The oasis of Palmyra in prehistory : late Pleistocene and Early Holocene palaeoclimate and human occupation in the region of Palmyra/Tadmor (Central Syria)

In this contribution we discuss the evidence, collected during a geoarchaeological survey, for Upper Pleistocene to Early Holocene environmental modifications and human occupation in the oasis of Palmyra/Tadmor (central Syria) and its surroundings. In the area, archaeological evidence consists of Geometric Kebaran, Natufian and Early Neolithic (Pre-Pottery) archaeological sites, distributed within the limits of the present-day oasis, along the margin of the Sabkhat al Mouh, and in the Abu Fawares area. Most of the archaeological findings are in connection with lacustrine and spring deposits, suggesting a Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene period with a humid climate, sustaining human exploitation of natural resources. Wet environmental conditions presumably turned toward aridity in correspondence with the Early Neolithic, and later archaeological sites were concentrated in the area of the present-day oasis and marginally within the Abu Fawares basin. In this phase archaeological communities presumably changed their subsistence strategies towards food production, exploiting resources in the vicinity of the oasis. The integrated study of the environmental changes that occurred in the region and the distribution of archaeological features permits us to delineate the reduction in size of the oasis of Palmyra, which dates back to the Early Holocene, and compare it to equivalent processes that occurred in other circum-Mediterranean arid regions.