Neeley et al./Walking through Jordan, 1. Introduction

The objective of Walking through Jordan is to acknowledge and honor the singular achievements and wider impacts of Jordan’s most prominent survey archaeologist, the redoubtable Burton MacDonald. There are three aspects or foci in the book: (1) papers on archaeological survey in general, including those focusing on methodology and/or field projects that depend to a large extent on surveys, (2) MacDonald’s five major surveys— papers that incorporate data from his field projects and sites tested or excavated by others that were first identified by his work (MacDonald 1988, 1992; MacDonald et al. 2004, 2012, n.d.), and (3) the archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as the Roman Period and the early Christian era. Despite his important contributions to prehistoric archaeology, the early historical periods constitute the main emphasis of Burton’s scholarly output.