"field trip" blog posts

Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 2Diederik documenting the massive tower structure with the wadi in the background

Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 2

In order to tackle some of these questions I organised the fieldwork project we’re currently enjoying. I really wanted to visit the site to take a closer look at its many structures, and pay particular attention to building techniques, potential quarrying locations, and the order the site was built in. Then I got to thinking, how will I be able to address all the questions I’ll have, especially as throughout my PhD I’ll likely come up with more and more questions that I can’t even think of yet? If only there was a way of ‘bringing the site home with me’!

Posted on: 19 May 2022

Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 1Diederik documenting the massive tower structure with the wadi in the background

Late spring at Khirbet al-Mudayna al-‘Aliya, Jordan - Part 1

Hi everyone! I thought I’d write a blog post as we’re currently doing some quite exciting work out in Jordan. First, for those that don’t know me, I’m Diederik Halbertsma, a 2nd year PhD student in archaeology at ACE. I specialise in the Iron Age period (ca. 1200 – 550 BCE) of the Levant, specifically the early Iron Age in the country of Jordan. It is this research which brought me out to Jordan with a small team of colleagues this year. It was originally planned to be done before I started my PhD (which I did in 2020), but due to Covid-19 complicating all forms of travel the past several years our work here was postponed several times. We are very grateful to be out here now, however!

Posted on: 18 May 2022