Ancient to recent-past runoff harvesting agriculture in the hyper-arid Arava Valley: OSL dating and insights

Abstract

Runoff harvesting agriculture was prevalent in ancient times across the southern Levant. In modern Israel, remnants of this agricultural adaptation strategy are widespread mostly in the semi-arid and arid Negev. Extensive literature has thoroughly described the farming systems of this region. However, runoff agriculture in the dryer, hyper-arid regions of the Arava Valley and southern Negev (excluding the Uvda Valley), has scarcely been researched. A recent study revealed remnants of simple stone terraces in several wadis (ephemeral stream channels) throughout the central Arava Valley that have not yet been dated. The objective of this study was to use the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) method to date sediments trapped in the stone terraces. The results revealed dominance of terraces dated to the Ottoman period (1516–1917 CE). Few samples were dated to the earlier Late Islamic period (1099–1516 CE) or Byzantine period (324–638 CE), and to the later, modern period of the mid-20th century. Generally, these periods coincide with relatively moister regional climatic conditions, which prevailed in the 4th, 11th–12th, and late 19th centuries CE. Yet, our findings also concur with periods of effective governance by central administrations. Therefore, results of this study fit the concept that runoff agriculture practiced in peripheral areas in ancient to recent-past times was co-determined by climatic settings and geo-political conditions, which enabled human inhabitation in these regions.

Integrating Archaeological Data in Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies—Methodological Notes from High-Resolution Mapping of Ancient Features in Southern Israel

“…Rather, it derives from the complex amalgam of ruins on the periphery of the wadi near Horvat Haluqim. In a study that took place in a totally different environment, located in the arid Arava desert about 100 km to the south, a much more limited range of dates was obtained [12]. It may be assumed that the limited range of dates derives primarily from the paucity of ruins in that area.…”

“…[181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201][202]. Their activity also contributed to OSL dating that fits the last century [12] (pp. 1051-1052).…”

“…The mapping was conducted with a GPS, which enabled us not only to mark the precise location of the remains but also to sketch them. The data were loaded into a geographic information system as a basis for continuing multidisciplinary environmental research including geomorphology and hydrology [6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Another study examined the remains of the agricultural systems in the arid Arava and dealt with the implications of detailed mapping and the need to classify the different types of terraces rather than suffice with the general term "terrace". A basis was also found for the different types of simple terraces that reflect a range of approaches to taking advantage of the difficult environmental conditions at specific sites [12].…”

Palaeoflood records to assist in design of civil infrastructure in ephemeral rivers with scarce hydrological data: Ugab River, Namibia

“…A variety of dating methods are available, but the most commonly used are radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. For OSL, sand samples were collected in the field using light-tight PVC cylinders, from which quartz particles with grain size of 88-125 µm were extracted from the bulk sediment samples using routine laboratory procedures (Stavi et al, 2021). Briefly, the samples were wet-sieved to the selected grain size, carbonates were dissolved by 8 % HCl, heavy minerals were removed by magnetic separation, and feldspars was dissolved and quartz etched with 40 % HF (for 40 min), followed by soaking in 16 % HCl to dissolve any fluorides which may have precipitated.…”