Palestinian dry stone structures: an endogenous expression of cultural landscape

摘要

This paper aims to discuss the case of an existing architectural feature in thePalestinian environment: the Palestinian dry-stone structures within the larger framework ofthe historical development of the cultural landscape across Palestine. The current status ofthese structures is quite alarming, due to several factors, mainly the rapid modernization ofthe Palestinian community, the largely unorganized urban expansion seen on the area, lackof public awareness and the declining importance of agricultural activity within thePalestinian society and of course the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict. As a result, a largenumber of these agricultural structures in this area have been abandoned and destroyed overthe past few decades.Thus, the paper will analyse the characteristics and importance of this structurethrough a review of literature in this field, and provides an analysis of the Palestinian case inparticular. Areas of focus include the importance of the dry stone structures and its role inPalestinian agricultural development and the culture generally, its architectural structure,patterns and types, and the materials and techniques of its construction. Furthermore, thepaper illustrates the status and condition of the surviving structures and concludes with thefuture challenges and potentials of their preservation and development