1. Water, Geography, and Aksumite Civilization: The Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) Project Survey (2009–2016).
- Author
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Harrower, Michael J., Nathan, Smiti, Mazzariello, Joseph C., Zerue, Kifle, Dumitru, Ioana A., Meresa, Yemane, Bongers, Jacob L., Gebreegziabher, Gidey, Zaitchik, Benjamin F., and Anderson, Martha C.
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WATER management , *ARCHAEOLOGY , *ARCHAEOLOGISTS , *IRRIGATION , *ANTIQUITIES - Abstract
For at least four decades, archaeologists have identified irrigation as playing a potentially major role in the rise of Aksumite civilization. Based on a systematic survey covering the area between Aksum and Yeha (Ethiopia), Joseph Michels proposed that large-scale irrigation systems introduced from Southwest Arabia contributed to the rise of Yeha as a major center of Pre-Aksumite civilization. To evaluate spatial patterning of archaeological sites with respect to water availability, this paper reports on results from archaeological survey of a 100 km2 region surrounding Yeha conducted by the Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) Project from 2009 to 2016. The SRSAH Project recorded 84 sites dating from the Pre-Aksumite to the Post-Aksumite periods (c.800 BCE to 900 CE). No ancient irrigation systems were identified and results do not show a correlation between archaeological sites and water resources. This suggests that irrigation was less important than Michels contended and that rainfed agriculture, terraces, and small-scale irrigation comparable with practices evident in the region today were sufficient to sustain ancient populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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