Books by Stephanie Rost
Oriental Institute Seminars 13. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2021
Irrigation has long been of interest in the study of the past. Many early civilizations were loca... more Irrigation has long been of interest in the study of the past. Many early civilizations were located in river valleys, and irrigation was of great economic importance for many early states because of the key role it played in producing an agricultural surplus, which was the main source of wealth and the basis of political power for the elites who controlled it. Agricultural surplus was also necessary to maintain the very features of statehood, such as urbanism, full-time labor specialization, state institutions, and status hierarchy.
Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water distribution, other early governments left most of the management to local farmers and controlled only the surplus.
The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives, the authors—all experts in the field of irrigation studies—advance both methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in early civilizations.
Open access: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/ois/ois-13-irrigation-early-states-new-directions
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Peer-reviewed publications by Stephanie Rost
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2022
Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with m... more Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with many newly initiated survey projects next to the more traditional excavations of archaeological sites. The utility of survey data, collected in the 1950-1980s, to address specific historical questions has been impaired by the lack of a representative and sufficiently detailed pottery chronology, particularly for southern Mesopotamia. Based on the initial results of the Umma Survey Project, we argue that systematic sampling strategies have the potential to reduce or overcome those limitations and contribute to building a representative pottery typology of the region with a higher chronological resolution. We argue that landscape archaeology's contribution to the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history can only be fully realized by considerably improving the existing pottery sequences. Furthermore, the systematic mapping of occupation areas on the sites provides important insights into settlement behavior responding to changing environments.
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Iraq, 2019
Recent fieldwork and archival sedimentary materials from southern Iraq have revealed new insights... more Recent fieldwork and archival sedimentary materials from southern Iraq have revealed new insights into the environment that shaped southern Mesopotamia from the pre-Ubaid (early Holocene) until the early Islamic period. These data have been combined with northern Iraqi speleothem, or stalagmite, data that have revealed relevant palaeoclimate information. The new results are investigated in light of textual sources and satellite remote sensing work. It is evident that areas south of Baghdad, and to the region of Uruk, were already potentially habitable between the eleventh and early eighth millennia B.C., suggesting there were settlements in southern Iraq prior to the Ubaid. Date palms, the earliest recorded for Iraq, are evident before 10,000 B.C., and oak trees are evident south of Baghdad in the early Holocene but disappeared after the mid-sixth millennium B.C. New climate results suggest increased aridity after the end of the fourth millennium B.C. For the third millennium B.C. to first millennium A.D., a negative relationship between grain and date palm cultivation in Nippur is evident, suggesting shifting cultivation emphasising one of these crops at any given time in parts of the city. The Shatt en-Nil was also likely used as a channel for most of Nippur's historical occupation from the third millennium B.C. to the first millennium A.D. In the early to mid-first millennium A.D., around the time of the Sasanian period, a major increase in irrigation is evident in plant remains, likely reflecting large-scale irrigation expansion in the Nippur region. The first millennium B.C. to first millennium A.D. reflects a relatively dry period with periodic increased rainfall. Sedimentary results suggest the Nahrawan, prior to it becoming a well-known canal, formed an ancient branch of the Tigris, while the region just south of Baghdad, around Dalmaj, was near or part of an ancient confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019
This paper offers the first detailed investigation of water management in pre-classical antiquity... more This paper offers the first detailed investigation of water management in pre-classical antiquity based on primary sources. The importance of water management for ancient societies can hardly be overstated, as many of the earliest civilizations emerged in large river valleys (Nile, Euphrates and Tigris, Indus, Yellow and Yangtze river). More importantly many of those early civilizations occupied the reach of the river, which was located in the arid/semi-arid zone, by which rivers vital sources of water, in particular for irrigation. Many studies on ancient water management have focused on irrigation, often failing to recognize the full extent to which rivers were managed and utilized. The water management scheme of late 3rd millennium Southern Mesopotamia, described in this paper, was designed to not only serve irrigation, but equally navigation and flood control. It combined the manipulation of water levels with the diligent observation and maneuvering of water masses of the ancient Tigris, by which the otherwise conflicting demands of irrigation, navigation and flood control could be reconciled. The written sources used in this study allowed to describe this water control system in great detail and is a testimony to remarkable ancient hydraulic engineering as early as the 3rd Millennium BC.
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WIREs Water, 2017
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In Cultures of Computation and Quantification in the Ancient World, edited by Karine Chemla, Agathe Keller, and Christine Proust, Pp. 159-200. Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter 5. New York: Springer. , 2020
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2014
This paper summarizes research on the potential of low cost, high-resolution panchromatic QuickBi... more This paper summarizes research on the potential of low cost, high-resolution panchromatic QuickBird imagery downloaded from Google Earth Pro to detect prehistoric canals from the Hohokam Period in the Middle Gila River Valley, Arizona. The potential of the imagery to identify buried features was evaluated by means of ground-thruthing reconnaissance as well as a comparative analysis of the QuickBird Imagery with the more traditionally employed CORONA and Landsat ETM+ imagery used in analogous studies. This research is presented as a methods-based solution to utilize remote sensing in exploratory archaeological research projects facing budget constraints. The conclusion of the research was that QuickBird imagery provided the best resolution for detecting buried irrigation features compared to other techniques. The results of the investigation are summarized as a potential research model applicable in other dryland settings.
