Persistent Pastoralism: Monuments and Settlements in the Archaeology of Dhofar

Persistent Pastoralism: Monuments and Settlements in the Archaeology of Dhofar PDF Author: Joy McCorriston
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1803274549
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
A summary of archaeological work along the Dhofar plateau and its backslope into the Nejd of Southern Oman, this book documents survey and excavation of small-scale stone monuments and pastoral settlements.

Water Histories and Spatial Archaeology

Water Histories and Spatial Archaeology PDF Author: Michael J. Harrower
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316552926
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book offers a new interpretation of the spatial-political-environmental dynamics of water and irrigation in long-term histories of arid regions. It compares ancient Southwest Arabia (3500 BC–AD 600) with the American West (2000 BC–AD 1950) in global context to illustrate similarities and differences among environmental, cultural, political, and religious dynamics of water. It combines archaeological exploration and field studies of farming in Yemen with social theory and spatial technologies, including satellite imagery, Global Positioning System (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping. In both ancient Yemen and the American West, agricultural production focused not where rain-fed agriculture was possible, but in hyper-arid areas where massive state-constructed irrigation schemes politically and ideologically validated state sovereignty. While shaped by profound differences and contingencies, ancient Yemen and the American West are mutually informative in clarifying human geographies of water that are important to understandings of America, Arabia, and contemporary conflicts between civilizations deemed East and West.

The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia

The Archaeology of Prehistoric Arabia PDF Author: Peter Magee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139991639
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Encompassing a landmass greater than the rest of the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean combined, the Arabian peninsula remains one of the last great unexplored regions of the ancient world. This book provides the first extensive coverage of the archaeology of this region from c.9000 to 800 BC. Peter Magee argues that a unique social system, which relied on social cohesion and actively resisted the hierarchical structures of adjacent states, emerged during the Neolithic and continued to contour society for millennia later. The book also focuses on how the historical context in which Near Eastern archaeology was codified has led to a skewed understanding of the multiplicity of lifeways pursued by ancient peoples living throughout the Middle East.

Landscapes and Societies

Landscapes and Societies PDF Author: I. Peter Martini
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 904819413X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
This book contains case histories intended to show how societies and landscapes interact. The range of interest stretches from the small groups of the earliest Neolithic, through Bronze and Iron Age civilizations, to modern nation states. The coexistence is, of its very nature reciprocal, resulting in changes in both society and landscape. In some instances the adaptations may be judged successful in terms of human needs, but failure is common and even the successful cases are ephemeral when judged in the light of history. Comparisons and contrasts between the various cases can be made at various scales from global through inter-regional, to regional and smaller scales. At the global scale, all societies deal with major problems of climate change, sea-level rise, and with ubiquitous problems such as soil erosion and landscape degradation. Inter-regional differences bring out significant detail with one region suffering from drought when another suffers from widespread flooding. For example, desertification in North Africa and the Near East contrasts with the temperate countries of southern Europe where the landscape-effects of deforestation are more obvious. And China and Japan offer an interesting comparison from the standpoint of geological hazards to society - large, unpredictable and massively erosive rivers in the former case, volcanoes and accompanying earthquakes in the latter. Within the North African region localized climatic changes led to abandonment of some desertified areas with successful adjustments in others, with the ultimate evolution into the formative civilization of Egypt, the "Gift of the Nile". At a smaller scale it is instructive to compare the city-states of the Medieval and early Renaissance times that developed in the watershed of a single river, the Arno in Tuscany, and how Pisa, Siena and Florence developed and reached their golden periods at different times depending on their location with regard to proximity to the sea, to the main trunk of the river, or in the adjacent hills. Also noteworthy is the role of technology in opening up opportunities for a society. Consider the Netherlands and how its history has been formed by the technical problem of a populous society dealing with too much water, as an inexorably rising sea threatens their landscape; or the case of communities in Colorado trying to deal with too little water for farmers and domestic users, by bringing their supply over a mountain chain. These and others cases included in the book, provide evidence of the successes, near misses and outright failures that mark our ongoing relationship with landscape throughout the history of Homo sapiens. The hope is that compilations such as this will lead to a better understanding of the issue and provide us with knowledge valuable in planning a sustainable modus vivendi between humanity and landscape for as long as possible. Audience: The book will interest geomorphologists, geologists, geographers, archaeologists, anthropologists, ecologists, environmentalists, historians and others in the academic world. Practically, planners and managers interested in landscape/environmental conditions will find interest in these pages, and more generally the increasingly large body of opinion in the general public, with concerns about Planet Earth, will find much to inform their opinions. Extra material: The color plate section is available at http://extras.springer.com

Arabia and the Arabs

Arabia and the Arabs PDF Author: Robert G. Hoyland
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134646348
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Long before Muhammed preached the religion of Islam, the inhabitants of his native Arabia had played an important role in world history as both merchants and warriors Arabia and the Arabs provides the only up-to-date, one-volume survey of the region and its peoples, from prehistory to the coming of Islam Using a wide range of sources - inscriptions, poetry, histories, and archaeological evidence - Robert Hoyland explores the main cultural areas of Arabia, from ancient Sheba in the south, to the deserts and oases of the north. He then examines the major themes of *the economy *society *religion *art, architecture and artefacts *language and literature *Arabhood and Arabisation The volume is illustrated with more than 50 photographs, drawings and maps.

In the Land of the Emirates

In the Land of the Emirates PDF Author: Daniel T. Potts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781905486571
Category : Excavations (Archaeology)
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description


An Encyclopedia of World History

An Encyclopedia of World History PDF Author: William L. Langer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World history
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East

A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East PDF Author: Billie Jean Collins
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047400917
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 647

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Book Description
This book is about all aspects of man’s contact with the animal world; sacrifice, sacred animals, diet, domestication, in short, from the sublime to the mundane. Chapters on art, literature, religion and animal husbandry provide the reader with a complete picture of the complex relationships between the peoples of the Ancient Near East and (their) animals. A reference guide and key to the menagerie of the Ancient Near East, with ample original illustrations.

The Origins and Development of African Livestock

The Origins and Development of African Livestock PDF Author: Roger Blench
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135434158
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 665

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Book Description
This book presents an interdisciplinary overview of the origins of African livestock, placing Africa as one of the world centres for animal domestication. With sections on archaeology, genetics, linguistics and ethnography, this collection contains over twenty contributions from the field's foremost experts and provides fully illustrated, never before published data, and extensive bibliographies.

Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara

Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara PDF Author: Fred Wendorf
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461506530
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 718

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Book Description
by Fred Wendorf and Romuald Schild The Eastern Sahara is a fascinating place to study structures. These larger, more complex sites are almost prehistory. Confronted with the stark reality of a hyper always in the lower parts of large basins, most of which arid environment that receives no measurable rainfall, were formed by deflation during the Late Pleistocene lacks vegetation, and is seemingly without life, it would hyper-arid interval between about 65,000 and 13,000 seem to be an unlikely place to find a rich and complex years ago. Their location near the floor of these basins mosaic of archaeological remains documenting past was influenced primarily by one factor - water. During human presence. Despite this impression of a hostile wet phases, runoff from extensive catchment areas environment, there is widespread and abundant caused the development of large, deep, seasonal lakes, archaeological evidence. or playas, in the lowermost parts of these basins. This It is obvious that this area was not always a lifeless surface water would last for several weeks or months desert. Faunal and plant remains found in the excavations after the seasonal rains, and by digging wells after the at Holocene-age settlements, dating between 9500 and playa became dry, water could still be obtained during 5000 radiocarbon years ago, indicate that rainfall during most, if not all, of the dry season.