Geology Dataset for the Jazira Region of Syria

Abstract

This geology dataset complements 13 other datasets as part of a study that compared ancient settlement patterns with modern environmental conditions in the Jazira region of Syria.

This study examined settlement distribution and density patterns over the past five millennia using archaeological survey reports and French 1930s 1:200,000 scale maps to locate and map archaeological sites. An archaeological site dataset was created and compared to and modelled with soil, geology, terrain (contour), surface and subsurface hydrology and normal and dry year precipitation pattern datasets; there are also three spreadsheet datasets providing 1963 precipitation and temperature readings collected at three locations in the region. The environmental datasets were created to account for ancient and modern population subsistence activities, which comprise barley and wheat farming and livestock grazing.

These environmental datasets were subsequently modelled with the archaeological site dataset, as well as, land use and population density datasets for the Jazira region. Ancient trade routes were also mapped and factored into the model, and a comparison was made to ascertain if there was a correlation between ancient and modern settlement patterns and environmental conditions; the latter influencing subsistence activities.

This geology dataset was created to map locations of igneous rock in the Jazira region; geological sediments and relative dates have been mapped and attributed. Russian geologists ascertained that volcanic activity continued into the Holocene and perhaps later, which would have been contemporaneous with the birth of early settlements in the region. It might be possible that this activity affected micro climates in the region or altered river routes (lava flows). Lava flow could have buried archaeological sites as well?