Analysis of the materials, primarily lithics and sherds, collected in the course of this project indicate that the area experienced its highest density of population during the Middle Paleolithic, Neolithic/Chalcolithic, Iron II, Nabataean and Roman, Byzantine, and Late Islamic periods.

 

Relative to the settlement patterns of the area, it can be concluded that the area was a rural one where the chief activities were agriculture and pastoralism. The many farms, hamlets, villages, and camp sites documented show that the area most probably provisioned, during various archaeological periods, the major international sites of the area.

 

The project has particular relevance for understanding the major site of Petra during the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine periods. In addition, it is important relative to the site of Udhruh during these three periods plus the Early and Late Islamic periods and the site of ash-Shawbak, located immediately to the north of the project's territory, during the Middle Islamic period.