%0 Journal Article %T The first preliminary report of the Khirbat Umm al-Ghuzlān Excavation Project: investigating an EB IV olive processing site in north Jordan %A Fraser, James; Cartwright, Caroline; Zoubi, N.; Carr, A.; Handziuk, N.; Spry, B. %C Amman %D 2022 %8 2022-08-12 %I Department of Antiquities of Jordan %J ADAJ (Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan) %V 60 %X The evidence from Khirbat Umm al-Ghuzlān suggests that this enclosure site served a specialised economic purpose in the Early Bronze Age (EB) IV (ca 26/2500-2000BC). Given the site’s location, it is likely that it was used as a processing centre for upland horticultural crops such as olive, which grow better in the well-drained slopes of the rift escarpment than on the flood-prone Jordan Valley floor. The site may have been enclosed to protect seasonally-produced caches of high-value oil jars before their distribution through the settlement systems of the rift escarpment, or to population centres on the Jordan Valley floor. %[ 2024-03-29 %9 Journal article %~ Hyku %W British Museum