A 1961 census dataset complements 13 other environmental and archaeological datasets for a study comparing ancient and modern settlement patterns in Syria's Jazira region. The study, from the University of Edinburgh, modeled settlement distribution over five millennia against soil, hydrology, and precipitation data. Modern population density patterns were compared to ancient sites to analyze correlations with environmental conditions influencing subsistence farming and grazing.
Use Cases
- Modeling correlations between ancient settlement locations and modern population density based on the described comparative study.
- Analyzing the influence of river proximity on settlement concentration patterns as mentioned in the description.
- Integrating census data with environmental variables like soil and precipitation for subsistence activity analysis.
- Studying the persistence of settlement patterns from archaeological periods to the mid-20th century.
Strengths
- Part of an integrated study combining 13 other datasets on archaeology, soil, geology, and hydrology.
- Derived from a specific 1961 census, providing a historical demographic snapshot.
- Created for direct comparison with archaeological site data spanning five millennia.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data freshness should be verified despite a future last updated date of 2026-07-08.
Provenance
- Source
- University of Edinburgh
- Collection Method
- Derived from a 1961 census; part of a broader study using archaeological surveys and 1930s French maps.
- Time Range
- Census data from 1961; archaeological comparison spans five millennia.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-08 13:30:56.353953; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Jazira region of Syria.