Effects of earthquakes on the development of the construction techniques in a rural community in northern Jordan between the Byzantine and the Mamluk period

International audienceThe Near East is a highly seismic area characterised by a sequence of catastrophic events that strongly influenced the history of the whole region. Between antiquity and the Middle Ages this region was hit by a series of extremely violent earthquakes recorded both, in the written and in the material sources. The former are of articular importance for the urban contexts since are rich in details and more comprehensive. The latter are essential in rural contexts often characterised by a lack of valid references useful to understand how these events have impacted on villages. This contribution aims at identifying the effects of catastrophic events that affected the site of Umm as-Surab (northern Jordan), by analysing the traces left on its architecture and ground. Furthermore, the paper aims to highlight the solutions used by the local population to overcome the immediate effects of these events on the buildings and, in the long term, to limit the effects of further similar catastrophes. To achieve these objectives, the research approach is based on a longue durée vision that takes into consideration a wide chronological time frame, from the Byzantine period to the beginning of the Mamluk sultanate (4th-13th centuries AD). The good conservation condition of the village allows analysingthe changes induced over time to the buildings, using the approach of the Buildings Archaeology. At the same time, the analysis of construction cycles gives the opportunity to better understand some of the phenomena that underlay the development of the building techniques. Our observations on the architecture are enriched with data from a stratigraphic excavation, laboratory analyses, and dating of mortars and plasters. Overall, from this study emerges a picture which, although characterised by the slow transmission of empirical knowledge, demonstrates how small technical changes can lead to important and lasting innovations