for, the Ayn Ghazal Interchange connecting Al-Shahid Street and Army Street (Ayn Ghazal is the name of a minor village just north of the road, now within Tariq district). The site was discovered in 1974 by developers who were building Army St, the road connecting Amman and Zarqa. Excavation began in 1982, however by this time, around 600 meters (1,970 ft) of road ran through the site. Despite the damage urban expansion brought, what remained of `Ain Ghazal provided a wealth of information and continued to do so until 1989. One of the more notable archaeological finds during these first excavations came to light in 1983. While examining a cross section of earth in a path carved out by a bulldozer, archaeologists came across the edge of a large pit 2.5 meters (8 ft) under the surface containing plaster statues. Another set of excavations, under the direction of Gary O. Rollefson and Zeidan Kafafi took place in the early 1990s. The site was included in the 2004 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund to call attention to the threat of encroaching urban development. Relative chronology References Footnotes Further reading External links ʿAin Ghazal statues at Smithsonian Institution 'Ain Ghazal Excavation Reports (menic.utexas.edu) Institut du Monde Arabe () UCL (University College London): The ʿAin Ghazal Statue Project () The Joukowsky Institute of Archaeology Photos of Ain Ghazal at the American Center of Research Populated places established in the 8th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 5th millennium BC Ain Ghazal Former populated places in Jordan Neolithic settlements 1974 archaeological discoveries Jordan Museum collections Megasites Pre-Pottery Neolithic B