Department of

Anthropology

Department of Anthropology
Old Main 330, University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (479) 575-2508; Fax: (479) 575-6595
E-mail: chitt@uark.edu
Maintained by Web Guy

 

Jesse Casana is a specialist in the archaeology of the Middle East . His research investigates the history of settlement and land use in the ancient world, as well as the dynamic interactions of humans with their environment. Since 1995, Dr. Casana has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Turkey, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere. His projects explore large regions, embrace long periods of human history, and employ a wide range of techniques, including archaeological survey, geoarchaeology, satellite imagery-based analyses, and sub-surface geophysical prospection.

Dr. Casana is currently co-director of the Tell Qarqur Expedition, an archaeological project in northwestern Syria that is jointly sponsored by the University of Arkansas and the American Schools or Oriental Research. He is also the director of the Dubai Desert Survey, a regional archaeological and paleoenvironmental project in the United Arab Emirates.

Current Teaching

• Approaches to Archaeology (ANTH 3023)
  
• Landscape Archaeology (ANTH 4603)
  
• Ancient Middle East (ANTH 4123)
  
• Society and Environment (ANTH 6033/ENDY 6033)
  
• Archaeological Field School in Syria (ANTH 4256)

Selected Publications (PDFs available upon request)

Transformations in settlement systems of the northern Levant . American Journal of Archaeology 111 (2): 195-221 (2007).

Mediterranean valleys revisited: Linking soil erosion, land use, and climate variability in the northern Levant . Geomorphology (in press)

Stereo-Analysis, DEM extraction and orthorectification of CORONA satellite imagery: Archaeological applications from the Near East . (with Jackson Cothren). Antiquity (in press).

Settlement and landscapes in the Amuq region. (with T.J. Wilkinson). In K.A. Yener (ed.), The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, Volume 1, Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995-2002 . (Oriental Institute Publication 131). Chicago : Oriental Institute Press (2005).

Surface ceramics, off-site survey, and floodplain development at Tell Atchana (Alalakh). (with A.R. Gansell). In K.A. Yener (ed.), The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, Volume 1, Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995-2002 . (Oriental Institute Publication 131). Chicago : Oriental Institute Press (2005).

The archaeological landscape of late Roman Antioch. In J.A.R. Huskinson and B. Sandwell (eds.), Culture and Society in Later Roman Antioch. Oxford : Oxbow (2003).

Nucleation to dispersal: Trends in settlement pattern in the northern Fertile Crescent . (with T.J. Wilkinson and Jason Ur). In S. Alcock and J. Cherry (eds.), Side-by-Side Survey: Comparative Regional Studies in the Mediterranean World. Oxford : Oxbow (2003).

From Alalakh to Antioch : Settlement, Land Use, and Environmental Change in the Amuq Valley of Southern Turkey . PhD Dissertation, University of Chicago (2003).

Popular and Media Coverage

Telling History, University of Arkansas Research Frontiers, Fall 2006.

Archeologists Return to Syria to Uncover Secrets of Ancient Settlements, by Barbara Jaquish, University of Arkansas Daily Headlines, April 3, 2006.

Deep into the landscape, by Richard Mertens. University of Chicago Magazine. February 2003, 95 (3).

Archaeological Survey in the Amuq Valley, by Tony J. Wilkinson. Oriental Institute 2001-2002 Annual Report.