Page 28 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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Land-use studies and geomorphology involve spatial analysis techniques.
Both are well-suited to the minimal vegetation of the Near East, where types of
data are more apt to show clearly through the use of aerial photography. A
geoarcheological study requires a distinct strategy. If trade, for example, is a
major factor associated with the formation of population centers and complex
ft
societies, and if the central place theories of Christaller (1933), Losch (1940), and
Odum (1971) are correct in theorizing organized patterns in the arrangement of the
exchange network, then it would be informative to select a possible central place
on such a documented network as a location for paleoecological studies.
Similarly, there must be sufficient existing archeological knowledge of
the study area so that chronological control of land use-settlement pattern
analyses can be maintained. Logistically the proposed spatial analysis does not
allow the expenditure of energy on detailed excavation of archeological sites.
Dating of surface sites must rely on an established stratigraphic record from
existing excavations. Thus, the study area must be one of previous archeological
research.
Finally, there should be at least a minimal historical record by which a
contemporary view of past conditions may be viewed, Ideally, this record
preserves a list of physical, historical, and cultural data that would no longer be
available to the archeologist at the site. Import and export goods are valuable
clues to past trade networks. Records of land values and other prices help one to
envision the economic conditions of the times better.
This study of Bahrain begins a regional analysis with definable natural
boundaries. It is centered in a geographical subsystem wholly within the Saharo-
Arabian arid zone, but one independent of major problems of stream runoff.
Bahrain is part of a cultural subsystem related to a larger system by maritime
trade. The Persian-Arabian Gulf marks the core of this larger system, while the
gulf coastal zones provide areas for analysis. For all intents and purposes Bahrain
is a relatively circumscribed environmental system for paleoecological research.
Previous studies of the Mesopotamian Plain (Adams 1965, Adams and Nissen 1972,
Gibson 1972, and Johnson 1972) have been boundless in comparison. An island
becomes an effective model for testing the validity of paleoecological hypotheses.
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