Remote Sensing the Archaeological Traces of Boat Movement in the Marshes of Southern Mesopotamia

Abstract

This study presents the results of the first remote sensing survey of hollow ways in Southern Mesopotamia between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, primarily using the imagery in Google Earth. For archaeologists, hollow ways are important trace fossils of past human movement that inform about how people travelled in the past and what considerations were important to them as they moved through the landscape. In this study, remotely sensed hollow ways were ground-truthed and dated by association with both palaeochannels and known archaeological sites. Contextual and morphological evidence of the hollow ways indicate that they are likely the archaeological manifestation of ethnographically attested "water channels" formed through the dense reeds of marshlands in southern Iraq, not formed by traction overland like other known hollow ways. The map itself documents the first known hollow ways preserved underwater and one of the best-preserved landscapes of past human movement in the Near East.

Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

“…Omitting the different factors involved during the avulsion processes (both human-induced and natural), their recognition is potentially useful for reconstructing the Early Holocene distributary system. Moreover, the avulsion process favoured the irrigation of croplands and the development of the early settlements [76]. Thus, the crevasse splays assume a dual importance in the study area, both for the reconstruction of the Holocene multi-channel fluvial system and for the geoarchaeological surveys of the numerous ancient settlements.…”

Regional-Scale Systematic Mapping of Archaeological Mounds and Detection of Looting Using COSMO-SkyMed High Resolution DEM and Satellite Imagery

“…Use, abandonment, and reconstruction of settlements across time led to the formation of tells. The exploitation of the natural resources of the region left traces that can still be found, such as the so-called "hollow ways" formed by erosion from the traction of people and/or their animals walking along the same route repeatedly [39].…”

“…This infrastructure significantly impacted the conservation of cultural heritage, as demonstrated by a recent multi-temporal satellite imagery-based analysis published by Marchetti et al [42] and Zaina [43], in the framework of the QADIS survey project investigating the south and eastern region of Qadisiyah as a joint Iraqi-Italian initiative of the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) of Iraq [44]. At the Delmej reservoir, Jotheri et al [39] also documented hollow ways, of which some are submerged under the shallow water of the current marshland, and others are found at the edges of the marsh.…”

Remote sensing applications for the assessment of the geomorphic response of fluvial systems to the Holocene Climate Changes

“…Omitting the different factors involved during the avulsion processes (both human-induced and natural), their recognition is potentially useful for reconstructing the Early Holocene distributary system. Moreover, the avulsion process favoured the irrigation of croplands and the development of the early settlements (Jotheri et al, 2019). Thus, the crevasse splays assume dual importance in the study area, both for the reconstruction of the Holocene multi-channel fluvial system and the geoarchaeological surveys of the numerous ancient settlements.…”