Chapter 9. A Case Study in Spatial Ethnoarchaeology: Views of Iraqi Marsh Communities Through Time From Above

ABSTRACT

Archaeology relies heavily on analogies drawn from ethnographies and ethnoarchaeological studies to fill in the blanks about certain types of rural and mobile communities that are rarely revealed by our excavations. However, the available ethnographies often only provide a snapshot of a narrow time and spatial frame. They therefore largely lack information on the spatial organization of communities and the transformation of their landscapes through time. With access to high‐resolution imagery covering several decades, it is possible to look at variability and seasonal change in some communities over longer time scales and larger spatial scales than those covered by conventional ethnographies. The possibilities for this type of work, which I call “spatial ethnoarchaeology,” have recently increased with the declassification of new sources of high‐resolution historical aerial and satellite photographs from the mid‐20th century. Images from these new sources show small structures within camps and villages as well as surrounding infrastructure and landscape transformations of ethnographically and ethnoarchaeologically significant communities over several decades.