Satellite settlements in western Samaria.

Kufr Thulth is the focus of an analysis of a village and its satellite settlements. Offshoot settlements occupied an internal ring during the Roman-Byzantine period. Nucleated hamlets and dispersed homesteads characterize the modern period. Both the ancient and the modern patterns are related to land scarcity and the presence of discontinuous arable land. The ancient pattern originated in a demand for intensive cropping. The modern one emerged from the activities of pastoral residents. In both periods processes of settlement reflect changing needs and technology. -Authors