This dataset consists of archaeological assessments of human land use across parts of the Middle East (Mesopotamia and Arabia) ca. 6000 BP (4000 BCE). The assessments have been made on the basis of published archaeological site locations, zooarchaeological and paleobotanical data, paleoenvironmental reconstructions, radiocarbon dates, and environmental data. Data dating to the time window 4250-3750 BCE have been included in the analysis. References and decision rules informing the assessments are detailed in Morrison et al forthcoming. Information on land use patterns are recorded using a classification system published in Morrison et al forthcoming. The assessments are recorded in a geospatial polygon shapefile consisting of a grid of 8x8 kilometer squares in the Eckert IV projection system. Included text files contain tables with domains (descriptions of the coded values in the attribute table of the shapefile). The data have been produced as part of LandCover6K, a collaborative working group of archaeologists, historians, geographers, paleoecologists and modelers aiming to improve the basis for incorporating past land cover change into earth system models. LandCover6k seeks to do this by producing global reconstructions of past vegetation and human land use through time that are grounded in paleoenvironmental and archaeological data. The present dataset is a regional contribution to this global effort.