Archaeology of Desert Landscapes

This work starts with a question: ‘what makes a place entangled’? Posing this question implies an understanding that places have qualities that are fruitfully understood in terms of the concept of ‘entanglement’. This thesis uses the term to express and explore the inextricably inter-woven temporal components of a place that emerge from stories of its history that were either direct accounts, traces in the patterned objects on the ground, or retrieved from archives. These qualities are interpreted as arising through interactions between people, objects and the physical and historical characteristics of a place through time. It is this relationship between interaction and entanglement that the thesis ‘has a good look around’, to use a key phrase used by Irrwanyere Aboriginal Corporation members.

The threads implicated in the historical entanglement of particular places are traced. These are: experiences as an archaeologist and a historian in contemporary places of the western Simpson Desert, mediated by Irrwanyere Aboriginal Corporation members who speak for that country; direct stories of the place; texts generated by white explorers, surveyors, scientists, managers and tourists; the enduring presence of the creator Ancestors; and spatial patterns of material objects.

Why is recognition of the processes that generate such entanglement important? It shifts attention. Focusing on their entangled character brings to the fore what are otherwise missing histories of Indigenous labour and concern. Importantly it also disallows unitary categories for places as being either ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘European’, ‘pre-historic’ or ‘colonial’; often assumed to be separate components of history. The challenge then is to track the interaction of these histories. The aim is to make the missing stories of western Simpson people in place available, in a way where the place of the story retains its specifics, but is simultaneously stretched into an expanded network of social and historical connections.

Three inter-related themes that emerged as consequential in understanding the dynamics of people and place in the western Simpson Desert are developed. These are, firstly, cross-cultural interactions during intense and rapid change associated with the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line. Remembered as a technological and political achievement, an agent of modernity from 1872, an unintended outcome of its installation was the incision of a continuous ‘contact zone’ through the country and lives of the local Indigenous people. The thesis looks at how these large-scale processes of change played out locally in a particular place – the repeater station at Charlotte Waters.

Secondly, the thesis looks at interactions of people and place through the lens of water. Water is vital, especially in the desert. What distinct expectations and understandings do different people bring to their relations with water, as revealed through their practices in relation to it?

Thirdly, the thesis considers what makes and maintains connections between places.

While the interactions explored in this work are specific to the particular places and region, the historical implications and the approach are applicable in any place.

A recently recorded Colorado Desert rock art site within the Palen-McCoy Wilderness, CA-RIV-12421, reflects a fascinating intersection between prehistoric and historic peoples. The vibrant petroglyph expressions include Western Archaic Tradition, Patayan, and equestrian motifs. The heaviest concentration of scratched motifs known in the Colorado Desert can be found here. Historic inscriptions are also present beginning in 1873, including that of O. P. Calloway and possibly the “infamous” land grafter John Benson. All tolled, CA-RIV-12421 provides a relatively high mixture of potential chronological markers. An attempt has been made to analyze the context of this site utilizing its environmental setting and the extant temporal clues available in the rock art. Findings of this investigation include a suggestion that much of this art was created in the Historic Period (ca. 1540-1774), with equestrian motif creation occurring between the early 1700s and 1873. The site’s geomorphology, ecological, and archaeological aspects, in conjunction with its high concentration of bighorn sheep petroglyphs, suggests that it may have functioned as a destination locality for spiritual and hunting purposes.

