Rural adaptation and settlement change in the late Islamic Jabal al-Khalīl (Judean Foothills)

This study examines the transformation of rural settlement in the Shephelah region of Ottoman Palestine as a reflection of communal adaptation to changes in the political and security landscapes. Focusing on Khirbet Drūsye (Horvat Midras), we integrate archaeological evidence with Ottoman fiscal surveys and Sharia court registers to trace the site's transition from a prosperous Mamluk-era village to a seasonal habitation (ʿizbeh) by the 1550s. This spatial reconfiguration illustrates how rural communities modified their settlement patterns and economic strategies in response to the declining security environment during the Early Ottoman period. The study of Drūsye, alongside other cases in the southern Bilād al-Shām/Levant, highlights not only the diverse ways that settlement systems evolved in response to political and economic pressures but also reveals sophisticated settlement patterns that challenge our understanding of 'permanent' versus 'transient' occupation. More broadly, the case demonstrates the methodological value of combining archaeological and documentary sources to reconstruct historical geographies and understand local responses to imperial transition. Beyond its regional focus, the case of Drūsye demonstrates a more general lesson: rural communities under imperial regimes often developed flexible, hybrid strategies of land use that challenge simple distinctions between permanence and abandonment. Such adaptive patterns have relevance for comparative studies of frontier zones, resilience, and the archaeology of ‘decline’.