In April, a new national park opened in Israel’s Jordan Valley. Miriam Belmaker, associate professor of anthropology at The University of Tulsa, was among the distinguished researchers involved with the project and who serves on the academic advisory board for the site.
Belmaker has been researching the ‘Ubeidiya prehistoric site for several years now, and this research, in part, has led to the area’s recent designation as Ubeidiya National Park.
Located just south of the Sea of Galilee in the Jordan Valley, the ‘Ubeidiya prehistoric site is a 1.6 million-year-old repository of early humans’ stone tools and bones of the animals they hunted, including jaguars, bears, and antelope and now-extinct species, such as mammoths and saber-tooth tigers. Tools located at the site include hand axes, scrapers, and chopping tools, which shed light on the development and living habits of early humans inhabiting the area.
“I’m honored to participate in this conservation effort, along with Professor Omry Barzilai and the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA),” Belmaker said. “The site is rich in its findings, and I am pleased it is finally getting the global recognition it deserves. I have worked at the site for over 30 years. Turning it into a park accessible to the public was the lifelong dream of the late Professors Ofer Bar-Yosef and Eitan Tchernov, the early excavators of the site, and my Ph.D. advisers. I am extremely proud to have helped bring this to fruition in their honor.”
The ‘Ubeidiya site was discovered by chance in 1959. Efforts to develop the lower Jordan River area inspired renewed interest. Belmaker, who first visited the site as a graduate student in 1997, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue her excavation research. In addition to Barzilai and the IAA, Belmaker tapped three UTulsa anthropology master’s students and a slate of students participating in the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) to assist in her research.
Conservation is just the first step in several phases envisioned for the site, as research and plans for future development are ongoing. Replicas of tools and bones found at the site are located in the Department of Anthropology & Sociology in UTulsa’s Kendall College of Arts & Sciences, providing a unique opportunity to access and study artifacts from over 1.5 million years ago without leaving Tulsa.
The university also holds most of the metadata files on the many years of excavation at the site. Belmaker has involved students in digitizing slides, maps, and documents describing how the site was discovered and excavated.
“I got involved with this project because I have a passion for clean data and enjoy the computer science aspects of this project,” said Rachael Plassmeyer, a TURC senior working with Belmaker on the site of ‘Ubeidiya. Plassmeyer is assisting with creating a virtual database that will compile data on all the species found at the site.
Allowing researchers to access all the information in one place, the database will help researchers recreate the environment of the prehistoric ‘Ubeidiya period and track evolutionary changes within species and their relationships with humans across different periods.
“I believe these databases and digitization processes are not only key to preserving information to build typologies, statistics, and data visualizations, etc. These databases also harness the key to preserving non-material culture like dance or children’s games,” Plassmeyer said. “After graduation, I would like to move forward in my work using technology and digitization in tandem with preservation of archaeological or cultural artifacts whether material or non-material.”
Students interested in working on anthropological research should email miriam-belmaker@utulsa.edu.