Papers by Davtian Gourguen
International audienceChallenge of oasis farming: past resilience in the oasis of Dhayah (U.A.E.
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Journal of Arid Environments, 2018
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Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2004
Summary Over 200 incense burner fragments made of clay have been discovered from archaeological c... more Summary Over 200 incense burner fragments made of clay have been discovered from archaeological contexts throughout most of southern Mesopotamia dating from the first millennium BC. In two parts, this article examines the form and function of a corpus of locally produced incense burners from the archaeological site of Nippur in southern Iraq. It argues that the idea of the four-legged incense burner and some syntactical designs on it are an attempt to emulate forms and patterns indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula. To support this argument, ethnographic data on the handicraft production of the clay incense burner from the Dhofār, the southernmost region of the Sultanate of Oman, as part of the Dhofār Ethnoarchaeology Preservation Project, is presented for the first time. This region, where environmental and cultural factors favour the development of a domestic ceramic specialization, is also known for its contemporary terracotta cuboid incense burners, which are crafted today in a similar form and style as the past. From interviews conducted on the ground, modern cuboid incense burner makers have revealed important information on how they select and execute Arabian architectural designs, using a repertoire of stamped tools to impress geometric patterns onto clays.
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History of Ras al Khaimah oases (UAE): new chronostratigraphic frame for the oasis of Dhayah
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Geomorphology, 2021
Abstract In tropical Africa, Late Pleistocene -Holocene climatic fluctuations heavily impacted th... more Abstract In tropical Africa, Late Pleistocene -Holocene climatic fluctuations heavily impacted the continental hydro-systems. The timing and magnitude of ‘African Humid Period’ hydrological dynamics (AHP; ~14.8 – ~5.5 ka BP) are not yet fully understood due to the extreme variability in African geomorphic patterns and the complex network of past air convergence boundary shifts. The investigation of the functioning of specific hydro-sedimentary basins is needed to improve our knowledge on the AHP spatial and chronological patterns over the continent. In this paper we present a revised Holocene lake level curve of Lake Abhe: an endorheic basin situated in the Afar Depression at the northern extremity of the East African Rift System (EARS). Located at the boundary of the Red Sea and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans’ air moisture mass fluxes, the Lake Abhe watershed represents a system sensitive to changes in Northeast African hydro-climate. Based on numerous littoral lacustrine geomorphic features and 53 related radiocarbon ages on stromatolites and nearshore deposits, we have defined the main Holocene lake highstands proposing a detailed paleo-shoreline record. The first rise in water level is dated to ~11.1 ka cal. BP, while the Maximal Holocene Highstand Shoreline (~420 m a.s.l.) was rapidly reached around ~10 ka cal. BP. Evidence of the impact of the 8.2 ka North Atlantic cooling event is recognised with slow lake level regression until ~8.3 ka cal. BP and with an abrupt drop at ~8 ka cal. BP. The resurgence of humid conditions was recorded from ~7.7 ka cal. BP to ~4.6 ka cal. BP. Radiocarbon ages on littoral materials allow us to propose a Holocene subsidence rate of the Abhe basin axial valley. Furthermore, multiphase sill overflow incisions towards the downstream Hanle basin and transient fluvial connectivity with the upstream Ziway-Shala basin, indicate strong geomorphic controls on lake highstand elevations. In summary, Lake Abhe Holocene fluctuations are the result of combined hydro-climatic, tectonic and local geomorphic controls. However, the confrontation with others East African basins allows us to discuss the transport of moisture masses dynamics into the northern EARS during the Holocene.
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Temps et espaces …, 2005
The Gzeis (Ja'alan, Oman) site, located on a small hill between the Khawr al-Garamah lagoon a... more The Gzeis (Ja'alan, Oman) site, located on a small hill between the Khawr al-Garamah lagoon and the Ra's al Hadd and Ra's al-Jinz passes leading to the Indian Ocean, presents good preservation of surface ecofacts and artefacts. This site was, therefore, ideal for an ...
