(XXIX-B4, 2012
the improvements in
/th ca. 13, 000 BP.
f resources which led
1 basin displayed on a
dsat-7 ETM image by
on Besançon et al,
scene towards Tar al-
t-4 MSS images. Note
nd. Constructed by M.
ty, the sites at Tar al-
s lookout-points or
dges to control the
From the edge, the
information could be
oints are usually such
rizon for the field of
yeculations concerning
id in the human minds
tion (Appleton, 1975).
-aided vision analyses
vestern desert plateau
mage Drape (Fig. 75
1 a vision analysis Was
ng Landsat image data
were not only enjoyed
edge of the mountain
s in connection with
Lónnqvist and Tórmá,
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensin
g and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B4, 2012
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August — 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia
Figure 7. A perspective view over the western piedmont seen
from Tar al-Sbai built from Russian topographic map data
using Image Drape. Constructed by A. Vuorela 2001, 2002.
32 From Gazelle Killing to Pastoral Nomadism
A series of the western piedmont oases between the two
mountain ranges belonging to the Palmyrides formed the so-
called Levantine corridor identified by O. Bar-Yosef (1998).
The corridor did not only become an arena for gazelle hunting
and the development of pastoral nomadism but also an
experimental field for human sedentarization. The corridor has
served as a seasonal route of gazelles which moved from the
Arabian peninsula towards the oasis of El Kowm and further to
the ancient village of Abu Huryera on the Euphrates (Legge and
Rowley-Conwy, 1987, Moore et al, 2000). The flocks
apparently continued further up to Gôbekli Tepe, where a
Neolithic sanctuary for hunters existed, in Turkey.
The so-called kites, large V-shaped gazelle traps built of stone
rows, were located in the corridor. Similar constructions have
been identified in numbers in basaltic areas of the Black Desert
of Jordan and in the Hemma plateau of Syria, where rock art of
the formations have also been recovered (Van Berg et al.,
2004). The sites, such as Abu Hureyra, based their subsistence
economy at an early stage on gazelle killing. Gazelle was the
main source of protein of these ancient people, and A.J. Legge
and P.A. Rowley Conwy (1987) have suggested that the
shortage of the gazelle meat and thus protein stimulated people
towards animal husbandry.
The escarpment of Tar al-Sbai may represent an area for
seasonal hunting grounds used by the inhabitants of base camps
situating in the El Kowm basin nearer to perennial water
sources. Comparable archaeological finds from both areas point
to the related human groups. This relation between Tar al-Sbai
and EI Kowm would therefore indicate to the first steps towards
the highland—lowland interaction, “transhumance” in D.O.
Henry's line (1989)!, This habitat tracking may have already
started among Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers continuing among
es 1
Transhumance is a term primarily applied to pastoral societies and
their seasonal movements from base villages in lowlands to grazing
lands in highlands, but, for example, D.O. Henry (1989) uses the term to
illustrate seasonal movement of hunter-gatherers over different
1008. ments/habitats already in the Middle Palaeolithic times (Henry
1373).
Figure 8. A perspective view over the western piedmont built
from Landsat-5 TM image using Image Drape with Erdas
Imagine and ASTER DEM. Constructed by M. Tôrmä 2012.
Epipalaeolithic foragers and later among pastoralists in the arid
areas of the Levant. In stone tool finds lance and arrow heads
are represented on the piedmont showing the activity of hunting
in the region. The recovered small tools such as scrapers at Tar
al-Sbai indicate that butchering and leather processing were
especially active at the abri sites, and a number of hunter's
blinds prove considerable hunting activities at some point of
time. Interestingly the blinds were set at the slopes and edge of
the mountain where the flocks of animals such as gazelles
traversed (Lónnqvist et al., 2011).
3.3 Pastoral Transhumants,
Preferred Grazing and Burial Grounds
As previously mentioned, the mountain was the arena of hunters
and foragers during the Palaeolithic as well as Epipalaeolithic
period, but later on it served as grazing grounds for pastoralists:
the interest of both groups was in acquiring meat. Actually we
may find the echo of the word “meat” in the ancient Akkadian
name of Jebel Bishri which was called Basar. The mountain
could therefore have served as a “meat warehouse” for mobile
people (Lónnqvist ef al., 2011).
The study of pastoral landscapes needs to take into account both
physical as well as managerial dimensions of the landscape.
Patoralists play an important role in shaping the landscape (Ruiz
et al., 1983). In the region of Jebel Bishri the highland-lowland
interaction is close to the Bedouin life today which is
comparable to that of the ancient pastoralists. Ancient pastoral
structures, such as corrals i.e. animal pens, in the central area of
the mountain form evidence of preferred landscapes and
indicate to the existence of transhumance. The El Kowm basin
has also provided evidence for the earliest steps towards
pastoral nomadism during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB)
period (Cauvin, 2000).
We have studied the density of ancient corrals, animal pens, on
the mountain and their site catchment areas by using GIS. The
studies and analyses illustrate the radius of the movements of
pastoralists during their grazing around these pens. The pens
appeared to be strikingly numerous in the highest areas of the
mountain where also satellite image cluster analyses revealed
the greenest surroundings for grazing. Interestingly not many
permanent dwelling structures were found in association with
the pens which indicates to the possible existence of huts or
tents — and thus not permanent housing. Therefore, the grazing
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