Towards a Reconstruction of Land Use Potential - Case Studies from the Western Desert of Egypt

Abstract

This chapter is situated in the field among archaeology, geomorphology, and
ecology. Two case studies from different east-Saharan landscape units classify
and analyse archaeological, geoscientific, and remote-sensing data of Early
and Mid-Holocene archaeological sites. The section combines the approaches of
landscape ecology and landscape archaeology. The aim is a parameterisation of the
research areas with respect to structural and ecological features. The data were used
within a Geographical Information System (GIS), a hydromodelling, and statistical
software. The analysis allows an indication of the observed landscape parameters
that are essential for the location of the sites within each time slice. Therefore, the
study broadens the understanding of the man–environment relationships.
With the help of this integral and autochthonous landscape inspection it is
possible to reconstruct the past potential of the utilisation of such arid landscapes.
Such an approach also helps in locating new archaeological sites within landscape
units. At the end a first suggestion for a model of interacting key variables
and the general landscape development of the Western Desert during the Early
and Mid-Holocene is presented.

• egypt
• gis
• land use
• landscape archaeology
• landscape ecology
• mid-holocene
• western desert

Resources

• Bolten_etal_2009_Reconstruction_Land_Use_Potential_Western_Desert_Egypt.pdf

Bibliography

Bolten, A., Bubenzer, O., Darius, F. and K. Kindermann (2009): Towards a Reconstruction of Land Use Potential - Case Studies from the Western Desert of Egypt. In: Bollig, M. and O. Bubenzer (eds.), African Landscapes - Interdisciplinary Approaches. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaption 4, New York, 57-77