ARCHAEOSEISMIC EVIDENCE OF PRE-6TH CENTURY CE EARTHQUAKES ON THE WADI ‘ARABAH FAULT AT QASR ET-TILAH, JORDAN

An archaeoseismic study was conducted to determine various earthquake collapse phases at the Qasr et-Tilah site, south of the Dead Sea, directly on the Wadi ‘Arabah fault, a segment of the Dead Sea Transform. Previous studies have recognized post-6^th Century rupture on the active fault crossing the site. The Qasr et-Tilah site includes a Late Roman fort, as well as earlier structures, identified by previous mapping and stratigraphic work. The goal of the current study was to constrain the timing of hypothesized pre-6^th Century earthquakes. Two archaeoseismic trenches were excavated against the collapsed south wall of the ruined fort, which is known to have been constructed in the 4^th or early 5^th Century. The first intersected the rubble of the fort wall. The second was positioned to intersect the remains of earlier structures at the site. Approximately 2 meters of collapse rubble covering an occupational surface that contains a fire installation and many ceramic sherds was excavated. This layer overlies a deeper collapse horizon that may have originated from an earlier structure at the site. These layers also cover what is likely occupation from the Nabataean period to sometime in the 2^nd or 3^rd Century. Excavations suggest that the fort did not collapse as a single event, but in multiple phases separated by periods of human occupation. Further analysis of recovered artifacts and radiocarbon dating of charcoal will help better constrain the earthquake history at the site.