Living at the wadi – integrating geomorphology and archaeology at the oasis of Qurayyah (NW Arabia)

The archaeological site Qurayyah, situated in the NW of the Tabuk Province of Saudi Arabia, has been repeatedly described as one of the largest and most significant oases of Northwestern Arabia. Human occupation in the oasis started at least from the early Holocene and continued to the Nabatean, Rom...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Laura Hüneburg, Philipp Hoelzmann, Daniel Knitter, Bernd Teichert, Christiane Richter, Christopher Lüthgens, Abdullah S. Alsaud, Marta Luciani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-07-01
Series:Journal of Maps
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2019.1576068
Description
Summary:The archaeological site Qurayyah, situated in the NW of the Tabuk Province of Saudi Arabia, has been repeatedly described as one of the largest and most significant oases of Northwestern Arabia. Human occupation in the oasis started at least from the early Holocene and continued to the Nabatean, Roman and late Byzantine period. The hydrologically favored position results from its specific geomorphological location where the plateaus fade towards the east and the landscape opens towards the Tabuk Basin so that a balanced water supply was ensured. We present a geomorphological map (1:20,000; main map) based on the interpretation of a high-resolution satellite image and detailed control in the field. The map integrates archaeological, hydraulic and natural features in order to show how the people at Qurayyah structured their landscape and developed water management strategies in relation to prevailing geomorphological processes during the incipient phase (Bronze Age) of the oasis.
ISSN:1744-5647