The rise and fall of desert agriculture in the southern Levant has been debated among scholars for the last 200 years, in the chronological, the socio-political and the environmental context. Based on c. 31 OSL ages of sediments from agricultural terraces in various sites in the Negev Highlands, the main phase of ancient desert agriculture was dated to between the 3 rd-4th centuries CE and the 10 th-11th centuries CE (Avni et al., 2013). Within this longue durée process of agricultural activities, no significant environmental or climatic change was observed coinciding with the Byzantine-Islamic transition in the 7th century CE. Our research, which focused on the natural processes that influenced the rise and fall of the Negev desert agriculture, found that the agricultural installations were sustainable for at least 700 years and parts of these agricultural constructions are still in use today. This long period of usage is a clear indication of their robust design and their good adaptation to the desert environment, despite possible short-term climatic fluctuations. However, continuous flooding, gulling, soil erosion and siltation required constant maintenance of agricultural systems by the local farmers. In addition, the political and economic changes that followed the Byzantine-Islamic transition triggered a gradual decrease in the economic value of the products of desert agriculture, followed by a disruption of the social-political balance between local farmers and herders. These made the desert runoff agriculture less viable, leading to its final demise after the 10th century CE. Therefore, a direct link between the rise and fall of desert runoff agriculture and the claimed climatic changes in the southern Levant seems unlikely.

This paper presents results of excavations at an Iron Age (~10th c. BCE) gatehouse and associated livestock pens in one of the largest copper smelting camps in Timna Valley – Site 34 (" Slaves' Hill "). The extraordinary preservation of organic materials allowed for in depth investigations of animal bones as well as seeds and pollen found in dung piles. The results demonstrate that the gatehouse area was used for keeping donkeys (or mules), which were the common draught animal at the time, together with other livestock (probably goats). The donkeys were fed with grape pomace and hay (rather than straw) that originated from the Mediterranean regions, N100 km to the northeast (Edom) and 200 km to the north (Philistia/Judea). This food reflects special treatment and care, in accordance with the key role of the donkeys in the success of copper production and trade in a logistically challenging region. Furthermore, the excavations revealed a deliberate piling of the dung against the inner face of the site's wall, most probably in order to use it as fuel in the copper smelting process (the initial heating of the furnaces). In addition, the excavations yielded insights on the metalworkers themselves, including their rich diet (as reflected by animal bones and seeds) and activities at the gatehouse area. The latter includes secondary met-allurgical processes such as refining/melting in crucibles and probably casting of ingots. Lastly, the results of this study shed new light on the Iron Age society engaged in copper production in Timna (probably early Edom), further stressing its complexity and centralized organization, as well as its involvement in interregional trade. The gatehouse and walls also indicate substantial investment in deterrence and defense, reflecting a period of instability and military threat in 10th c. BCE Timna.

Neolithisation in the Levantine deserts, the rise of pastoral societies in the arid periphery of the Mediterranean zone, comprised a patchwork of cumulative adaptations, chronologically and geographically varying according to the specifics of environmental and historical circumstances. These adaptations affected all realms of society, including basic organization, cosmologies, economy and subsistence, and ecology. Neolithisation began with the evolution of small-scale pastoral bands, but culminated in the crystallization of larger groups with deep economic links to the settled zone. It was neither linear, continuous, nor based on any single threshold or defining variable. Like the adoption of farming, it spanned several millennia and included complex formulations of social change.

The climatically varied Syro-Levantine steppes feature complex dynamics of past human occupation that vary greatly across the region in terms of scale, time periods, and archaeological remains. In particular, the Late Chalcolithic (LC) and Early Bronze Age (EBA) (c. 4400‑2100 BC) saw urbanism in north-eastern Syria, smaller-scale sedentism in central Syria, and the decline of longstanding occupation in north-eastern Jordan. Despite this, the challenges faced by prehistoric populations in these uncertain environments would have been very similar; thus it is reasonable to propose that some of their solutions were also. The region-wide project 'Human Adaptation in Climatically Marginal Environments of late-fifth to third millennium BC Syria and Jordan' takes a holistic approach to investigating these arid and semi-arid regions to determine their appeal to past populations, and the effects of the natural and anthropogenic environment on settlement morphologies and societies. It uses a variety of past and present remote sensing and ground truth data, a vital part of which is the author's 'Western Harra Survey', south of Jawa in the northern badia of Jordan. The first fieldwork season, conducted October-November 2015, identified large quantities of lithic material at numerous sites, a handful of which were likely occupied during the LC/EBA, as well as potential links to raw chert material sources, adding another facet to the appeal of the harrah to past populations, on top of the well-established arguments for the exploitation of pasture land resources. Additionally, a typological seriation of the morphology of sites known as 'wheels' was commenced, which appears to be linked to different site uses and/or periods of occupation. Establishing these connections is crucial to allow mapping occupation dynamics across the greater region and comparisons with areas in Syria and beyond.

