干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

In her critique of our 2013 article in Quaternary International (Zeder et al., 2013), Alison Betts defends the Neolithic temporal assignment of kite structures in the Harra and Hammad regions of eastern Jordan calling our attention to the final report on the survey and excavation project in this region (Betts, 1998). A review of this work, however, finds that this assignment remains open to question on several grounds. Although it is possible that the construction and use of these structures in this region may date back to the Neolithic, the case for this determination is far from incontrovertible, and there are alternative plausible arguments that can be made for a much more recent temporal placement. The open nature of the question of the dating of these structures does not, as Betts says in her critique, undermine the major substantive conclusions of our paper. Moreover, the unresolved temporal placement of these enigmatic structures speaks to the difficulty of dating kites, and not to the competency of this pioneering research. The Betts study stands as a landmark that has inspired all subsequent work on the function and dating of these structures across the Levant and beyond. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.