Physical Geography

Pournelle, Jennifer

doi:10.4324/9780203096604.ch1

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…The present shoreline was reached about 7000-8000 yrs BP [44]. About 6000 yrs BP (Mid Holocene), the shoreline was at the maximum inland ingression; its position is still highly debated [48], although several studies suggest its location in the sector between the modern cities of Nasiriyah and Amarah [45][46][47]51,52], where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers gave rise to the formation of well-developed river-dominated deltas [47]. Deltaic progradation was rapid between 6000 and 4000 yrs BP, due to the wetter climate conditions, whereas it slowed significantly between 4000 and 3000 yrs BP because of the increase in aridity [45,46].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

et al. 2020

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Fluvial avulsion is an important process in the dynamics of the riverscapes and plays a key role in the drainage network evolution in lowland areas, also influencing past and present social processes and economic activities. Crevasse splays represent significant geomorphological features for understanding the fluvial morphodynamics in lowland areas dominated by avulsion processes. Within wide floodplains characterized by very low elevation ranges, the detection and accurate mapping of crevasse splay morphology and features, such as crevasse channels, levees, and deposit, can be very challenging considering floodplain extension, anthropic impact on the natural channels network, logistic difficulties, and in some cases, climate conditions that prevent field work. This research aims at improving the detection and mapping of crevasse splays in lowland areas through the combination of different remote sensing techniques based on optical multispectral imagery and topographic data derived from satellite earth observation missions. The Lower Mesopotamia Plain (LMP) offers a unique opportunity to study the avulsion processes because it presents numerous examples of crevasse splays, characterized by different sizes and states of activity. Furthermore, in this area, a strong correlation exists between the formation and development of crevasse splays and the expansion of agriculture and early societies since the Early Holocene. Different supervised classification (SC) methods of Landsat 8 satellite images have been tested together with topographic analysis of the microrelief, carried out based on two different 1-arcsec DEMs (AW3D30 and GDEM2). The results of this study demonstrate that the combination of multispectral imagery analysis and topographic analysis of the microrelief is useful for discerning different crevasse elements, distinguishing between active and relict landforms. The methodological approach proved helpful for improving the mapping of erosional and depositional landforms generated by the avulsion process and, in the study area, provided the best results for the active landforms.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

et al. 2020

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“…This stood in contrast to southern Mesopotamia, where surveying had developed into an important, analytically advanced tool much earlier. Through these methods, the earliest settlements in the lowlands could be dated to the very end of the Late Neolithic period (Oates 1968(Oates , 2013Pournelle 2017;Ur 2017). For those interested in the Sumerian Neolithic, there was not much to deconstruct.…”

Section: Archaeological Approaches To Late Neolithic Settlementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming the Upper Mesopotamian Landscape in the Late Neolithic

Nieuwenhuyse¹,

Akkermans²

2019

Concluding the Neolithic

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The Late Neolithic period in Upper Mesopotamia is generally associated with a surge in human settlement, in terms of their number, geographic distribution, and organizational complexity. In archaeological discussion, the "advanced farming village" is often seen as the logical "end product" of the agricultural transformations that began in the Early ("Pre-Pottery") Neolithic. However, the complex later prehistoric landscape did not emerge overnight. Current evidence suggests that this profound transformation took about one and a half millennia, and showed much localized variability. Over the past decades, regional surveys have resulted in a rich body of evidence that stimulates the exploration of long-term trends in settlement through the Neolithic period. Here we present a synthesis of this exploration. We highlight some important methodological and conceptual challenges to interpreting these data, and we point out a number of possible shifts in the ways Late Neolithic communities inhabited the landscape.

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“…Partly due to assumptions about the primary role of irrigation agriculture and animal husbandry in the rise of complex societies, and partly due to sheer inaccessibility, until recently the third pillar of the economy-that of marsh, estuary, and marine resources-was left largely unexplored (Pournelle 2003;Algaze 2008;Eger 2011;Pournelle and Algaze 2012). However, over the past decade or so, the growing availability and utilization of increasingly high resolution, low cost satellite imagery (Hritz 2005(Hritz , 2010Kouchoukos 2001;Pournelle 2003aPournelle , 2006Pournelle , 2007Pournelle , 2012Ur 2003); a new generation of Sumerological and Assyriological work on proto-cuneiform and cuneiform texts related to wetland resources like reeds, pigs, fish, fowl, and trees (Potts 1997: 106-15;Englund 1998;Boehmer 1999: 51-56, 66-67, 71-74, 90-104;Molina and Such-Gutierrez 2004;Scharlach 2004;Wilcke 2007: 115-21;Widell 2009;Firth 2011;Heimpel 2011); and published archaeological investigations both within Iraq and in adjoining areas of Iran and Kuwait (Huot 1999: 30;Pollock 1999: 83;Pournelle 2003b, tables 13-15;Carter and Crawford 2001;Gasche 2004Gasche , 2005Gasche , 2007Carter 2006), have begun to fill this gap. They emphasize the existence, preservation, and importance of paleoenvironmental and archaeological evidence for this littoral third pillar, and the necessity of including these factors into models for the rise of urban complexity in ancient Mesopotamia (Pournelle and Algaze 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the Sealands: Report of Preliminary Ground Reconnaissance in the Hammar District, Dhi Qar and Basra Governorates, Iraq

Hritz¹,

Pournelle²,

Smith³

2012

Iraq

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The flourit of early Sumerian civilization in southern Iraq marked a degree of economic differentiation, sociopolitical complexity, and urbanization previously unseen in the ancient world. This article reports the results of recent geo-archaeological investigation of three complementary resources in southern Mesopotamia that are thought to have offered an ecological advantage, thus laying the economic foundations for these developments: (1) expansive irrigable plains; (2) vast pasture lands; and (3) the littoral resources of levee back swamps/deltaic marshes. Focusing on the area of the Hawr al-Hammar marshes, the authors conducted preliminary archaeological, geological and landscape investigation over the course of 18 days in the autumn of 2010, funded by a U.S. National Science Foundation High Risk Research in Physical Anthropology and Archaeology grant.

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Physical Geography

Cited by 7 publications

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Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

Combining Satellite Multispectral Imagery and Topographic Data for the Detection and Mapping of Fluvial Avulsion Processes in Lowland Areas

Transforming the Upper Mesopotamian Landscape in the Late Neolithic

Revisiting the Sealands: Report of Preliminary Ground Reconnaissance in the Hammar District, Dhi Qar and Basra Governorates, Iraq

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