A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea (expanded), SI

We present evidence that Tall el-Hammam, a fortified Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley was destroyed by an extraordinary high-energy event in approximately 1650 BCE. Excavations reveal that more than 12 m of a palace complex and a massive mudbrick rampart were leveled, and widespread fatalities occurred, with all skeletal remains displaying significant disarticulation. The entire city is capped by a ∼1.5 m-thick charcoal-and-ash-rich destruction layer containing shock-metamorphic and high-temperature materials. This stratum yields abundant shocked quartz, vesicular melted pottery and mudbrick, diamond-like carbon, soot, Fe- and Si-rich microspherules, and CaCO₃ spherules derived from melted plaster. SEM/TEM imaging with EDS and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) identified planar deformation features and high-pressure mineral phases diagnostic of shock metamorphism. Metallic micro-droplets of platinum, iridium, nickel, gold, silver, zircon, chromite, and quartz imply transient exposure to temperatures exceeding 2000°C.