Many significant cultural transitions, including the beginnings of sedentism, domestication, and farming, are thought to have taken place during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) in southern Jordan. The settlement sites of this period (often referred to as the first villages) are rich in architectural remains, and this evidence is frequently used to support hypotheses on the degree of sedentism and how societies were structured. This research reexamines these issues through the construction, maintenance, destruction and decay of four experimental reconstructions built between 2001 and 2006 at the PPNB site of Beidha. The results of the experiments provide a more intimate understanding of PPNB architecture, including prehistoric construction methods and techniques, maintenance costs, spatial organisation, and post-abandonment events. The results also contributed to the conservation and presentation of early prehistoric sites to the public.

Correlations between societal development and climate changes have been investigated for a long period of time. At the archaeological site of Beidha, southern Jordan, most studies have focussed on the Late Pleistocene/Holocene, however, the importance of the Beidha region may even reach further back in time. The presence of water in a generally very dry landscape would have been crucial to early modern humans en route from Africa to all other continents. Through sedimentological observations and OSL dating, this study aims to contribute to solving the puzzle of the local landscape development at Beidha during a longer time scale. It is suggested that a long period of calm floodplain conditions took place, approximately during periods of high lake levels in Lake Lisan ~70-21 ka. After that, a period of soil development has been identified between two phases of aeolian deposition. More recently, during the Holocene, phases of mass flow events may have affected the area.