,

PELLA IN JORDAN 2
THE SECOND INTERIM REPORT OF THE JOINT
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY AND COLLEGE OF WOOSTER EXCAVATIONS
AT PELLA 1982-1985

by
A. W. McNicollt,
P.C. Edwards, J. Hanbury-Tenison, J. B. Hennessy, T. F. Potts, R. H. Smith,
A. Walmsley, P. Watson

with additional contributions by

J. A. Black, S. J. Bourke, C. D. Browne, G. M. Eastwood, W. I. Edwards,
S. Gordon,I. Kohler-Rollefson, F. L. Koucky, P. G. Macumber,
G. 0. Rollefson, G. Willcox

MEDITERRANEAN ARCHAEOLOGY SUPPLEMENT 2

SYDNEY 1992
Published and distributed by
MEDITARCH
Box 243 Holme Building
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA

© Mediterranean Archaeology
Australian and New Zealand Journal for the Archaeology
of the Mediterranean World 1992

Pclla in Jordan 2: The Second Interim Report of the Joint University of Sydney and College of Wooster
Excavations at Pella 1982-1985

ISDN 0 86758 580 3

r

CONTENTS

Foreword V

Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations ix
Figures in text xi
Endplates xii
Introduction (by Anthony McNicoll) xiii

CHAPTERS

1. The Epipalaeolithic Period

Phillip C. Edwards 1

2. The Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods

Robert H. Smith and Jack Hanbury-Tenison 17

3. The Early Bronze Age

Robert H. Smith and J .B. Hennessy 29

4. The Middle and Late Bronze Ages

Robert H. Smith and Timothy Potts 35

5. The Iron Age

Robert H. Smith and Timothy Potts 83

6. The Hellenistic Period

Anthony McNicoll 103

7. The Roman Period

Robert H. Smith and Anthony McNicoll 119

8. The Byzantine Period

Robert H. Smith, Anthony McNicoll, and Pamela Watson 145

9. The Islamic Period

Alan G. Walmsley and Robert H. Smith 183

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 APPENDICES

1. The Environs of Pella: Roads, Fords, and Occupational Sites

Frank Koucky 199

2. The Geology and Geomorphology of the Wadi al-Hammah-Wadi firm Region

Phillip Macumber 205

3. First Preliminary Report on the Excavation and Study of Human Remains at

Pella
Stephen Bourke 215

4. Pal~opthgic Survey of the Human Remains at Pella

Christopher Browne 227

5. Chipped Stone Tools from Pella

Garry Rollefson 231

6. Animal Remains of the Iron Age at Pella

Ilse Kohler-Rollcfson 243

7. Preliminary Report on Plant Remains from Pella

George Willcox 253

8. The Pella Textiles

Gillian Eastwood 257

9. Preliminary List of the Coins found at Pella during the University of

Sydney Sessions 1979-1985
Anthony McNicoll 267

10. Clays and Clay Use at Pella

Ian Edwards 281

11. Two Cuneiform Tablets

Jeremy Black 299

Bibliography 303

Plates 1-130

Endplates 1-11

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 FOREWORD

The present report, a comprehensive interim account of the field seasons between 1982 and
1985 of the Joint University of Sydney and College of Wooster (Ohio) Excavations at Pella,
was scheduled for publication in 1987. Two factors have contributed to the unfortunate delay
in the appearance of this volume: the tragic early death of Anthony McNicoll in December
1985, and subsequent difficulties in obtaining an institutional commitment and the financial
resources for its printing. Although five years have passed since the completion of the greater
part of the manuscript, it has been decided to retain the original text without major revisions
as a tribute to Anthony McNicoll-the guiding force in assembling the report-and as a
record ofthe excavations in the mid-1980s.
The eventual publication of this report owes much to the combined efforts of Jean-Paul
Descreudres, Jon Hosking, and Michael Bannigan, to whom we are most grateful. Jean-Paul
Descreudres agreed to undertake its publication in the Mediterranean Archaeology
Supplementary Series and gave generously of his time to help in crucial editorial and
organizational matters. Michael Bannigan carried out the onerous job of transferring the
typescript into machine-readable form, reformatting the text, and the preparation of drafts for
correction. We are pleased to acknowledge the generosity of Calcutt, Watson, and Associates,
who made available their computer equipment for the transfer of almost 500 pages of
typescript without charge. Yet the appearance of this interim report owes most to the
considerable encouragement and practical application of the late Jon Hosking, a Pella staff
member and a great supporter of the work of Anthony McNicoll. We dedicate this volume to
Jon, in recognition of his enthusiastic devotion to Middle Eastern Archaeology.

