Late Quaternary Stratigraphy and Prehistory in Wadi Fazael, Jordan Valley: A preliminary Report

Abstract

A Late Quaternary sedimentary sequence was studied in Wadi Fazael, a major wadi that drains a portion of the Samarian hills into the Jordan Valley. The sequence is represented by alluvial and colluvial deposits and periods of erosion that separate the aggradational episodes. The sediments contain prehistoric remains related to the Mousterian, Kebaran, Geometric Kebaran A and Natuflan. The types and patterns of sedimentation seemed to have been influenced primarily by climatic fluctuations interpreted geochronologically as follows : Deposition of gravels and travertines during a Mousterian wet period is followed by erosion. Later, an alluvial episode (dated by Kebaran sites) represents a wet period, less intensive than the Mousterian one, and is succeeded by a period of erosion. Continuous colluviation during Geometric Kebaran A through Late Natuflan designate progressive dessification. This interpretation is supported by preliminary pollen analyses.