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Geomorphology, 2021
In tropical Africa, Late Pleistocene-Holocene climatic fluctuations heavily impacted the continen... more In tropical Africa, Late Pleistocene-Holocene climatic fluctuations heavily impacted the continental hydro-systems. The timing and magnitude of ‘African Humid Period’ hydrological dynamics (AHP; ~14.8 to ~5.5 ka BP) are not yet fully understood due to the extreme variability in African geomorphic patterns and the complex network of
past air convergence boundary shifts. The investigation of the functioning of specific hydro-sedimentary basins is needed to improve our knowledge on the AHP spatial and chronological patterns over the continent. In this paper we present a revised Holocene lake level curve of Lake Abhe: an endorheic basin situated in the Afar Depression at the northern extremity of the East African Rift System (EARS). Located at the boundary of the Red Sea and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans' air moisture mass fluxes, the Lake Abhe watershed represents a system sensitive to changes in Northeast African hydro-climate. Based on numerous littoral lacustrine geomorphic features and 53 related radiocarbon ages on stromatolites and nearshore deposits,we have defined the mainHolocene lake highstands proposing a detailed paleo-shoreline record. The first rise in water level is dated to ~11.1 ka cal. BP, while the Maximal Holocene Highstand Shoreline (~420ma.s.l.)was rapidly reached around ~10 ka cal. BP. Evidence of the impact of the 8.2 ka North Atlantic cooling event is recognizedwith slow lake level regression until ~8.3 ka cal. BP and with an abrupt drop at ~8 ka cal. BP. The resurgence of humid conditionswas recorded from ~7.7 ka cal. BP to ~4.6 ka cal. BP. Radiocarbon ages on littoral materials allow us to propose a Holocene subsidence rate of the Abhe basin axial valley. Furthermore, multiphase sill overflow incisions towards the downstream Hanle basin and transient fluvial connectivity with the upstream Ziway-Shala basin, indicate strong geomorphic controls on lake highstand elevations. In summary, Lake Abhe Holocene fluctuations are the result of combined hydro-climatic, tectonic and local geomorphic controls. However, the confrontation with others East African basins allows us to discuss the transport
of moisture masses dynamics into the northern EARS during the Holocene.
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Temps et espace de l'homme en société, analyses et modèles spatiaux en archéologie, 2005
The Gzeis (Ja’alan, Oman) site, located on a small hill between the Khawr al-Garamahlagoon and th... more The Gzeis (Ja’alan, Oman) site, located on a small hill between the Khawr al-Garamahlagoon and the Ra’s al Hadd and Ra’s al-Jinz passes leading to the Indian Ocean, presentsgood preservation of surface ecofacts and artefacts. This site was, therefore, ideal for ananalysis of its spatial and functional organisation with GIS. The systematic gathering of lithic industry and of its consumed seashells and their analysis using GIS and an initialmultivariate analysis allowed us to distinguish two different areas of occupation and tolocalize a possible locus.
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The role of water management in the emergence of state societies in the Middle East has been wide... more The role of water management in the emergence of state societies in the Middle East has been widely discussed by anthropologists and archaeologists, who saw water as a means of controlling populations or, on the contrary, as an element of social cohesion. Yet, ethnoarchaeological studies of water systems are still rare. The aim of this article is therefore to lay the theoretical and methodological foundations of the ethnoarchaeology of water systems. We believe that such a methodological approach is the only way to understand the role of water in ancient societies.
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Journal of Arid Environments, 2019
Over the last 30 years, geoarchaeological surveys undertaken in the Near East have offered a powe... more Over the last 30 years, geoarchaeological surveys undertaken in the Near East have offered a powerful way of studying, inter alia, water supply systems at a microregional to regional scale. However, efforts to synthesize the results of surveys at a sub-continental scale in order to understand local differences and similarities, and compare local strategies through time, require specific tools. In this paper, we develop a methodology designed to characterize and facilitate comparison of strategies employed across the arid areas of Western Syria. This requires microregional field studies undertaken at the level of specific landscapes to be integrated within a wider GIS framework, based upon thematic layers (soils, rainfalls, hydrology) at a uniform spatial scale of assessment
(in this case the pixel of a Landsat image), and a common description of the agronomic potential in those areas in which specific hydraulic installations were employed. In contrast to the usual practice of modelling, which depends upon the downscaling of environmental data (land cover, rainfall maps) generated at a continental scale, we stress here the need to generalize upwards, from observations made at the microregional level, by using common descriptors and qualitative indicators. The GIS analysis of these data provides a weighted average model derived from field evidence for the different technical choices made (i.e. the decision to utilize specific water management devices) in relation to the various agronomic landscapes.
