Depopulation and devastation: using GIS for tracing changes in the archaeological landscape of Kharaib al‐Dasht, a Late Islamic fishing village (Kuwait)

This article presents a case study of the remains of Kharaib al‐Dasht (Kuwait), a Late Islamic fishing village. Collaboration between archaeologists from Kuwait and Poland of the Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Mission led to a long‐term research project of this archaeological site. In this contribution we are presenting the results of a geographic information system (GIS)‐structured survey. Different archaeological and geographical methods used in this work, including orthorectification and georeferencing of historical aerial photographs, enabled us to conduct a more in‐depth analysis. The multi‐layer GIS study resulted in a comprehensive recognition of the archaeological landscape of the site, and also helped us to determine the sources of changes and possible threats to the heritage of Failaka Island.


| INTRODUCTION
Heritage protection is challenged by different demands of local preservation laws, economic conditions of the country in question and development of preservation services operating in the given area.
Other crucial factors include the involvement of the local community, the willingness to preserve one's heritage and the existing natural conditions. Archaeological services responsible for heritage protection are no longer limited to traditional methods of excavation and conservation of finds. Nowadays, archaeology has many digital tools at its disposal which help to understand the dynamics of changes at any archaeological site, thus enabling a better threat assessment and implementation of countermeasures.
The present article focuses on Kharaib al-Dasht, a settlement on Failaka Island, Kuwait. The main task of our study was to estimate the extent of the site and investigate the dynamics of changes in the archaeological landscape. As the last century witnessed an intensive manmade transformation of Failaka and further development plans are already in progress, 1 it is vital to support the protection of the local heritage and document the known (and still unknown) Kuwaiti heritage, including archaeological sites.
In the Hellenistic times, by order of Alexander the Great, the whole area of the Gulf was surveyed and mapped. The island was recognized as a suitable place for setting up trading operations and was colonized by the Greeks who named it Ikaros, as mentioned by ancient historians such as Strabo, 1989 (Geographica 16.3.2) and Arrian, 2013 (Indica 7.20.4). In the following decades, the Seleucids built a fort on the south-western coast of the island to control the wealthy trade routes of the northern Arabian Gulf, but they abandoned it after the collapse of the empire. The most noticeable remnant of those times seems to be the current name of the island, which most likely derives from the ancient Greek word meaning an outpost -φυλάκιο(ν)fylakio(n) (Hansamans, 1967, 21-58;Calvet, 1983, 21-30).
Around the fifth-sixth century, a Nestorian community came to the island, searching for a secluded location. They settled in a large village of Al-Qusur, located in the centre of Failaka in a low-lying swamp area, and remained there until the seventh-eighth century (Bernard, Callot, & Salles, 1999). From then on, the island was continuously inhabited throughout the Islamic period (Patitucci & Uggeri, 1984) and practice. As a result of the Iraqi invasion, all Kuwaiti civilians were relocated from Failaka to the mainland, and even after the war, the island remained primarily military in character. Nonetheless, in the last few years it started to be regarded as a tourist destination once again.
Excavations on the island began in 1958 and continue to this day. parallel structures from Abu Dhabi (Beech, 2004, 46) it is plausible to assume that they were used extensively in the Late Islamic period by the inhabitants of Kharaib al-Dasht.
In the northern part of the site ( First, we collected all available data and prepared it for further integration. Archival aerial photographs were obtained from several sources. Aerial photography of the Arabian Gulf was acquired regularly not only for topographic usage, but also for military purposes, for instance spying. Therefore, high-resolution black and white photo-   (Figure 7).
Although at the time when the survey was conducted, our team did not face any serious challenges, that would not be the case in the later season. DJI's flight control systems for the UAV differentiates between unrestricted and restricted zones, the latter being typically assigned to such locations as airports, energy infrastructure, military infrastructure or areas with very dense population. The zones were created to protect airspace and to prevent the drone operators from causing potential harm. This, however, may sometimes be a source of problems for archaeologists, and other data collectors. Flights in such zones can be authorized only by verified DJI accounts. In the case of our study, at the time of the data acquisition and for this particular UAV model, flights were permitted in this airspace above the site.
However, since 2019, the entire area of Kharaib al-Dasht has been labelled as a restricted zone, due to its proximity to the military base. Now, in order to conduct aerial operations above this site, a special authorization is required (Figure 8).  an area of around 4793 m 2 (less than 1%), and archaeological trenches, whose size can be estimated to be approximately 1200 m 2 (less than 0.2% of surface) (Figure ure 10 and Table 1).
All these elements create an apt image of man-made changes at this unique Late Islamic site. In total, almost 30% of the village area was irreversibly destroyed in a short period of the last 60 years of intensified human activity. The reconstruction of factor formation processes may prove helpful in the planning of further conservation and archaeological works.

| SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The use of digital technologies in representation and detection of archaeological heritage has increased significantly in recent years, with many projects aiming to integrate all kinds of remote sensing imagery (Verhoeven et al., 2013, 49-60;Vermeulen, 2013, 69-85).
We could therefore benefit from the methodology and workflow developed by other archaeologists, especially during historical aerial photographs orthorectification. We agree that the highly accurate orthoimages are essential in any GIS-based archaeological landscape project (Pinto et al., 2019). The GIS-based landscape analysis conducted by the KPAM is another example of the demonstration that combining different datasets obtained during research may result not only in confirmation of previously known information but also in obtaining new ones. Integrated non-invasive survey methods offer new possibilities for recording spatial data. The advantages of integrated GIS data collecting systems in heritage protection are clearly visible, as the information is easier to gather, share and analyse (Reeler, 2015, 482-487).
GIS-based studies, combined with archaeological results, led to a tentative reconstruction of Kharaib al-Dasht street grid and the actual extent of the site. Based on these findings, it was possible to distinguish new zones of previous land use and organization of inhabitants' activities. This is yet another important step towards the improvement of the understanding of Failaka's heritage and its protection.
The crucial role of GIS at all stages of research cannot be overstated. Data collection and analysis, interpretation of archival and modern information, as well as visual capabilities of ArcMap made it possible to achieve more precise results and improve their representations. It should be also emphasized that GIS data are available for further queries, for instance Archaeological Predictive Modelling, which can be used for improving cultural heritage management (Wilcox, 2012, 353-358).
The concept of long-term dynamics is an important factor in the understanding of archaeological landscape changes. As the present case study covered only the period of the last 60 years, to receive a more complete image of Failaka Island, further investigations are required, which would take into account other layers of dynamics of changes. Therefore, our future goal is to attempt a reconstruction of the archaeological landscape of the whole island in the Late Islamic period.