From tentscape to landscape: a multi-scale analysis of long-term patterns of occupation in north-west Qatar

This paper presents the main results of The Crowded Desert Project (TCD) survey during the 2017 season concerning the distribution, orientation, and strategic location of campsites in the area under study. After explaining the evidence recorded in the field, the article proposes an archaeological interpretation based on ethnographic models provided by Ferdinand (1993) and Montigny (1979; 1983; 1985), and on archaeological models advanced by Macumber (2016) and McPhillips, Rosendahl and Morgan (2015). Although ethnoarchaeology is criticized nowadays, it is suggested in this paper that a careful methodology built on the correlation of material evidence and relevant ethnographical data (e.g. Guerin 1994) can provide significant results to interpret the archaeological record of the area of study. The results provide interesting insights regarding the long-term continuity of the structural principles that guide the strategies of the design and location of nomadic campsites at least between AD 400-300 and the twentieth century.