Settlement Discontinuities in Southwestern Arabia during the Middle and Late Holocene

The Bayḥān (Yemen) Region

Bibliographic Data

ID11073711
AuthorsJean-François Breton (Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Mondes, Nanterre, France, corresponding author), Brigitte Coque-Delhuille (Université de Paris (Denis-Diderot), Paris, France), Christopher Edens (0000-0002-0666-5527, Çukurova Üniversitesi, Adana, Turkey)
Year2023
Volume48
Issue7
Pages483-501
Publication date2023-10-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00934690.2023.2248408
OpenAlexW4386222936
LanguageEN
References cited42

Recent research has produced an increasingly nuanced but still incomplete understanding of Neolithic through Iron Age communities in southwestern Arabia. Present evidence indicates that foraging communities in the lowland interior of Yemen adopted animal herding during the 6th millennium b.c. and irrigation farming during the 3rd millennium b.c. or possibly earlier. Survey in the Wādī Bayḥān area has identified multiple settlement discontinuities. Prehistoric structures in Wādī Ṣurbān reflect episodic occupation, probably by Bronze Age pastoralists. Geomorphological evidence for Bronze Age irrigation systems appears in large valleys; these systems continued into the Iron Age and developed in small valleys. Geomorphological and archaeological evidence suggests an occupation hiatus around 700 b.c. in some larger valleys such as Wādī Ḍurā'. Settlement discontinuities seem to have responded to abrupt climate fluctuations and to regional political history.KEYWORDS: Arabian archaeologyHolocene adaptationsprehistoric irrigationSouth ArabiaQatabanAwsan Geolocation informationNuqūb (modern town in Wādī Bayḥān): 14° 58' 50" N / 45° 47' 15" E. Center of Wādī Ṣurbān alluvial plain: 14° 51' 17" N / 46° 05' 42" E. Niṣāb (at confluence of Wadis Ḍurā' and Abadān to form Wādī Ḥammām): 14° 30' 26" N 46° 29' 40" E. Wādī Markhah (central section south of Jabal al-Nisīyīn): 14° 34' 45" N / 46° 04' 00" E.AcknowledgmentsThe archaeological mission thanks Dr. Yusūf cAbdullah (†), former President of the General Organization for Antiquities and Manuscripts (GOAMM) in Sana'a, and Khayrān az-Zubaydī, Director of the cAtaq branch of GOAMM in the Shabwah Governorate.Disclosure StatementThe authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.Notes1 Subdivisions of the Holocene follow the dates recently approved by the International Union of Geological Sciences (Walker et al. Citation2018). In rounded numbers, these are Early Holocene, 11.7–8.2 kya; Middle Holocene, 8.2–4.25 kya; and, Late Holocene, after 4.25 kya. Transliteration of modern Arabic place names follows the conventions of the International Journal of Middle East Studies.2 The chronological distribution may also respond to a geomorphological effect, with hearths more likely preserved under aggrading than under eroding conditions.3 The accumulation rate of 1.1 cm/a estimated for Mā'rib (Brunner Citation1983, 65) has been widely applied. But other analyses suggest that accumulation rates varied both between valleys and through time. The anthrosol at al-Hinwā (Wādī Ḍurā') reflects two successive irrigation systems, with the accumulation rate of the earlier system estimated at 0.8 cm/a and that of the later system at 0.9 cm/a. Results from al-Ḥarajah (Wādī Bayḥān) in a similar geomorphological context indicate a rate of 0.8 cm/a. In Wādī Masīlah (Ḥaḍramawt), the estimated accumulation rate dropped from 1.0 cm/a in the mid-1st millennium b.c. to 0.4 cm/a in the late 1st millennium b.c. (Berger et al. Citation2012, 151). At best, the chronological models based on accumulation rates give a very rough approximate date for initiation of irrigation in a given valley.4 Irrigated areas are estimated to cover 10,000 ha in Wādī Bayḥān, 12,000 ha in Wādī Markhah, and 1000 ha in Wādī Hammām (Brunner and Haefner Citation1990, table 3). The irrigated area in Wādī Ṣurbān is less than 100 ha (based on Darles Citation2000, 89).5 De Maigret (Citation2009, 59) observed a similar hiatus at Barāqish, where the stratigraphy also indicated abandonment of the city in the 6th–5th century b.c. However, subsequent excavations appear to document continuous occupation throughout the Iron Age (Fedele Citation2011).Additional informationFundingFunding by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the archaeological fieldwork reported here.Notes on contributorsJean-François BretonJean-François Breton (Ph.D. 1997, Université de Paris-Sorbonne) is a Research Director at CNRS, Paris, and former director of the French Archaeological Mission at Shabwa, Dura' and Jawf in Yemen. His research interests include South Arabia and Tigray (Ethiopia). He edits the "Fouilles de Shabwa" collection (vol. 2–6, IFPO, Beirut).Brigitte Coque-DelhuilleBrigitte Coque-Delhuille (Ph.D. 1986, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne) is professor emerita at the University of Paris. Her research interests include geomorphology of basement regions, paleoenvironments during the Quaternary and the historical period, and geoarchaeology. She is a specialist of arid countries (Yemen, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and Israel) and a member of the Geographical Societies of Paris, Berlin, and Geneva.Christopher EdensChristopher Edens (Ph.D. 1987, Harvard University) is lecturer in archaeology at Çukurova University (Adana, Turkey) and former resident director of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies. His research interests include development of complex societies in the Near East, archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula, and chipped stone analysis

Alluvial plain · Ancient history · Archaeology · Bay · Bronze Age · Cartography · Geography · Herding · Holocene · Human settlement · Livestock · Pastoralism · Prehistory · Settlement (finance · Shore · Steppe · Wadi · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Geology · History · Oceanography