Presenting three case studies spanning from the third millennium BCE to the early modern and contemporary periods, and drawing on nearly a decade of research, this paper explores technological and methodological developments in the study of water management systems across arid and semi-arid regions. The case studies address the urban waterscape of third-millennium BCE Girsu (southern Iraq), Late Islamic agricultural water management in remote and marginal landscapes of the Hajar Mountains (UAE), and the modern revival of historic water management systems in Cyprus as a response to present-day climate challenges.

Each case applies a set of interdisciplinary approaches, including remote sensing, automated detection, hydrological modelling, geoarchaeological fieldwork, radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) profiling and dating, and environmental proxy analyses. Together, these methods are used to reconstruct the socio-economic and environmental dimensions of water management practices across different temporal and regional contexts. By bringing these case studies together, the paper provides an overview of current methodological possibilities and reflects on their challenges and opportunities.

The results allow for a comparative reconstruction of how water management infrastructures functioned within dynamic landscapes and how communities combined technologies of varying cost, complexity, and labour organisation to respond to changing environmental and social conditions. In doing so, the paper highlights both the long-term adaptability of water management systems and their relevance as cultural heritage and potential resources for addressing contemporary sustainability concerns.

First Author: Ella Egberts

Co-Authors: Soetkin Vervust, Ralf Vandam

Keywords:
Water management
interdisciplinary approaches
human-environment interactions
Southwest Asia