Nahal Efe is one of the largest and best-preserved Pre-Pottery Neolithic B sites in the Negev, with architectural remains preserved up to more than one metre high. Extensive excavation has revealed a cluster of semi-subterranean, relatively large, sub-circular stone buildings located on different levels. The chipped stone assemblage recovered in one of these buildings (Unit 2) has been studied, showing a strong Negev accent. Lithic artefacts were locally produced and display the main characteristics commonly found at many other desert sites. However, lithic production also shows a series of traits that have been traditionally used to characterize lithic industries at the large Neolithic sedentary farming villages of the Mediterranean woodland region. This hybrid character is what seems to characterize the chipped lithic production at Nahal Efe during the Middle PPNB, thus reflecting the specific nature and particularities of a region that at that time constituted the border land between hunter-gatherers and the expanding farming communities. Finally, the lithic industries at Nahal Efe, characterized by their complexity, heterogeneity and hybrid accent, would be compatible with a semi-permanent or permanent village rather than with a short-lived ephemeral occupation or specialized seasonal camp, thus highlighting the status of Nahal Efe and its important role at a regional scale around 8000 cal. BC.

Negev focuses on two primary purposes, one theoretical/methodological and the second substantive. Briefly stated, the book comprises a case study of excavations at an early (ca. 2800 B.C.) pastoral site in the Negev, providing detailed analyses and a synthetic overview of a seasonal encampment from this early period in the evolution of desert pastoral societies. It thus both demonstrates the feasibility of an archaeology of early mobile pastoralism and grapples with the basic anthropological and methodological issues surrounding the subject. Substantively, both the architectural and material culture assemblages uncovered constitute the first detailed analysis of this early desert culture and include materials previously unreported for the region and period. Historically, the Camel Site is placed in a larger perspective of the beginnings of multiresource nomadism in relation to the rise of complex societies.

The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears ...

The first season of the Crowded Desert Project has been made possible thanks to the generous funding of UCL Qatar and the Qatar Foundation and the enthusiastic support of Qatar Museums. Future work proposed in this paper will be carried out with the support of the Qatar National Research Fund, which has awarded the undersigning team with a National Priorities Research Program grant (NPRP8-1582-6-056). Many UCL Qatar students and other volunteers supported the Project with their work during the 2015 season and our thanks go to them. Equally, the good disposition of shepherds, hunters, and passers-by in the desert was instrumental in achieving the exciting results of this season.

The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobo-tanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Med-iterranean trade reaching what appear...

The increasing availability and sinking costs of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, has resulted in these devices becoming relatively commonplace on archaeological sites. The advantages of being able to rapidly obtain bespoke high-resolution images from the air are conspicuous to anyone familiar with archaeological fieldwork; meanwhile the possibilities of subsequently processing such images together with their metadata to obtain digital elevation models (DEMs) and three-dimensional (3-D) models provide additional bonuses to analysis and interpretation. The recent use of a rotary-wing drone by the Western Harra Survey (WHS), an archaeological project co-directed by the author in the "Black Desert", or Harra, of northeastern Jordan, showcases these advantages in the context of a landscape that (a) is subject to negligible transformation processes and (b) is difficult to access, both by vehicle and on foot. By using processed drone imagery to record in detail prehistoric basalt structures visible on the surface and their surroundings, morphological site typologies hypothesised from satellite imagery were confirmed, relative dating within sites ascertained, structural features and damage documented, spatial relationships to natural resources established, offsite features traced, modern threats to heritage catalogued, and practically inaccessible sites investigated. Together, these results, most of which were only obtainable and all of which were obtained more rapidly by using a drone, represent significant insights into this underrepresented region, and provide a case-study for the benefits of these devices in other landscapes of a similar nature.

