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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #364905
Research Project: Integrating Remote Sensing, Measurements and Modeling for Multi-Scale Assessment of Water Availability, Use, and Quality in Agroecosystems

Location: Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory

Title: Water, geography, and Aksumite civilization: The Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) project survey (2009-2016)

Author
item HARROWER, M. - Johns Hopkins University
item SMITI, N. - Johns Hopkins University
item ZERUE, K. - Collaborator
item DUMITRI, I. - Johns Hopkins University
item MERESA, Y. - Collaborator
item BONGERS, J. - University Of California
item GEBREEGZIABHER, G. - Collaborator
item ZAITCHIK, B.F. - Johns Hopkins University
item Anderson, Martha

Submitted to: African Archaeological Review
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2020
Publication Date: 2/15/2020
Citation: Harrower, M., Smiti, N., Zerue, K., Dumitri, I., Meresa, Y., Bongers, J., Gebreegziabher, G., Zaitchik, B., Anderson, M.C. 2020. Water, geography, and Aksumite civilization: The Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) project survey (2009-2016). African Archaeological Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-020-09369-8.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-020-09369-8

Interpretive Summary: Archaeologists have long identified irrigation as one of several primary factors involved in the origins of the world’s earliest civilizations. This paper uses satellite remote sensing of evapotranspiration and a topographic wetness index along with geospatial technologies to examine the role of water availability and irrigation in the origins and long-term trajectories of ancient complex societies in the region surrounding Yeha, Ethiopia. Archaeological sites identified in a site survey did not exhibit a statistically significant spatial association with water availability as quantified by either remotely sensed indicator. This may indicate the site was settled precisely because water was more abundantly available, or rainfall was sufficient for reliable agriculture and settlements did not need to be located in close proximity to springs or drainages.

Technical Abstract: From 2009 to 2016, the Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories (SRSAH) Project surveyed a 100 square kilometer area surrounding the town of Yeha in northern Ethiopia’s Tigrai Province. Although the temple complex at Yeha is widely considered foundational to the development of the Horn of Africa’s first complex societies during the Pre-Aksumite Period, the wider region surrounding the site had previously seen relatively little archaeological exploration. The SRSAH Project recorded 84 archaeological sites dating from the Pre-Aksumite to the Post-Aksumite Period (c. 800 BC to AD 900). Satellite imagery was used to model water availability and statistical analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between water and archaeological sites. This paper summarizes key findings, including results that unexpectedly do not show a statistically significant correlation between water and spatial patterning of ancient settlements.