levant has the highest concentration of dolmens outside of Western Europe. The Jordanian dolmen is around three metres long, one metre high and one metre wide, although some reach up to seven metres in length.
“We have made a big step in securing the area and preserving these important cultural and archaeological artefacts,” Saad told The Jordan Times in an interview, adding that the protected area will soon be fenced off as a “dolmen national park”.
Interpretation panels and route signs will be installed to provide visitors with information on the megalithic structures and indicate which dolmens were artificially relocated, he added, noting that two additional dolmens will be relocated to the Jordan Museum in the capital, Amman, for display. The Damiya Dolmen Archaeological Park is expected to open to visitors in 2011.
This video shows that there are more sites that need to be saved.
More information
World Monuments Fund details on The Dolmen field
