The links on this page take you to digital maps or to digital data from the hinterland surveys in the vicinity of Tall al-'Umayri, Tall Jalul, and Tall Hisban. Both geospatial and tabular data from the MPP survey site database will eventually be available. Currently, only geospatial data and a site summary for the Tall al-'Umayri region is available. With patience, similar data will eventually be available for all three survey regions, as well as the tabular data from the site database.
From its inception, the Madaba Plains Project has included a regional component in its research. This approach to archaeology grew out of a belief on the part of the project directors that urban centers are best understood within the context of their hinterland. This commitment to a regional approach has lead to a number of interrelated and overlapping survey projects in the Madaba Plains region. Run in conjunction with the excavations at Tall Hisban, Tall al-'Umayri, and Tall Jalul, the hinterland surveys have fielded several teams, each concentrating on different aspects of the region. These teams have included hydrologists, ethnographers, artists, geologists, architects, linguists, computer programmers, and even the occasional archaeologist. In addition to the 300 archaeological sites documented by the various surveys, a wealth of ethnographic and environmental data is also available.
Since 1984, the MPP has concentrated its hinterland surveys within 5 kilometer radii of Tall al-'Umayri, Tall Jalul, and Tall Hisban. The data accessible through this page were taken from these three hinterland surveys.
