Human-Induced Landform Evolution in South and West Asia Since the Neolithic: A Geoarchaeological Synthesis

Abstract

This study performs an extensive regional analysis of human-induced landform change in the region of South and West Asia, the Indus, Mesopotamian, and Nile rivers. The study combines geo-archaeological, geomorphological, and environmental data collected lately on the impact of hydraulic engineering, agriculture, and settlement development on geomorphological processes since the Neolithic period, based on approximately 150 peer-reviewed publications. Results indicate that human beings are important geomorphic agents because of their functions such as irrigation, deforestation, terracing that have led to the perpetuities of soil loss, channel changes and aggradation of flood plains over time. According to this synthesis, early hydraulic civilizations did not only adapt their surrounding landscapes, but also affected local sediment budgets, which determine traditions of sustainability and resource management to the modern. Elaborated in future researches, high-resolution dates of sediments, GIS-based simulation processes, and the interdisciplinary partnerships are favored in study in order to develop better predictive insights of anthropogenic progression of landscapes under the present and forthcoming pressure of climate.

Keywords: Geo Archaeology, Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, Nile Basin Human-Environmental Interaction.