An Early Islamic Homicide at Qasr Hallabat

We spoke with Dr. Megan Perry about a recent Near Eastern Archaeology article she co-authored. In the 8th to 10th century c.e., six adult individuals, five males and one female, were murdered in the northern Badia of Jordan amongst the ruins of Qasr Hallabat. The four males and one female show a combination of blunt force trauma to the head and sharp force trauma to the arms and legs. Who are these individuals, and what are the circumstances surrounding their deaths? Forensic and bioarchaeological analyses of the skeletal remains uncover evidence surrounding this crime and how these individuals may have ended up meeting their deaths at Hallabat.