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Géomatique Expert n°124, 2018
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The seven plagues. Catastrophes and destructions in Palestine and Egypt during the pre-classical period. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, wars, famines and epidemics in the archaeological record and in Biblical and ancient Egyptian sources: an innovative approach, 2014
In order to “Deepen [...] themes allowing a more precise definition of catastrophic events identi... more In order to “Deepen [...] themes allowing a more precise definition of catastrophic events identified in the archaeological record”, we propose to check how the tools we have today allow identifying and estimating climatic changes, crisis and/or catastrophic events at a regional scale.
We must consider first the meaning of the words we use in that kind of research. “Catastrophe” is, by definition, an event that archaeology identifies only by chance when we have no texts. The consequences of a disaster, perceptible by the immediate reaction of the population, – social destabilization, or no consequence – are identifiable only if a finely tuned stratigraphic continuity on an excavated site allows it. When we speak of “climate fluctuation”, we seek to establish what is called an “environmental crisis” in case of fluctuation seen as negative, or, conversely, improvement, positive change (more rarely characterized and studied!). Jean-Paul Bravard asked whether “a retrospective analysis of the environmental crisis is possible? Geosciences researchers aim at identifying environmental descriptors, and then infer the occurrence of a crisis. Crisis is identified ex post several centuries or millennia after its occurrence, without any real possibility of understanding the socio-cultural issues or the social adaptation/reaction to the natural processes. The only identified reality is the recording of physical phenomena whose aggregate product curves out of geological standards defined by the scientific community”1. For us archaeologists, questions are then: “Are we sure that the ʽcrisisʼ was perceived and analyzed as such by ancient societies who have experienced it? Has the crisis produced impacts on society and, if so, what kind of reaction or adaptation? In other words, what is the status of the societal component in the studied process?”.
We know that there is no single answer to these questions! Our purpose is to present:
1) the data on which we can now rely on to attempt to construct hypotheses about the nature and intensity of climate crisis;
2) the nature and intensity of settlement patterns variations.
It is only in a second step that we can try to examine the relationship between the two sets of observations, in a joint work of archaeology and geosciences.
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La construction d’un outil cartographique est la condition préalable de bien des projets dont l’a... more La construction d’un outil cartographique est la condition préalable de bien des projets dont l’ambition est d’aborder un espace ET sa temporalité. Les raisonnements sous-jacents à la construction
d’une carte varient en fonction des milieux étudiés et des champs
disciplinaires intéressés. Dans le cadre de notre article, nous avons
souhaité aborder la question des formations meubles en contexte
alluvial dans une perspective de recherche archéologique sur les
occupations humaines au cours du Pléistocène. Notre ambition est
donc d’abord méthodologique : comment les géo-traitements,
appliqués aux différents documents cartographiques dont nous disposons, peuvent participer à la compréhension de la géomorphologie d’une vallée et guider les stratégies d’implantation des sondages archéologiques ?
