In order to understand the role of water resources in the establishment and long‐term evolution of settlements investigated by the French Archaeological Mission in the UAE in the oasis of Masāfī, wells and springs of all periods, identified at the surface and in stratified contexts, were mapped and studied thanks to a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeology, geomorphology, geoarchaeology and ethnography. Our study demonstrates that: – The Masāfī oasis was located in a specific geological setting entailing the accumulation of groundwater resources at reachable depth. – The groundwater resources remained rather stable from the mid‐second millennium BC to the second half of the twentieth century AD. In this respect, the apparent abandonment of the oasis during some periods cannot be explained by water depletion. – The groundwater resources have decreased sharply since the second half of the twentieth century AD, due to the introduction of new water extraction technologies, motor pumps and then drillings, as a result of the modernisation and industrialisation of UAE economy. Our study also stresses the importance of well and spring irrigation in the development of the sedentary settlements in south‐eastern Arabia, technologies that have often been neglected in the regional archaeological literature in favour of the qanāt.

中文翻译：

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Masāfī（阿联酋）绿洲的地下水开发：历时视角

为了了解水资源在法国考古代表团在阿联酋马萨菲绿洲调查的定居点的建立和长期演变中的作用，在地表和分层环境中确定的所有时期的水井和泉水，由于结合了考古学、地貌学、地质考古学和民族志的多学科方法，对这些地区进行了测绘和研究。我们的研究表明： – Masāfī 绿洲位于特定的地质环境中，需要在可达到的深度积累地下水资源。– 从公元前 2 世纪中叶到公元 20 世纪下半叶，地下水资源保持相当稳定。在这方面，在某些时期明显放弃绿洲不能用水资源枯竭来解释。– 由于阿联酋经济的现代化和工业化，引入了新的抽水技术、电动泵和钻井，自公元 20 世纪下半叶以来，地下水资源急剧减少。我们的研究还强调了井水和泉水灌溉在阿拉伯东南部久坐定居点发展中的重要性，这些技术在区域考古文献中经常被忽视而支持坎儿井。