Deep-time perspectives on drylands: archaeology as a lens for understanding long-term livelihood systems and resilience

Abstract

Drylands are still widely perceived as marginal areas, unsuitable for food production and long-term human settlement. This view, reinforced by mainstream global land use models, stands in sharp contrast with archaeological and ethnographic evidence showing that sustainable agriculture and pastoralism have long existed even in hyperarid regions. In this perspective article, we argue for the importance of applying archaeology to build a long-term narrative of land use management in drylands, highlighting the relevance of nonmechanized, resilient subsistence strategies as forms of biocultural heritage and sustainable alternatives rooted in indigenous priorities put in place over centuries. We contend that archaeology is key to shifting this narrative by documenting long-term socio-ecological adaptation in drylands. To this end, we present a range of archaeological methodologies that have helped trace techno-cultural developments in drylands, challenging persistent assumptions about the limits of human occupation and food production in arid environments.

AR-G is a postdoctoral fellow in the project CAMP funded by the European Union (ERC CoG 2022, CAMP-101088842). CJ-A is a recipient of a Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdocs from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. OP is a postdoctoral fellow in CASEs at UPF. FD is a Kew Research Fellow at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.