Olive (Olea europaea) trees in the arid Negev Desert of southern Israel are important relicts on the ancient agricultural landscape. Among them are a cluster of several trees located in Wadi Zetan, at the heart of the Shivta horticulture terroir, with its abundant agricultural runoff remains. Two isolated olive bearing trees stand in a sheltered beneath cliff in the upper part of the wadi. Radiocarbon dating of an internal part of the trunk of one of these living trees estimates its minimum age as the mid-16th-early 17th century CE (~500 years old). Archaeological excavations conducted beneath the trees and the adjacent dam revealed OSL samples of loess accumulation dated to the Early Islamic period (8th-9th centuries CE). The stratigraphy and chronology of this sediment deposition indicate its rapid and short accumulation. Palynological analysis of the same OSL dated samples indicates that grapevines and olive trees were cultivated in the immediate vicinity of the site during the Early Islamic period. The lack of pollen of cultivated taxa from the latter part of the sequence points to cessation of the agricultural activity, probably a few hundred years later. Leaf samples for DNA profiling of the trees in comparison to other local old olive trees around the country, indicate that the trees in Wadi Zetan are genetically close to a known cultivar common among ancient olive trees. The trees have survived for at least a few hundred years, in an arid area, due to the local conditions and enhanced drainage from the man-made upper runoff system. These old olive trees bear a powerful and symbolic significance, indicating the endurance and sustainability of ancient desert runoff agriculture. Moreover, the survival of their relicts in Wadi Zetan suggests their potential as cultivars greater resilience to the harsh growing conditions of arid environments.

The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears ...

The first season of the Crowded Desert Project has been made possible thanks to the generous funding of UCL Qatar and the Qatar Foundation and the enthusiastic support of Qatar Museums. Future work proposed in this paper will be carried out with the support of the Qatar National Research Fund, which has awarded the undersigning team with a National Priorities Research Program grant (NPRP8-1582-6-056). Many UCL Qatar students and other volunteers supported the Project with their work during the 2015 season and our thanks go to them. Equally, the good disposition of shepherds, hunters, and passers-by in the desert was instrumental in achieving the exciting results of this season.

Archaeological wood-charcoal (anthracology) analysis from the oldest Western Australian Desert site, Karnatukul. The results highlight the resilience of Australia's iconic Wattle species (Acacia) and its 50,000 years of shared history with Western Desert people.

The first season of the Crowded Desert Project has been made possible thanks to the generous funding of UCL Qatar and the Qatar Foundation and the enthusiastic support of Qatar Museums. Future work proposed in this paper will be carried out with the support of the Qatar National Research Fund, which has awarded the undersigning team with a National Priorities Research Program grant (NPRP8-1582-6-056). Many UCL Qatar students and other volunteers supported the Project with their work during the 2015 season and our thanks go to them. Equally, the good disposition of shepherds, hunters, and passers-by in the desert was instrumental in achieving the exciting results of this season.

The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears ...

The Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica), can be found in the arid regions of the Negev highlands, the Judean desert, and the northern Arava in a number of clustered populations located near permanent water sources. The trees' distribution in the desert regions is not continuous, being disconnected from its major area of distribution along the Jordan River, where its distribution is uninterrupted. It is unclear how and when this disjunctive distribution occurred, and what were the initial ecological conditions for this poplar's original establishment and success. In this article we present a study of the current distribution of these trees within an arid environment, and of their various traditional uses. A strong relationship is demonstrated between the present location of the trees and settlements from the Roman and Byzantine periods (between the 1st century BCE to 7th century CE). Euphrates poplars are abundant today near early Christian monasteries, which could have bee...

The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears ...