Good morning, now I am taking a tour of the ancient world by taking a trip to Jordan. There is a Stone Age settlement that archeologists were working on. Here, a grave was discovered towards the end of the archeology season. The run time for this episode is 42:26 and is called They Called Her Jamila: The Mystery of Stone Age Ba’ja.
A mysterious grave in Jordan has been discovered and it shocked the archeological world. The grave was 9,000 years old and contained a girl. The girl was found in a house of a Stone Age settlement and buried with high-quality and very expensive grave goods. Who was this girl? Why she was buried in a house? What happened to this girl? What does the grave reveal about the settlement she lived in? What else do the archeologists discover about the Ba’ja site? When the grave was discovered, the archeologists called her Jamila. There were many beautiful things found in her grave including a necklace. This necklace was carefully restored and will be put on display in a museum in Jordan. This quick little section seems like it was out of order in the documentary and could have been shown later. The archeologists return to the site to continue excavating the gravesite and Ba’ja. However, getting to the site is a challenge so the archeologists take only what they need. The site is deep in a gorge and was discovered by a mountaineer. He found Stone Age artifacts at the site. Since the discovery, archeologists go to the site to learn more about the Stone Age area that is called the gorge home. Archeologists worked on the site during the season and have slowly uncovered the village. It is one of the oldest villages discovered. Marion Benz, an archeologist, was the one who discovered the grave. She continues to work on the site and make discoveries. She mentioned that she learned about how structures were built on the site. It would have been nice to hear more about what she learned about digging the grave. Then there is a discussion on the settlements along the Jordan River and how the climate changed for the residents of the area. The climate allowed settlements to form and populations to grow. Instead of nomads, these people became farmers. How did the people who lived in Ba’ja gain access to water? There is no evidence of springs nearby. What were their secrets? A lady who is both an artist and archaeologist talks about water. They had enough water to grow crops and raise cattle. This would have increased the population in the area. However, the area was constricted, so why would the Stone Age people settle in this tight gorge? One archeologist talks about how remote the area was which would have led to fewer territorial disputes. The dwellings would have been built close together and could have been two stories tall. The rooms were small and there was little daylight allowed in. Perhaps they were used for food storage and preparation. The settlement was very densely constructed, there were no roads so people would have lived their lives on their roofs. Why? How did the people get along with each other? What rules were established? How were the people related to each other? Bones are found at the site and they will have to be reconstructed in the lab. The bones are very fragile and have to be taken care of very carefully. One surprise about this site is that the burials are found in the houses. The dead and living were side by side in the village. Marion talks about the discovery of Jamila. It was initially thought that the grave was empty, however, the beads were discovered. There were so many beads that it took time and a variety of methods to document and recover them. How are beads preserved? What do the beads tell us about the girl inside the grave? What else do the archeologists learn about this site? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out. Well, it was not great, but it was good. I think there could have been more information provided about the site. Still, it would not stop me from showing this to a history classroom.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |