Terracing as a surface-water management strategy in the Hajar Mountains (UAE): a geoarchaeological record of late Holocene human–environment interactions

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Abstract
Human-environment interactions are most prevalent at the margins of the human habitat. In semi-arid and arid regions these interactions are shaped above all by the availability of water. In the Hajar Mountains (spanning across the United Arab Emirates and Oman) people employ falaj (ground water extraction) and oasis systems, as well as surface water management, including terracing. The history of these practices is not well known as archaeological evidence is difficult to date. This paper provides the first luminescence dating and geoarchaeological analysis of terraces in the UAE Hajar Mountains, at Suhaila 2 (Hatta). OSL profiling and dating, combined with particle size analysis, phytolith investigations and hydrological modelling indicate that the terraces at Suhaila 2 were constructed from at least the mid 13th century CE. Phases of subsequent use date to the 15/16th and 19th century CE, consistent with independent archaeological evidence and coinciding with regionally wetter climatic intervals. Particle size analysis and phytolith assemblages confirm that the terraces successfully retained runoff water and supported crop cultivation, including Pooideae grasses (wheat, barley, or rye) and possibly date palm. Hydrological modelling shows that terracing increased effective water availability through runoff five- to fifty-fold. Automated terrace detection reveals that terrace systems are found across the UAE Hajar Mountains demonstrating that this form of land-use was a landscape-scale strategy rather than a site-specific phenomenon. Together, these results establish terracing as a significant but underexplored record of human adaptation to climate variability in southeastern Arabia, with implications for understanding late Holocene land-use history across the wider region.

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