Michael J. Harrower

Hydrology, Ideology, and the Origins of Irrigation in Ancient Southwest Arabia

As an archaeologically less‐known region, Southwest Arabia offers new insights that can contribute to interregional understanding of agriculture’s beginnings. The relative importance of environmental and social factors is an issue that has proven particularly contentious for both general and regionally focused explanations of transitions to agriculture. Geomatics analyses of landforms and runoff and ethnoarchaeological consideration of cairn tombs and water rights along the Wadi Sana drainage of Hadramawt Governate, Yemen, highlight the joint importance of two proximate dimensions of environmental conditions and social relations—hydrology and ideologies of territoriality. In contrast with a focus on one or the other, perspectives that draw on the strengths of both scientific quantification and humanistic interpretation provide for more accurate understanding of the circumstances that shaped the lives and livelihoods of early farmers.

Is the hydraulic hypothesis dead yet? Irrigation and social change in ancient Yemen

Abstract Irrigation played an important role throughout ancient Southwest Arabian histories. Irrigation structures provide some of the earliest evidence of crop agriculture and large-scale flash floodwater irrigation systems sustained ancient states; the region thus offers important potential for reconsidering links between irrigation and social change. This paper examines millennia-long connections between social relations and the increasing technological and organizational complexity of irrigation in ancient Yemen. While the hydraulic hypothesis in its original deterministic formulation does not adequately account for the complexity and diversity of regional histories, large centrally managed irrigation systems played an indisputably significant role in Southwest Arabian state formation. Irrigation not only generated the food to sustain burgeoning populations but, just as importantly, afforded ancient kings the ideological prestige of commanding transformation of hyper-arid areas into lush, bountiful oases.

Autodetection of ancient Arabian tombs in high-resolution satellite imagery

High circular tombs (HCTs) in southern Arabia provide valuable information for anthropologists who seek fundamental understanding of the transition of ancient peoples from a nomadic pastoral lifestyle, to agro-pastoralism, and eventually to the formation of ancient states. In particular, knowing the geographical distribution of HCTs across the region informs theories on patterns of territoriality and environmental and social factors that are implicated in the emergence of ancient civilizations. The small size of the HCTs, vast search regions, and rugged terrain make mapping them in the field difficult and costly. In this article, a detection algorithm is described and quantitatively evaluated and establishes the feasibility of automatically detecting these tombs in satellite imagery. By narrowing the search to a smaller set of candidate locations, wide area discovery and mapping can be performed much more effectively.

If a picture is worth a thousand words…3D modelling of a Bronze Age tower in Oman

Abstract Three-dimensional imagery is rapidly transforming the reconstruction, visualization and conceptualization of ancient monuments. We report (and reflect on the value of) digital reconstruction of a third-millennium bc megalithic tower and surrounding landscape using a combination of architectural drawing, 3D photogrammetry and geographic information systems (GIS) mapping. Our results indicate that at least 181 metric tons of limestone (mean boulder weight 386kg) were hewn to create a monument 20m in diameter and at least 4m high. In addition to considering possible practical functions, including water extraction and a potential defensive purpose, we argue that this tower’s central significance lay in its monumentality. At least sixty comparable Umm an-Nar period towers are known; and, as much as the model itself, the process of planning and executing a 3D model led us to recognize that a community of skilled builder/architects used a sophisticated mental template (with variation on a theme) to design and construct them.

Methods, Concepts and Challenges in Archaeological Site Detection and Modeling

This chapter briefly reviews methodological and conceptual issues and debates central to advancement of archaeological site detection and modeling. A wide variety of different survey, sampling and site designation methods have long shaped results of archaeological explorations. Methodological challenges and potential means to better address sociocultural considerations within geospatial prediction/detection modeling are mentioned, and less widely recognized methodological impediments including the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) and the need to address detection errors of omission and commission are discussed.

Archaeology: Digital maps illuminate ancient trade routes

&NA; How did the relationship between human societies and their surrounding terrain shape the formation of long‐distance trade networks such as the Silk Road? Digital mapping and computer modelling offer insights. See Article p.193

Introduction: The History and Future of Geospatial and Space Technologies in Archaeology

In a contemporary era transformed by computers and the Internet, geospatial sciences and space technologies will undoubtedly continue to play an increasing role in understanding and preserving archaeological histories. Particularly since the early 1990s, advances in air and spaceborne technologies, image availability, hardware and software have contributed new, substantially more effective means of archaeological research and heritage management. Geospatial technologies have begun to transform many fields, from engineering and environmental studies to health and earth sciences, and they are having similarly broad impacts in archaeology. Applications encouraged by the availability of inexpensive Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, satellite imagery, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, have reached near ubiquity in archaeological field research, yet there are few advanced introductions to space technologies tailored to the needs of archaeologists.