Drylands are still widely perceived as marginal areas, unsuitable for food production and long-term human settlement. This view, reinforced by mainstream global land use models, stands in sharp contrast with archaeological and ethnographic evidence showing that sustainable agriculture and pastoralism have long existed even in hyperarid regions. In this perspective article, we argue for the importance of applying archaeology to build a long-term narrative of land use management in drylands, highlighting the relevance of nonmechanized, resilient subsistence strategies as forms of biocultural heritage and sustainable alternatives rooted in indigenous priorities put in place over centuries. We contend that archaeology is key to shifting this narrative by documenting long-term socio-ecological adaptation in drylands. To this end, we present a range of archaeological methodologies that have helped trace techno-cultural developments in drylands, challenging persistent assumptions about the limits of human occupation and food production in arid environments.
