Welcome back!

 

Our next online course will be held between the 21st -25th February 2021.

 

Why is the course important?

Jordan’s prehistory is an underappreciated resource. Jordan has some of the world’s most spectacular and important prehistoric heritage, but this is often overlooked in favour of more recent periods of the past. Jordan’s prehistory is important part of the global story of how the modern world cam to be and is also key to understanding contemporary Jordan. For example, Jordan has

great preservation of Neolithic period archaeology which sheds light on the origins of village life, farming, pastoralism, water management and community.

In this course we want to investigate how Jordan’s prehistory could be better protected and presented. Perhaps more importantly we want to explore how the Jordan’s prehistory could be presented in ways that engage Jordanians with their prehistoric past.

 

By the end of the training course, participants will have developed the skills and knowledge to

1) Compare the presentation and protection of Jordan’s prehistory with that of other countries

2) Understand the key challenges involved in presentation of protection of prehistoric heritage

3) Develop a management plan to protect and present aspects of Jordan’s prehistory, drawing on best practice across the world.

 

How will the course work?

On this course we will ask participants to visit a prehistoric site near to your home and develop a management plan for the site. Ideally, we would like you to do this in pairs or small groups.

When you visit the site (the site can be anything prehistoric, from a flint scatter to an ancient city!) We would like you to record the state of preservation of the site, note any obvious threats to the site, take general photographs of the site and record any ways in which the site is presented to the public (e.g. information boards). We will have a meeting at the start of the course to go through recording methods, and also to discuss your chosen sites.

Over the rest of the course week, we will provide lectures (c. 15 minute videos that you can watch in your own time), key readings and examples of management plans. We will also host a series of live seminars (on Zoom) with members of the training team and guest speakers to provide you with the skills and knowledge to develop a management plan for your prehistoric site.

The final day of the course will involve your group making a short (c.15minute) presentation via Zoom where your group will present your management plan for your prehistoric site.