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Papers by Davtian Gourguen
past air convergence boundary shifts. The investigation of the functioning of specific hydro-sedimentary basins is needed to improve our knowledge on the AHP spatial and chronological patterns over the continent. In this paper we present a revised Holocene lake level curve of Lake Abhe: an endorheic basin situated in the Afar Depression at the northern extremity of the East African Rift System (EARS). Located at the boundary of the Red Sea and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans' air moisture mass fluxes, the Lake Abhe watershed represents a system sensitive to changes in Northeast African hydro-climate. Based on numerous littoral lacustrine geomorphic features and 53 related radiocarbon ages on stromatolites and nearshore deposits,we have defined the mainHolocene lake highstands proposing a detailed paleo-shoreline record. The first rise in water level is dated to ~11.1 ka cal. BP, while the Maximal Holocene Highstand Shoreline (~420ma.s.l.)was rapidly reached around ~10 ka cal. BP. Evidence of the impact of the 8.2 ka North Atlantic cooling event is recognizedwith slow lake level regression until ~8.3 ka cal. BP and with an abrupt drop at ~8 ka cal. BP. The resurgence of humid conditionswas recorded from ~7.7 ka cal. BP to ~4.6 ka cal. BP. Radiocarbon ages on littoral materials allow us to propose a Holocene subsidence rate of the Abhe basin axial valley. Furthermore, multiphase sill overflow incisions towards the downstream Hanle basin and transient fluvial connectivity with the upstream Ziway-Shala basin, indicate strong geomorphic controls on lake highstand elevations. In summary, Lake Abhe Holocene fluctuations are the result of combined hydro-climatic, tectonic and local geomorphic controls. However, the confrontation with others East African basins allows us to discuss the transport
of moisture masses dynamics into the northern EARS during the Holocene.
(in this case the pixel of a Landsat image), and a common description of the agronomic potential in those areas in which specific hydraulic installations were employed. In contrast to the usual practice of modelling, which depends upon the downscaling of environmental data (land cover, rainfall maps) generated at a continental scale, we stress here the need to generalize upwards, from observations made at the microregional level, by using common descriptors and qualitative indicators. The GIS analysis of these data provides a weighted average model derived from field evidence for the different technical choices made (i.e. the decision to utilize specific water management devices) in relation to the various agronomic landscapes.
We must consider first the meaning of the words we use in that kind of research. “Catastrophe” is, by definition, an event that archaeology identifies only by chance when we have no texts. The consequences of a disaster, perceptible by the immediate reaction of the population, – social destabilization, or no consequence – are identifiable only if a finely tuned stratigraphic continuity on an excavated site allows it. When we speak of “climate fluctuation”, we seek to establish what is called an “environmental crisis” in case of fluctuation seen as negative, or, conversely, improvement, positive change (more rarely characterized and studied!). Jean-Paul Bravard asked whether “a retrospective analysis of the environmental crisis is possible? Geosciences researchers aim at identifying environmental descriptors, and then infer the occurrence of a crisis. Crisis is identified ex post several centuries or millennia after its occurrence, without any real possibility of understanding the socio-cultural issues or the social adaptation/reaction to the natural processes. The only identified reality is the recording of physical phenomena whose aggregate product curves out of geological standards defined by the scientific community”1. For us archaeologists, questions are then: “Are we sure that the ʽcrisisʼ was perceived and analyzed as such by ancient societies who have experienced it? Has the crisis produced impacts on society and, if so, what kind of reaction or adaptation? In other words, what is the status of the societal component in the studied process?”.
We know that there is no single answer to these questions! Our purpose is to present:
1) the data on which we can now rely on to attempt to construct hypotheses about the nature and intensity of climate crisis;
2) the nature and intensity of settlement patterns variations.
It is only in a second step that we can try to examine the relationship between the two sets of observations, in a joint work of archaeology and geosciences.
d’une carte varient en fonction des milieux étudiés et des champs
disciplinaires intéressés. Dans le cadre de notre article, nous avons
souhaité aborder la question des formations meubles en contexte
alluvial dans une perspective de recherche archéologique sur les
occupations humaines au cours du Pléistocène. Notre ambition est
donc d’abord méthodologique : comment les géo-traitements,
appliqués aux différents documents cartographiques dont nous disposons, peuvent participer à la compréhension de la géomorphologie d’une vallée et guider les stratégies d’implantation des sondages archéologiques ?
