The Western Harra Survey Project is investigating late prehistoric settlements, from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (7th millennium to early 3rd millennium BC), in the arid harra region of northeastern Jordan – the so‐called "Black Desert". The research area covers a rough square of over 1000 km² between the towns of Azraq and Safawi, divided into four targeted regions selected for detailed fieldwork investigation. These regions are representative of the different types of landscape of the harra: A) undulating steppe carpeted by a dense layer of basalt blocks; B) large wadi systems surrounded by pockets of basalt outcrops; C) large qe’an within areas otherwise similar to A; and D) basaltic hilly areas crossed by small wadis. The aim of the project is to give a holistic picture of the region’s past human landscape through a diachronic approach to the study of settlement systems and socio‐economic activities, according to the environmental context and available resources. This is being carried out with an emphasis on material dating evidence and the categorisation of site types through comparisons with their appearances on satellite imagery from a remote sensing investigation that identified more than two thousand sites and structures.