Developing a Geocultural Database of Quaternary Palaeoenvironmental Sites and Archaeological Sites in Southeast Arabia: Inventory, Endangerment Assessment, and a Roadmap for Conservation

Kenta Sayama (), Adrian G. Parker, Ash Parton and Heather Viles
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Kenta Sayama: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
Adrian G. Parker: Human Origins and Palaeoenvironments Research Group, School of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
Ash Parton: Human Origins and Palaeoenvironments Research Group, School of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
Heather Viles: School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-24

Abstract: Quaternary palaeoenvironmental (QP) sites in Southeast Arabia are important not only to understand the history of global climate change but also to study how ancient humans adapted to a changing natural environment. These sites, however, are currently missing from conservation frameworks despite reports of destroyed sites and sites under imminent threat. This study presents the Geocultural Database of Southeast Arabia, the first open-access database on QP sites in this region, created as a comprehensive inventory of regional QP sites and a tool to analyse QP records and archaeological records. The endangerment assessment of QP sites in this database reveals that 13% of QP sites have already been destroyed and 15% of them are under imminent threat of destruction, primarily due to urban development and infrastructure development. Chronological and spatial analyses of QP and archaeological sites and records highlight the intricate relationship between palaeoenvironment and archaeology and emphasise the need for sub-regional-scale studies to understand the variation of climatic conditions within the region, especially to study changes in the ancient human demography. This database illustrates the potential of a geocultural approach that combines archaeological heritage with Quaternary geoheritage as a way forward for the conservation of QP sites at risk.

Keywords: palaeoenvironment; quaternary; geoheritage; heritage conservation; Arabia; database; human dispersal; geochronology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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