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RECONSTRUCTING THE CHRONOLOGY OF BUILDING THE SOUTHWEST CHURCH OF UMM EL-JIMAL, JORDAN BY AMS RADIOCARBON DATING OF MORTAR AND PLASTER

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2024

Khaled Al-Bashaireh Open the ORCID record for Khaled Al-Bashaireh [Opens in a new window]
Khaled Al-Bashaireh*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Yarmouk University, Postal Code 211-63, Irbid, Jordan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: khaledsm@email.arizona.edu
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Abstract

The research aims to reconstruct the chronology of building the Southwest Church, Umm el-Jimal, Jordan by AMS radiocarbon dating organic inclusions uncovered from the mortars collected from the floor of the church, seat of the apse and the base of the north wall. It sheds light on the major aspects of mortar recipes at the time of their production. Samples were examined macroscopically with magnifying lenses and characterized using archaeometric techniques of optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The radiocarbon dates showed that 594–643 AD is the most probable age for flooring and plastering the church and 995–1154 AD is the earliest possible date for its final collapse. The preparatory layers of the church floor were laid on an older one, probably of a yard, and its north wall was raised on an older base, both most probably date to the late fifth–early sixth century AD. The production recipe of the mortars is made from a lime binder and inclusions mainly of organic (charcoal) and inorganic (quartz, grog, volcanics). The mortars have the same recipe regardless their bedding and jointing functions which remained unchanged during the building stages of church complex.

Keywords

AMS radiocarbonchronology reconstructionmortarproduction technologySouthwest ChurchUmm el-Jimal
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , February 2024 , pp. 1 - 17
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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