Jebel Bishri in Focus: Remote sensing, archaeological surveying, mapping and GIS studies of Jebel Bishri in central Syria by the Finnish project SYGIS

Description

This book presents the work of the Finnish project SYGIS on Jebel Bishri, a mountainous region in Central Syria. The main focus of this archaeological project was to unambiguously locate discovered sites on the Earth's surface in order to provide a starting point for the recording and creation of data to help with the cultural heritage management of Syria, as well as to help prevent looting and to aid in the preservation of cultural remains in this vulnerable area. The sites encountered during this project covered a time span of nearly 0.5 million years and in a series of chronological chapters the development of human cultures in the Jebel Bishri region over the course of time is explored. The interaction of people between different environmental zones and the cultural longue durée emerge as themes of particular importance. Cover Page Title Page Copyright PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE COVERAGE IN MACRO-SCALE: SATELLITE DATA SOURCES AND THEIR APPLICATION 3. THE COVERAGE IN MEDIUM- AND MICRO-SCALE: CLOSE-UPS TO THE GROUND AND BENEATH 4. MACRO-SCALE IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND LANDSCAPE STUDIES 5. A PERSPECTIVE ON SPATIO-TEMPORAL MOBILITY OF HUNTERS AND GATHERERS 6. VISTAS ON ANCIENT PASTORAL NOMADISM IN THE CENTRAL AREAS OF THE MOUNTAIN 7. STUDYING PASTORAL GRAZING POTENTIAL BY USING CLUSTER ANALYSIS AND SITE CATCHMENT ANALYSIS 8. ANCESTRAL AND RITUAL VIEWS OF PASTORALISTS OVER AN ANCIENT “SILICON VALLEY” 9. OUTLOOKS TO CUNEIFORM TEXTS AND THE MESOPOTAMIAN LORE 10. THE EVIDENCE FROM THE EUPHRATES SIDE OF JEBEL BISHRI: SEDENTARIZATION, SEDENTARY SITES AND SYRO-MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION 11. GLIMPSES TO SITES ON THE ROMAN DESERT FRONTIER 12. THE “BISHRI CORRIDOR” BETWEEN THE DESERT FRONTIER ZONE AND THE EUPHRATES LIMES 13. DOCUMENTATION AND VIEW-SHEDS ON THE EUPHRATES LIMES 14. THE COMING OF THE ARABS AND CHANGING BEDOUINS 15. A WINDOW TO “LIVING ARCHAEOLOGY”: BEDOUIN CAMPS AND VILLAGES 16. CONCLUDING REMARKS INDEX OF SITES AND COORDINATES