past air convergence boundary shifts. The investigation of the functioning of specific hydro-sedimentary basins is needed to improve our knowledge on the AHP spatial and chronological patterns over the continent. In this paper we present a revised Holocene lake level curve of Lake Abhe: an endorheic basin situated in the Afar Depression at the northern extremity of the East African Rift System (EARS). Located at the boundary of the Red Sea and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans' air moisture mass fluxes, the Lake Abhe watershed represents a system sensitive to changes in Northeast African hydro-climate. Based on numerous littoral lacustrine geomorphic features and 53 related radiocarbon ages on stromatolites and nearshore deposits,we have defined the mainHolocene lake highstands proposing a detailed paleo-shoreline record. The first rise in water level is dated to ~11.1 ka cal. BP, while the Maximal Holocene Highstand Shoreline (~420ma.s.l.)was rapidly reached around ~10 ka cal. BP. Evidence of the impact of the 8.2 ka North Atlantic cooling event is recognizedwith slow lake level regression until ~8.3 ka cal. BP and with an abrupt drop at ~8 ka cal. BP. The resurgence of humid conditionswas recorded from ~7.7 ka cal. BP to ~4.6 ka cal. BP. Radiocarbon ages on littoral materials allow us to propose a Holocene subsidence rate of the Abhe basin axial valley. Furthermore, multiphase sill overflow incisions towards the downstream Hanle basin and transient fluvial connectivity with the upstream Ziway-Shala basin, indicate strong geomorphic controls on lake highstand elevations. In summary, Lake Abhe Holocene fluctuations are the result of combined hydro-climatic, tectonic and local geomorphic controls. However, the confrontation with others East African basins allows us to discuss the transport
of moisture masses dynamics into the northern EARS during the Holocene.
(in this case the pixel of a Landsat image), and a common description of the agronomic potential in those areas in which specific hydraulic installations were employed. In contrast to the usual practice of modelling, which depends upon the downscaling of environmental data (land cover, rainfall maps) generated at a continental scale, we stress here the need to generalize upwards, from observations made at the microregional level, by using common descriptors and qualitative indicators. The GIS analysis of these data provides a weighted average model derived from field evidence for the different technical choices made (i.e. the decision to utilize specific water management devices) in relation to the various agronomic landscapes.
We must consider first the meaning of the words we use in that kind of research. “Catastrophe” is, by definition, an event that archaeology identifies only by chance when we have no texts. The consequences of a disaster, perceptible by the immediate reaction of the population, – social destabilization, or no consequence – are identifiable only if a finely tuned stratigraphic continuity on an excavated site allows it. When we speak of “climate fluctuation”, we seek to establish what is called an “environmental crisis” in case of fluctuation seen as negative, or, conversely, improvement, positive change (more rarely characterized and studied!). Jean-Paul Bravard asked whether “a retrospective analysis of the environmental crisis is possible? Geosciences researchers aim at identifying environmental descriptors, and then infer the occurrence of a crisis. Crisis is identified ex post several centuries or millennia after its occurrence, without any real possibility of understanding the socio-cultural issues or the social adaptation/reaction to the natural processes. The only identified reality is the recording of physical phenomena whose aggregate product curves out of geological standards defined by the scientific community”1. For us archaeologists, questions are then: “Are we sure that the ʽcrisisʼ was perceived and analyzed as such by ancient societies who have experienced it? Has the crisis produced impacts on society and, if so, what kind of reaction or adaptation? In other words, what is the status of the societal component in the studied process?”.
We know that there is no single answer to these questions! Our purpose is to present:
1) the data on which we can now rely on to attempt to construct hypotheses about the nature and intensity of climate crisis;
2) the nature and intensity of settlement patterns variations.
It is only in a second step that we can try to examine the relationship between the two sets of observations, in a joint work of archaeology and geosciences.
d’une carte varient en fonction des milieux étudiés et des champs
disciplinaires intéressés. Dans le cadre de notre article, nous avons
souhaité aborder la question des formations meubles en contexte
alluvial dans une perspective de recherche archéologique sur les
occupations humaines au cours du Pléistocène. Notre ambition est
donc d’abord méthodologique : comment les géo-traitements,
appliqués aux différents documents cartographiques dont nous disposons, peuvent participer à la compréhension de la géomorphologie d’une vallée et guider les stratégies d’implantation des sondages archéologiques ?