Blurb:

For more than 25 years, the Faynan region of southern Jordan, one of the oldest, largest and best preserved industrial landscapes of the ancient world has been the focus of multiple archaeological and scientific excavations. The Faynan Basin is a unique geological zone, caused in large part by the active Arabah rift valley and tectonic forces, which have not only made it a principal source of copper for the ancient world, but one plentiful in water resources, despite being located in an otherwise desert landscape. For these reasons human populations have frequented this unique landscape since the end of the Pleistocene, and investigation of the numerous well preserved archaeological sites here have yielded significant insights into the evolution of human society. Despite all of this research, the southern-most part of the Faynan Basin had, until 2009, received comparatively little investigation. In 2009 the Barqa Landscape Project undertook the first large-scale survey of this part of the Faynan Basin using both pedestrian and advanced survey techniques. This paper outlines the rationale for the project, the survey design, logistics and early results of the survey, which have formed the basis for three subsequent seasons of research in this part of the Faynan.