TY - JOUR
T1 - Ancient agriculture in Southeast Arabia
T2 - A three thousand year record of runoff farming from central Oman (Rustaq)
AU - Purdue, L.
AU - Kennet, D.
AU - Garnier, A.
AU - Parton, A.
AU - Djerbi, H.
AU - Botan, S.
AU - Herveux, L.
AU - Davtian, G.
AU - Carré, A.
AU - Moger, D.
AU - Al-Jahwari, Nasser
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was conducted and supported by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), under grant ANR-16-CE27-0008 (Project OASIWAT, Dir. L. Purdue). We would like to thank the Anglo-Omani Society and the Rustaq Batinah Archaeology Survey (directed by D. Kennet and Nasser al-Jahwari) for financial and scientific support. The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Heritage and Culture of Oman, and especially the minister His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, His Excellency Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahruqi, Undersecretary for Heritage Affairs, and His Excellency Hassan Mohammed Ali Al-Lawati, Adviser of His Highness the Minister for Heritage. The team is also extremely grateful to Mr Sultan Saif Nasser Al-Bakri, Director General for Archaeology and Mr Khamis Al-A'smi, Director of Archaeology. We thank G. Durrieu Madron for his kind help in the laboratory and R. Raymondie for helping with data analysis. The authors also thank the three anonymous reviewers for their thorough and insightful reviews that greatly improved the content of this paper.
Funding Information:
This research was conducted and supported by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), under grant ANR-16-CE27-0008 (Project OASIWAT, Dir. L. Purdue). We would like to thank the Anglo-Omani Society and the Rustaq Batinah Archaeology Survey (directed by D. Kennet and Nasser al-Jahwari) for financial and scientific support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Runoff farming is a key hydro-agricultural strategy that has proven efficient in arid areas. Research in Arabia on the function, development, maintenance, durability and abandonment of this technology is scarce. A multiproxy investigation (cartography, sedimentology, pedology, geochemistry, paleo-ecology and chronology) was conducted on a recently abandoned terraced area in Rustaq, Northern Oman. The aim was to characterize the formation, function and management of this runoff system and the driving factors behind its success. Cycles of cultivation were identified during the Iron Age II/III periods (specifically 750–450 BCE), the Early Pre-Islamic Period (PIR) (specifically 350–200 BCE), the Early and Middle Islamic periods (specifically 8–10th C CE, 13th-14th C CE) and the late Islamic period (specifically 17th C CE and later). This expansion and perenniality was possible thanks to: 1- available water (local to micro-regional orogenic precipitation despite a regional aridification during these periods); 2- suitable soils (weathered geological outcrops, probable aeolian /dust particles); 3- a system of production combining crops and husbandry; 4- a progressive increase in agricultural specialization (crops grown and techniques) in parallel with a diversification in hydraulic technology. These results are to some degree in accordance with known phases of settlement intensification and economic growth, but also reveal the persistence of small-scale rural livelihoods during periods of harsh conditions for which archaeological traces are very scarce.
AB - Runoff farming is a key hydro-agricultural strategy that has proven efficient in arid areas. Research in Arabia on the function, development, maintenance, durability and abandonment of this technology is scarce. A multiproxy investigation (cartography, sedimentology, pedology, geochemistry, paleo-ecology and chronology) was conducted on a recently abandoned terraced area in Rustaq, Northern Oman. The aim was to characterize the formation, function and management of this runoff system and the driving factors behind its success. Cycles of cultivation were identified during the Iron Age II/III periods (specifically 750–450 BCE), the Early Pre-Islamic Period (PIR) (specifically 350–200 BCE), the Early and Middle Islamic periods (specifically 8–10th C CE, 13th-14th C CE) and the late Islamic period (specifically 17th C CE and later). This expansion and perenniality was possible thanks to: 1- available water (local to micro-regional orogenic precipitation despite a regional aridification during these periods); 2- suitable soils (weathered geological outcrops, probable aeolian /dust particles); 3- a system of production combining crops and husbandry; 4- a progressive increase in agricultural specialization (crops grown and techniques) in parallel with a diversification in hydraulic technology. These results are to some degree in accordance with known phases of settlement intensification and economic growth, but also reveal the persistence of small-scale rural livelihoods during periods of harsh conditions for which archaeological traces are very scarce.
KW - Agriculture
KW - Geoarchaeology
KW - Land use
KW - Oman
KW - Paleoecology
KW - Runoff
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U2 - 10.1016/j.catena.2021.105406
DO - 10.1016/j.catena.2021.105406
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105860923
SN - 0341-8162
VL - 204
JO - Catena
JF - Catena
M1 - 105406
ER -