The natural arc of resource-rich land which forms the 'Fertile Crescent'
of South-West Asia is regarded as the earliest centre of village-based
farming in the world and has been the focus of much of our understanding
of the transition from Epipalaeolithic hunter-gathers to Neolithic
farmers. Beyond the Fertile Crescent is the first volume of the Azraq
Project, a large-scale archaeological and palaeoenvironmental survey and
excavation project undertaken between 1982 and 1989 in the ecologically
diverse sub-region of the Azraq Basin in north-central Jordan: an area
rich in Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeology. Beginning with an
overview to the Project aims, a detailed analysis of past and present
environments and land use and the history of excavation in the Basin,
Beyond the Fertile Crescent explores the geology, stratigraphy and
dating of the Late Palaeolithic sites and provides a detailed
description of the technology and typology of the lithic assemblages
from the sites. These are then compared with those from the wider
Levant, in order to explore possible links between technological
traditions and social groups in order to understand the evidence for
settlement strategies across the region.