Landscape Archaeology of Southern Mesopotamia: Identifying Features in the Dried Marshes

Abstract

The landscape of the Mesopotamian floodplain is mainly structured by channel processes, including the formation of levees, meanders, scrollbars, oxbow lakes, crevasse splays, distributary channels, inter-distributary bays, and marshes. Moreover, several human-made features also form and shape this landscape, such as canals, roads, trenches, farms, and settlement sites ranging in size from villages to cities. A significant part of the Mesopotamian floodplain is covered by marshes, especially the southern region. These marshlands have thrived for thousands of years and are well known for their sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem. However, after the deliberate draining of the marshes in the 1990s, the areas have become dry and only small areas of shallow water and narrow strips of vegetation remain. Several kinds of archaeological landscape features have appeared on the surface and can be clearly identified in both ground surveys and with the use of remote sensing tools. This paper aims to determine the type and nature of the preserved archaeological features that appear in the landscape of the dried marshes and whether they are different from other features elsewhere in the Mesopotamian floodplain. An intensive ground survey was carried out in a selected area of the dried marshland, resulting in the identification of six types of archaeological features: settlement sites, rivers, canals, farms, grooves, and roads (hollow ways). These features used to be covered by bodies of deep water and dense zones of vegetation (reeds and papyrus).