Coastal Archaeology and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa. Contextualizing Global Projections

K Westley; Georgia Andreou

doi:10.1086/725769

Coastal Archaeology and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa. Contextualizing Global Projections

K Westley, Georgia Andreou

University of Southampton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Recent global projections of climate change highlight alarming rates of flooding and erosion on the coastlines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Though there are indisputable links between climate change and the deterioration of maritime cultural heritage (particularly coastal archaeology), deterioration is often the result of multiple compounding factors, central among which are anthropogenic landscape alterations. In this article the authors attempt to disentangle these factors at a small scale, using the Gaza Strip, Libya, and Oman as case studies. They examine the impact of accelerating coastal erosion, flooding, and increasing frequency of tropical cyclones to question predominant discussions on the impact of climate change on heritage. They emphasize methods and practices for the identification of sites that can expand and refine climate change research (often reliant on data from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries) through the long-term perspective archaeology is uniquely placed to offer.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	230-239
Number of pages	10
Journal	Near Eastern Archaeology
Volume	86
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/725769
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 1 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological field-work in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency.

Funding Information:
This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological fieldwork in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency.

Funding

Funding Information: This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological field-work in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency. Funding Information: This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological fieldwork in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "Coastal Archaeology and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa. Contextualizing Global Projections",

abstract = "Recent global projections of climate change highlight alarming rates of flooding and erosion on the coastlines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Though there are indisputable links between climate change and the deterioration of maritime cultural heritage (particularly coastal archaeology), deterioration is often the result of multiple compounding factors, central among which are anthropogenic landscape alterations. In this article the authors attempt to disentangle these factors at a small scale, using the Gaza Strip, Libya, and Oman as case studies. They examine the impact of accelerating coastal erosion, flooding, and increasing frequency of tropical cyclones to question predominant discussions on the impact of climate change on heritage. They emphasize methods and practices for the identification of sites that can expand and refine climate change research (often reliant on data from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries) through the long-term perspective archaeology is uniquely placed to offer.",

author = "K Westley and Georgia Andreou",

note = "Funding Information: This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological field-work in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency. Funding Information: This work is part of the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project (www.marea.soton.ac.uk) funded by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Archaeological fieldwork in Libya was funded by the British Society for Libyan and North African Studies and the University of Southampton in collaboration with DoA Cyrenaica, Omar al-Mukhtar University, and Benghazi University. Fieldwork at Tell Ruqeish was funded by the Honor Frost Foundation and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Islamic University of Gaza and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. High resolution satellite images for eastern Libya and Gaza were provided by the European Space Agency.",

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Coastal Archaeology and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa. Contextualizing Global Projections

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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