Landscape Archaeology in the Wādī al-ʿArab Region

As an integral part of the Gadara-Region-Project, a survey of the Wādī al-‘Arab region was conducted during the years 2009-2012, by the Biblical-Archaeological Institute Wuppertal and the German Protestant Institute for Archaeology in order to achieve a better understanding of the hinterland of the main study site Tall Zirāʿa and to provide answers concerning settlement pattern, trade relationships and the importance of sites throughout time.

On the basis of this survey we used ecological approaches to see what correlation might exist between archaeological sites and habitat. Since more than half the sites in this survey had Roman occupation, we asked what difference, if any, was there in the distribution of Roman sites compared to previous occupations. A comparison was made of “new” Roman sites (those not previously occupied in the Hellenistic period) with those that had both Roman and Hellenistic occupation.

Open water, riverine habitats, and large archaeological sites all seemed connected. In addition, analysis indicated a correlation of older (more successful or established?) sites with open water and new Roman sites were less related to water. We knew that Roman engineering both of cistern systems and aqueducts opened new areas (such as plateaus) for settlement and exploitation. Hence the weaker correlation of new Roman sites with natural water was reasonable.