J. Basil Hennessy Alan G. Walmsley

Sydney, December 1991

V
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The major financial supporters of our field work during the period 1982-1985 were The
National Geographic Society and the National Endowment for the Humanities (Wooster
College) and the Australian Research Grants Scheme and the Australian National Gallery
(The University of Sydney). Other contributors were the Australian Institute of Archaeology,
Melbourne, The University of Queensland Alumni Association, The University of New
England's J. R. Stewart Memorial Foundation, and private donors. The contributions of our
sponsoring institutions, The University of Sydney and The College of Wooster, cannot be
measured solely in financial terms, great though their monetary input has been; they also
provided logistic support without which the Expedition could not have functioned. To all
these bodies go our deepest thanks.
In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the assistance of the Department of Antiquities and
its Director-General, Dr Adnan Hadidi, was of inestimable value. The Department's loan of
equipment-particularly major capital items such as a crane and dump trucks-have
contributed materially to the success of the Expedition. Above and beyond that, the
Department has carried out a programme of conservation of the excavated remains at Pella;
under the direction of its architectural conservator, Mr Brian Bowen, walls of the Byzantine
churches (Areas V and IX), the Umayyad remains in Area IV, and the Mamluk/Early Ottoman
mosque (Area XVII) have been stabilized and consolidated by the replacement of the original
decayed mud mortar with an identically coloured cement, and numerous fallen columns and
capitals have been re-erected. The success of the Department's work can be gauged by the
ever-increasing number of visitors to the site.
In addition to the material and manpower provided during and after each session, the Pella
excavations have benefited immeasurably from the skill and enthusiasm of the Jordanian
representatives of the Department of Antiquities. Many of the Joint Expedition's spectacular
finds can be attributed to them. To Dr Hadidi and to all members of the Department go our
thanks.
In Jordan the Australian members of the Joint Expedition have been assisted in many ways
by the staff of the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History. At the Institute the
retirement in 1982 of the Director, Mrs C. -M. Bennett, deprived us of a friend and adviser of
long standing; however, her successor, Dr Andrew Garrard, continued the tradition of relaxed
hospitality and scholarly advice which she had established. The assistance of the Institute's
Secretary/Librarian, Mr Stephen Hart, is also acknowledged with gratitude. For the Wooster
team, a similar role to that of the BIAAH was played by the American School of Oriental
Research under the direction of Dr David McCreery.
Since the writing of the first interim report, the Australian Government appointed its first
ambassador to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, resident in Amman. H.E. Mr Richard Gate
took a close interest in our work, and the Australian team owes much to him professionally
and personally.
For the preparation of the Hellenistic catalogue, McNicoll would like to thank Leah
McKenzie. He also wishes to thank Judith McKenzie for preparing the Roman tomb
catalogue and for her work on the chronology-in this regard the work of Margaret O'Hea
must also be acknowledged. He is also grateful for the general assistance of Carol Fisher in
the preparation of the preliminary typescript and the work of Sandra Gordon in checking the
coin appendix. The final typescript was prepared, with her customary skill, by Pat Smith, to
whom goes the thanks of all the contributors. The pottery and small finds drawings were
mainly prepared in the field by the staff draughtsmen and women; many of the plans- and
sections were prepared by Kathryn Eriksson and Pamela Watson.

vii
 In Jordan, in Australia, and in the United States, many other people helped in the
preparation of this volume. Among them were Maree Browne, Torla Evans, Richard K.
Harding, Jon Hosking, A. Bemard Knapp, Tamara McNicoll, Alan Walmsley, Margaret
Wheeler, and Russell Workman.

Fig. 1. View of Tabaqat Fahl from the south.

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