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The project will focus on the following times:

In addition, the follow periods will be a focus of archaeological study:

• 20,000 BC – the time of the last glacial maximum when the Jordan River and Lake Lissan (future Dead Sea) were at their lowest levels for the past 100,000 years and human settlement consisted of highly mobile hunter-gatherers.

• 6200 BC – The farming towns of the PPNB are dramatically deserted between 6500-6000 BC, leading to the development of a nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. The reason for their abandonment remains unclear and largely unexplored. Climatic events and environmental degradation are likely to be contributing factors, both closely related to changes in water flow within the valley system.

• AD 150 – In AD 106 the Emperor Trajan annexes the Nabatean Kingdom that had flourished in the southern region of the Jordan Valley. He established Provincia Arabia of the Roman Empire and a system of forts was developed to protect imperial estates and control the desert and semi-urban settlements in the valley. These resulted in a substantial population increase and major developments in water management.

• AD 1750 – In the Medieval period the Jordan Valley was an important resource competed for by Crusader and Muslim forces. The Mamluks continued to expand activity within the valley, most notably by initiating the sugar industry. Major refurbishment of water mills occurred during the Ottoman period, but increasing aridity may have been a major factor in the decline of the region during the early modern period. There is, however, no direct environmental evidence to support this often quoted assumption.

• AD 2003 -  The present-day situation in the Jordan Valley is one of a falling water table and competing demands for an ever reducing water supply coming from industry, farming and tourist developments. Major water management projects have taken place on the western side of the valley, while these are beginning in the eastern, Jordanian side. These combine physical measures, such as dams and pipelines, which generally reduce flow into the area, and international agreements. The latter may produce increases in the short term through the amount of water permitted to flow through such rivers as the Yarmouk from Syria, or in the longer term with various plans for major water distribution systems.

• AD 2100 – Future water flow within the Jordan Valley is a key issue for social and economic development of the region. The impact of current water usage and global warming on water supply are currently unknown and can be explored by the application of a climate-hydrological model that has been tested, calibrated and evaluated by the application to past situations. The impacts of changes in the water supply on cropping systems in the MENA region will be explored.

In addition the following periods will be a focus of archaeological study and may be used for climate simulations if resources allow.

• 9500 BC – the beginning of the Holocene.  This saw significant increases in global temperature and rainfall.  The first settled human communities appear, designated as those of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period. By 8000 BC these had become flourishing farming towns (PPNB) cultivating cereals and herding goats.

• 3000 BC – The appearance of the substantial Bronze Age settlements, that some describe as the first urban communities of the Jordan Valley. These had social hierarchies and were the first communities in the region to develop significant water management projects.