Hydro-geospatial analysis of ancient pastoral/agro-pastoral landscapes along Wadi Sana (Yemen)

Harrower, Michael J.; Oches, Eric A.; McCorriston, Joy

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.11.020

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…This 5 ka age is consistent with the cessation of silt accumulation in the wadi and onset of downcutting implying a local hydrological threshold, supporting this as a drying event (Oches et al, 2020). Although the midden stable isotopes are qualitative indicators, this supports evidence from other palaeoenvironmental work at Wadi Sana and elsewhere in Arabia linking decreased monsoon strength by 6 ka to increased rainfall variability (Harrower, 2008;Harrower et al, 2012) or the onset of widespread aridity before 6 ka (Enzel et al, 2015;Lézine et al, 1998Lézine et al, , 2010.…”

Section: Mid-holocene Vegetation and Hydrologysupporting

confidence: 81%

“…6 ka; McCorriston et al, 2002). Furthermore, water management structures, such as canals and check dams, were constructed as further evidence of environmental management likely in use from at least 5.8 to 5 ka (Harrower et al, 2012). Although itinerant people persisted after 5 ka, their lifestyles and archaeological signatures changed significantly (McCorriston & Harrower, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human landscape modification and expansion of tropical woodland in southern Arabia during the mid‐Holocene from rock hyrax middens

Ivory

Cole

Anderson

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Dryland ecosystems, such as those in southern Arabia, are particularly vulnerable to climate and land‐use change. Aridification and human subsistence changes at the end of the Holocene Humid Period at 6–4 ka have been used as an iconic example for evaluating such impacts to resilience of arid systems. Although records of ancient environments can provide critical insight into the biotic and abiotic mechanisms that alter ecosystems, traditional archives, such as lake deposits, are not common in southern Arabia after 6 ka; thus, we must use alternative archives. Location Yemen. Taxon Plants; Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis). Methods We use fossil pollen and stable isotopes (δ15N; δ13C) of rock hyrax (P. capensis) middens from Wadi Sana, Yemen, to look at changes in ecosystem structure and function across this key transition from 6 ka to the present. A total of 17 middens were radiocarbon‐dated and stable isotopes were measured. Of these, pollen was extracted from hyraceum of 14 middens and identified using a light microscope. Fossil pollen assemblages were then compared to existing modern pollen samples from throughout Arabia. Results During the mid‐Holocene from at least 6 to 4.7 ka, the pollen flora reflects a landscape with abundant tropical trees. These included foundational woody taxa, such as Terminalia and Boswellia sacra (frankincense), which had a strong positive influence on local hydrology and the economy, respectively. Increased charcoal abundances also suggest that wildfire occurred periodically. Main conclusions Connections with archaeological evidence suggest a strong link between human management and the presence of Terminalia woodland during the mid‐Holocene. These may have promoted increased groundwater storage and ponding as regional rainfall was decreasing. The mid‐Holocene expansion of Boswellia sacra (frankincense) may have helped support resin trade that became a critical export from the region. Fires were more common than today, suggesting semi‐arid but continuous vegetation cover across what is now bare ground. Finally, after 1 ka, increased sedge abundances at the expense of grasses and trees suggest the development of desert conditions.

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Section: Mid-holocene Vegetation and Hydrologysupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human landscape modification and expansion of tropical woodland in southern Arabia during the mid‐Holocene from rock hyrax middens

Ivory

Cole

Anderson

et al. 2021

Journal of Biogeography

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“…They come from ethnographies of modern pastoral specialists, whose subsistence, material culture, sociopolitical organization, and histories reflect their interdependence with agricultural societies (e.g., Bonte 1981; Khazanov 1984; Khoury and Kostiner 1990; Lees and Bates 1974). These models have been valuable in understanding the archaeological record of specialized pastoralism and exchange in the Bronze Age (Khazanov 2009; McCorriston and Weisberg 2002; Porter 2002; Stein 2004) and in the interpretation of Levantine Neolithic and Chalcolithic groups who did have contact with farmers (Bar‐Yosef and Bar‐Yosef‐Mayer 2002; Bar‐Yosef and Khazanov 1992; Grigson 2006). They underscore the significance of segmentary tribal identities anchored in genealogy and kinship and the importance of emerging states in supporting specialized pastoral societies and in consolidating political tribes (Fleming 2009; McCorriston 1997; Porter 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cattle Cults of the Arabian Neolithic and Early Territorial Societies

McCorriston

Harrower

Martin

et al. 2012

American Anthropologist

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At the cusp of food production, Near Eastern societies adopted new territorial practices, including archaeologically visible sedentism and nonsedentary social defenses more challenging to identify archaeologically. New archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence for Arabia's earliest‐known sacrifices points to territorial maintenance in arid highland southern Yemen. Here sedentism was not an option prior to agriculture. Seasonally mobile pastoralists developed alternate practices to reify cohesive identities, maintain alliances, and defend territories. Archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence implies cattle sacrifices were commemorated with a ring of more than 42 cattle skulls and a stone platform buried by 6,400‐year‐old floodplain sediments. Associated with numerous hearths, these cattle rites suggest feasting by a large gathering, with important sociopolitical ramifications for territories. A GIS analysis of the early Holocene landscape indicates constrained pasturage supporting small resident human populations. Cattle sacrifice in southern Arabia suggests a model of mid‐Holocene Neolithic territorial pastoralism under environmental and cultural conditions that made sedentism unsustainable. [prehistory, Arabia, sacrifice, territoriality, Neolithic]

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“…The palaeo‐records for a strengthened south‐west Asian monsoon across Arabia have been frequently reviewed, pointing to a broader Early Holocene habitable geographic range and habitat diversity, including palaeolakes in today's desert areas, broader and heavier spring flow in the mountains and marshy wadi bottoms where there had previously only been harsh aridity (Lézine et al . ; Harrower et al ., ). Archaeological evidence from southern Arabia consists mostly of surface finds and points to industries now better understood in their technological and geographic distinctiveness than when earlier researchers pointed to far‐flung parallels with the Levant and Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Neolithic in Arabia: a view from the south

McCorriston

2013

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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Maurizio Tosi alerted prehistorians to the significant evidence that Arabia followed its own path and with Serge Cleuziou has made a compelling argument about the distinctive social structure of Arabian complexity. After a decade of research and analyses based in Wadi Sana, Hadramawt, the RASA Project can offer a hypothetical scheme of the earliest social developments in highland southern Arabia. Domesticated animals came first; They were probably adopted or used by hunters still prizing wild game; Dedicated pastoralism emerged in situ, accompanied by an increase in population density and the definition of strategic territories; In southern Arabia, a distinct Neolithic culture of sacrifice began as social‐boundary maintenance to secure resources; Social strategies changed, with the introduction of more complex and broadly negotiated axes of power; Agriculture was introduced late, and the first deliberate cultivation may not have involved domesticated plants. Whatever was cultivated was used to maintain Neolithic populations committed to territories; This Neolithic culture set the foundation for subsequent Arabian cultures.

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Hydro-geospatial analysis of ancient pastoral/agro-pastoral landscapes along Wadi Sana (Yemen)

Cited by 20 publications

References 21 publications

Human landscape modification and expansion of tropical woodland in southern Arabia during the mid‐Holocene from rock hyrax middens

Human landscape modification and expansion of tropical woodland in southern Arabia during the mid‐Holocene from rock hyrax middens

Cattle Cults of the Arabian Neolithic and Early Territorial Societies

The Neolithic in Arabia: a view from the south

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