Datable material at the sites points to several periods of occupation, from the early first millennium BC to early modern times. Several sites included the remains of buildings made of massive ashlar blocks, as well as others of rubble-stone construction. The sites visited included settlements, wells, cemeteries and a cave. Detailed drawings were made of a stone anchor and a well with possible Ancient South Arabian carved decoration. sketch drawings made of the principal features and surface pottery drawn and photographed. The sites were photographed, their positions logged. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The differences in the settlement extension, the model of agricultural land use conceivable on the basis of the density variation of surface materials, as well as the quality of the material documents are elements for the recognition of a hierarchy of them, presumably the reflex of a social hierarchy composed of small and large landowners.Īn archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The dominant factor of the human population history of the island is the complete lack of fresh water sources, a problem solved only partially in very recent times with desalination facilities. Pantelleria is a totally volcanic island situated almost in the centre of the Sicilian Channel, in the smaller tract of the sea which separates Africa from Sicily, called Pantelleria Channel. The possible organization of the ancient landscape is suggested from the models taken by scatters of pottery, compared to the patterns known from the sources and from other archaeological surveys. Starting from observations of the present landscape, which reveals close ties linking environmental factors, technical solutions and forms of the landscape, as proven by the persistence of a traditional agrarian system, the earlier history of the island – a chronological period ranging between Punic and Byzantine ages - is explored in particular. On the basis of archaeological sources this contribution considers the story of the landscape of Pantelleria island in terms of cultural expression.
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