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Book chapters by Stephanie Rost
In Irrigation and Early States: New Directions, edited by Stephanie Rost, forthcoming. Oriental Institute Seminars 13. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
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In Irrigation and Early States: New Directions, edited by Stephanie Rost, forthcoming. Oriental Institute Seminars 13. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
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In The Empirical Dimension of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, edited by Gebhard Selz with the collaboration of Klaus Wagensonner, pp 211¬–270. Wiener Offene Orientalistik 6. Wien: Lit-Verlag.
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Other publications by Stephanie Rost
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News and Notes, 2016
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Videos by Stephanie Rost
Mar 26, 2021
Archaeologist and anthropologist, Dr. Stephanie Rost, Assistant Professor in the His... more Mar 26, 2021
Archaeologist and anthropologist, Dr. Stephanie Rost, Assistant Professor in the History Department of Queensborough, takes us to Iraq and talks about her findings and the historical geography of late 3rd millennium B.C. southern Mesopotamia. In this conversation, Dr. Rost talks about her archaeological field project, The Umma Survey, and her collection of archaeological data pertaining to ancient settlements, watercourses and ancient landscapes. She discusses how she and colleagues are able to reconstruct the geographic context of this early state economy.
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A look at the first team of archaeologists to return to work in Southern Iraq in two decades. Cou... more A look at the first team of archaeologists to return to work in Southern Iraq in two decades. Could a shared archaeological past bring a divided nation together? https://www.fourcornersmedia.net/digging-out
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Papers by Stephanie Rost
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, May 28, 2017
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Journal of Field Archaeology
Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with m... more Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with many newly initiated survey projects next to the more traditional excavations of archaeological sites. The utility of survey data, collected in the 1950-1980s, to address specific historical questions has been impaired by the lack of a representative and sufficiently detailed pottery chronology, particularly for southern Mesopotamia. Based on the initial results of the Umma Survey Project, we argue that systematic sampling strategies have the potential to reduce or overcome those limitations and contribute to building a representative pottery typology of the region with a higher chronological resolution. We argue that landscape archaeology's contribution to the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history can only be fully realized by considerably improving the existing pottery sequences. Furthermore, the systematic mapping of occupation areas on the sites provides important insights into settlement behavior responding to changing environments.
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Journal of Field Archaeology, Apr 28, 2022
Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with m... more Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with many newly initiated survey projects next to the more traditional excavations of archaeological sites. The utility of survey data, collected in the 1950–1980s, to address specific historical questions has been impaired by the lack of a representative and sufficiently detailed pottery chronology, particularly for southern Mesopotamia. Based on the initial results of the Umma Survey Project, we argue that systematic sampling strategies have the potential to reduce or overcome those limitations and contribute to building a representative pottery typology of the region with a higher chronological resolution. We argue that landscape archaeology’s contribution to the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history can only be fully realized by considerably improving the existing pottery sequences. Furthermore, the systematic mapping of occupation areas on the sites provides important insights into settlement behavior responding to changing environments.
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Mathematics, Administrative and Economic Activities in Ancient Worlds, 2020
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Books by Stephanie Rost
Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water distribution, other early governments left most of the management to local farmers and controlled only the surplus.
The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives, the authors—all experts in the field of irrigation studies—advance both methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in early civilizations.
Open access: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/ois/ois-13-irrigation-early-states-new-directions
Peer-reviewed publications by Stephanie Rost
Book chapters by Stephanie Rost
Other publications by Stephanie Rost
Videos by Stephanie Rost
Archaeologist and anthropologist, Dr. Stephanie Rost, Assistant Professor in the History Department of Queensborough, takes us to Iraq and talks about her findings and the historical geography of late 3rd millennium B.C. southern Mesopotamia. In this conversation, Dr. Rost talks about her archaeological field project, The Umma Survey, and her collection of archaeological data pertaining to ancient settlements, watercourses and ancient landscapes. She discusses how she and colleagues are able to reconstruct the geographic context of this early state economy.
Papers by Stephanie Rost
Yet, the presence of large-scale or complex irrigation systems does not necessarily mean that they were under centralized control. While some early states organized the construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation works and resolved conflicts related to water distribution, other early governments left most of the management to local farmers and controlled only the surplus.
The cross-cultural studies in this volume reexamine the role of irrigation in early states. Ranging geographically from South America and the southwestern United States to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, they describe the physical attributes and environments of early irrigation systems; various methods for empirical investigation of ancient irrigation; and irrigation’s economic, sociopolitical, and cosmological dimensions. Through their interdisciplinary perspectives, the authors—all experts in the field of irrigation studies—advance both methodological and theoretical approaches to understanding irrigation in early civilizations.
Open access: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/ois/ois-13-irrigation-early-states-new-directions
Archaeologist and anthropologist, Dr. Stephanie Rost, Assistant Professor in the History Department of Queensborough, takes us to Iraq and talks about her findings and the historical geography of late 3rd millennium B.C. southern Mesopotamia. In this conversation, Dr. Rost talks about her archaeological field project, The Umma Survey, and her collection of archaeological data pertaining to ancient settlements, watercourses and ancient landscapes. She discusses how she and colleagues are able to reconstruct the geographic context of this early state economy.