Human ecology in the Wadi al-Hasa
Subtitle: land use and abandonment through the Holocene
By: J. Brett Hill.
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Tucson
Language: eng
Number of pages: 194
ISBN-13: 9780816525027
Subjects: Human ecology -- Jordan -- Hasa Wadi.; Land use -- Jordan -- Hasa Wadi.; Land settlement patterns -- Jordan -- Hasa Wadi.; Landscape changes -- Jordan -- Hasa Wadi.; Environmental degradation -- Jordan -- Hasa Wadi.; Hasa Wadi (Jordan) -- Environmental conditions.
Description: "The Wadi al-Hasa, a large canyon draining the Transjordan Plateau into the Dead Sea, has been the location of repeated cycles of settlement and land use for thousands of years. This book focuses on changing land-use patterns and their relationship to socio-political organization. Using a combination of archaeological and environmental data, Brett Hill examines the human ecology of agriculture and pastoralism from the beginnings of domestication through the rise and collapse of complex societies." "Hill's analysis contributes significantly to our understanding of the history of human ecology in the southern Levant, wherein current debates are complicated by research at different scales and by a lack of consensus on the importance of localized phenomena. It not only complements existing research but also seeks to refine models of processes in human ecology to demonstrate the effect of political organization on land mismanagement."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Land use and land abandonment : a case study from west-central Jordan; title: The costs and benefits of land management through time, space, and society; title: History of the Hasa : from the origins of agriculture to the collapse of empires; title: The evolution of the physical landscape; title: A history of abandonment and resettlement; title: A geographic information system analysis of potential erosion; title: Reflections on the significance and causes of environmental degradation; title: Conclusions.