Harrower Water Histories and Spatial Archaeology

Ancient Yemen and the American West
Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-1-316-55404-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 0 Seiten

This book offers a new interpretation of the spatial-political-environmental dynamics of water and irrigation in long-term histories of arid regions. It compares ancient Southwest Arabia (3500 BC–AD 600) with the American West (2000 BC–AD 1950) in global context to illustrate similarities and differences among environmental, cultural, political, and religious dynamics of water. It combines archaeological exploration and field studies of farming in Yemen with social theory and spatial technologies, including satellite imagery, Global Positioning System (GPS), and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping. In both ancient Yemen and the American West, agricultural production focused not where rain-fed agriculture was possible, but in hyper-arid areas where massive state-constructed irrigation schemes politically and ideologically validated state sovereignty. While shaped by profound differences and contingencies, ancient Yemen and the American West are mutually informative in clarifying human geographies of water that are important to understandings of America, Arabia, and contemporary conflicts between civilizations deemed East and West.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Harrower, Michael J.

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Wasserversorgung
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Umweltgeschichte & Umweltarchäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Archäologie: Theorie und Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: comparing water histories of America and Arabia; 2. Comparison and juxtaposition in archaeology: water, agriculture and state formation in space and time; 3. Water histories of ancient Yemen in global comparative perspective; 4. Pastoralism, water and the beginning of agriculture in Southwest Arabia; 5. Water histories of Southwest Arabian kingdoms (and the American West); 6. Conclusion: water histories, comparison, geopolitics and spatial archaeology.

Über Autor(innen)

Harrower, Michael J.
Michael J. Harrower is Assistant Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at The Johns Hopkins University and has over 15 years of archaeological experience exploring the remote desert highlands of Ethiopia, Jordan, Yemen and Oman. He is a leading-expert in spatial technologies, and is co-editor, with Douglas C. Comer, of Mapping Archaeological Landscapes from Space (2013).