Abstract
Long-term human impact on the environment is a subject of debate among archaeologists in the Near East. Two issues are of central importance to anthropology in this debate. First, what factors have led people to degrade their environment? Second, how have people responded to degradation? The present paper uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial statistical analyses to address these issues in the Wadi al Hasa, west-central Jordan. Tests of spatial segregation suggest that past populations made settlement decisions based on immediate concerns such as agricultural productivity and prevailing political climate. Conversely, long-term trends indicate that settlement success was predicated on terrain factors affecting sustainability at the expense of proximity to permanent water sources.
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