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<p>From prehistory, the choice of settlement locations by humans involved social and physical considerations. We hypothesize that the geological setting, that in turn had significant hydrological and agricultural implications, often comprised a significant environmental consideration for settlement location. In this study, we examine relationships between the lithological character and the location of historical villages\towns in British Mandate Palestine. Data of 1090 villages\towns in a study area of 15,820 km<sup>2</sup> was plotted into GIS from the 1945 British village statistics survey, created for tax calculations during 1930–1945. These villages that often possess archaeological remains, are cautiously hypothesized to reflect the spatial pattern of earlier settlement patterns This data was analyzed in relation to the Israel Geological Survey lithology GIS layer and a layer of perennial springs retrieved from the Amud Anan website. The villages\towns were concentrated on carbonate rock that comprises more than half of the study area, namely interchanging limestone, dolostone and marl, and chalk. Chalk was found to comprise the dominant substrate for settlements. Calculated selection ratios imply that these affinities were deliberate human choices. A strong correlation between the limestone, dolostone and marl and natural perennial springs (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.82) contrasts with spring-deficient chalk. The reliable anthropogenic water collection character of chalk for cisterns and its proximal carbonate-rich, aeolian and alluvial valley soils may explain the preference of chalk for settlements. These finds imply that settlement choice and patterns in the study area are predominantly lithological-controlled. These understandings of the 1945 database are anticipated to help environmental analyses of historical and archaeological sites in the Levant and beyond, at regional to site-specific resolutions.</p>

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The significance of the relations between geological substrate and geohydrology to archaeological and historical site selection of towns and villages of British Mandate Palestine—Land of Israel

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年4月3日

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  • Rotem Elinson,
  • Joel Roskin

摘要

From prehistory, the choice of settlement locations by humans involved social and physical considerations. We hypothesize that the geological setting, that in turn had significant hydrological and agricultural implications, often comprised a significant environmental consideration for settlement location. In this study, we examine relationships between the lithological character and the location of historical villages\towns in British Mandate Palestine. Data of 1090 villages\towns in a study area of 15,820 km2 was plotted into GIS from the 1945 British village statistics survey, created for tax calculations during 1930–1945. These villages that often possess archaeological remains, are cautiously hypothesized to reflect the spatial pattern of earlier settlement patterns This data was analyzed in relation to the Israel Geological Survey lithology GIS layer and a layer of perennial springs retrieved from the Amud Anan website. The villages\towns were concentrated on carbonate rock that comprises more than half of the study area, namely interchanging limestone, dolostone and marl, and chalk. Chalk was found to comprise the dominant substrate for settlements. Calculated selection ratios imply that these affinities were deliberate human choices. A strong correlation between the limestone, dolostone and marl and natural perennial springs (R2 = 0.82) contrasts with spring-deficient chalk. The reliable anthropogenic water collection character of chalk for cisterns and its proximal carbonate-rich, aeolian and alluvial valley soils may explain the preference of chalk for settlements. These finds imply that settlement choice and patterns in the study area are predominantly lithological-controlled. These understandings of the 1945 database are anticipated to help environmental analyses of historical and archaeological sites in the Levant and beyond, at regional to site-specific resolutions.