If you'd like to embark on an adventure featuring exotic Middle Eastern cuisine and remote locales, your best point of departure might just be Las Vegas. At least that?s the way it has worked out for DRI's Barbara Holz.

The 1996 Ghwair I research team stands at the edge of the settlement. The team included (back row from the right): Simmons, co-principal investigator Dr. Mohammad Najjar, Dr. Paul Croft, Holz, Renee Kolvert, and UNLV graduate student John Gervasoni. In the front row are four Bedouin workmen who helped with the dig.

An archaeology technician for DRI's Quaternary Sciences Center, Holz has traveled to Cyprus and Jordan as part of two archaeology expeditions headed by Dr. Alan Simmons, a professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a former DRI researcher. Simmons, who served on Holz's thesis committee while she earned a master's degree, also taught an archaeology seminar where he took the idea of "hands-on" education quite literally--he invited his students to join his Cyprus expedition.

"I jumped at the chance," says Holz. "He knew I was a physical anthropology student and asked if I would like to analyze the human remains from the Neolithic site at Kholetria Ortos in Cyprus," she added. Funding was the only catch, and Holz overcame that hurdle by submitting a successful proposal to the American Schools of Oriental Research, which funded her work. Holz's second opportunity to head east came last fall when she joined Simmons on the initial excavations at the preceramic Neolithic site of Ghwair I in the Wadi Feinan region of southern Jordan. Holz joined the team as consulting physical anthropologist--Simmons was hopeful that human remains would be found--and to assist with the archaeology field work.

Ghwair I is a small area, about 1-1/2 acres, located on a hillside in southern Jordan. It?s pristine, inhabited only by small groups of Bedouins who continue to cultivate some of the original Roman agricultural fields. The initial expedition, a joint project of Simmons at UNLV and Dr. Mohammad Najjar of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, was a limited ?test run? designed to pave the way for later, more extensive investigations. The Ghwair I site is significant as an extension of some of Simmons? earlier work as a DRI research professor. While at DRI, Simmons was co-principal investigator at a site called Ain Ghazal, a large central Jordanian village Simmons calls a "core settlement." "At Ain Ghazal," explains Simmons, "we discovered that the settlement was ultimately abandoned because of over-exploitation of resources--too much farming, grazing, and hunting. Ghwair is a smaller peripheral village, and a very well-preserved one, that will allow us to look at the relationship be-tween the small and large settlements from this same ecological point of view."

Three aligned wall niches and a possible drain in the lower right corner suggest that the ancient inhabitants of the settlement at Ghwair I may have used this room for special ceremonial rites.

The initial Ghwair excavations revealed some interesting architecture, including what may have been a ceremonial room with an altar-like niche. What the excavations did not unearth were human remains, meaning Holz had to leave her physical anthropology skills on the shelf, at least for the time being. Of course, there was plenty to keep her busy--measuring, excavating, note-taking--and there is a good chance that some remnants of the settlement's inhabitants may turn up in subsequent excavations. "The plaster floors of the rooms we excavated were not removed during our short expedition," says Holz, "and burials at these kinds of sites commonly occurred beneath floors."

Overall, Holz rates the whole Jordanian experience as very good, although a few things took some adjustment. For instance, there were long workdays at the dig site under hot, dry, and dusty conditions. And the mostly vegetarian Holz had to adapt her tastes to include some new dishes, most notably a traditional Bedouin feast of goat, rice, and yogurt, which included a goat's head as a decorative centerpiece.

Holz says she's grateful to have been part of Simmons' expeditions and credits him with opening the door for her and many others: "Alan has given many students their only opportunities for firsthand field experience. I hope I can keep participating with him. These projects have not only enhanced my research experience but also given me valuable experience in writing proposals and learning to drum up funds on my own." Putting that experience to work, Holz hopes to acquire funding to return to Ghwair with Simmons in November or December of this year. She is hopeful that excavation will turn up some interesting physical remains to study. Either way, she says, her next Jordanian adventure--via Las Vegas--will be a rewarding one.

­ Jackie Allen