Preliminary results from further survey and a series of test pit excavations at the flint scatter site of Ras Ushayriq (QHNER 141) during the 2010 season has led to a re-assessment of the nature and chronology of the site. Over 1500... more
Preliminary results from further survey and a series of test pit excavations at the flint scatter site of Ras Ushayriq (QHNER 141) during the 2010 season has led to a re-assessment of the nature and chronology of the site. Over 1500 lithics were collected including implements of the Arabian Bifacial Tradition (ABT) in the form of barbed and tanged arrowheads, a ‘knife’, and possible bifacial performs. The site has also yielded an axe which exhibits evidence of hafting and a particularly high number of scraper tools. A hearth has also been uncovered containing lithics, pottery, and fragments of animal and fish bone. Furthermore, over fifty pieces of Ubaid pottery were discovered, and most significantly five worked fragments of obsidian.
The diversity of technologies combined with the wide variety of different raw material types present suggests successive re-occupation of the site using both local and imported materials. Evidence of interaction between Arabia and Mesopotamia in the form of Ubaid pottery suggests a date of between 6000-3500BC, placing the main occupation of the site within the Neolithic and the early Holocene. The recovery of five worked obsidian pieces represents the largest assemblage of obsidian discovered in Qatar to date and implies that the trade in this commodity is perhaps more significant than previously surmised.
This book is an attempt to consider Dubai outside the dominant pictures and to shed light on what the author calls the « hidden urban spaces » this city is rich of.
Throughout the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the landscape of Qatar was transformed by global climate changes, cycles of sea level rise and fluctuations in rainfall. The Peninsula is formed from Eocene limestone which was... more
Throughout the late Pleistocene and early Holocene the landscape of Qatar was transformed by global climate changes, cycles of sea level rise and fluctuations in rainfall. The Peninsula is formed from Eocene limestone which was subsequently shaped by geomorphological processes, leaving a gently undulating landscape featuring rock outcrops and sediment bowls. As a result of late Pleistocene and early Holocene sea level rise, the Arabian Gulf now surrounds the western, northern and eastern sides of the landmass, but for most of prehistory Qatar was part of a landlocked, hyper-arid region. Given these changes it is therefore important to consider both the changing external conditions that influenced human behaviour in prehistory and the varying taphonomic pathways that were favourable for site preservation. These are fundamental tenets of landscape archaeology, placing past human activities within the wider context of a landscape that is the product of climatic fluctuation and geomorphological change.
Abstract Nationalisation of the human resource is the desired and articulated policy of all rulers of countries that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Ubaid pottery was famously recorded by H. R. Hall during the excavation of a tell mound at Al cUbaid, and for nearly half a century became associated with the origins of urbanisation and developments in social hierarchy in southern... more
Ubaid pottery was famously recorded by H. R. Hall during the excavation of a tell mound at Al cUbaid, and for nearly half a century became associated with the origins of urbanisation and developments in social hierarchy in southern Mesopotamia. The discovery in 1968 of cUbaid pottery around the western Gulf littoral, some 1,000km to the south of Mesopotamia, raised questions regarding the nature of interaction between these two societies. This paper considers the origins of this interaction and the effects of geomorphology, hydrology and the palaeoenvironment on regional migration. The extent to which topography and marine transgression were a catalyst for migration is also discussed, and how, or if such factors influenced post-transgression settlement dynamics.
The results of two seasons of extensive survey by the Qatar Museums Authority and the University of Birmingham around Wadi Debayan in northern Qatar have revealed substantial differences in the density and distribution of monuments from... more
The results of two seasons of extensive survey by the Qatar Museums Authority and the University of Birmingham around Wadi Debayan in northern Qatar have revealed substantial differences in the density and distribution of monuments from the late Stone Age onwards, particularly a high density of pre-Islamic burial cairns. Such a high density must reflect either a sustained population over a long period or significant rise in population over a short period. Given that very minor climate fluctuation can significantly affect resources in a hyper-arid landscape, the analysis of proxy data from regionally relevant environmental sediment traps appear to be a prerequisite for further meaningful research into pre-Islamic population dynamics. However, the identification of sediment traps remains a major problems within a deflated, hyper-arid landscape.
Coring within the wadi found evidence for marine sediments during the first half of the seventh millennium BP, followed by sea-level stabilization and encroaching intertidal vegetation during the second half of the seventh millennium BP. These results emphasize the potential for the presence of organic-rich deposits within wadi sequences, particularly in intertidal zones.
The Trump Administration has withdrawn the United States of America (USA) from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and announced the reinstating of sanctions on Iran. The Permanent Five Plus One (P5+1) has consequentially been... more
The Trump Administration has withdrawn the United States of America (USA) from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and announced the reinstating of sanctions on Iran. The Permanent Five Plus One (P5+1) has consequentially been reduced to four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) – China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom (UK) plus Germany (P4+1) – which are still presently engaged in a deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program. International reactions to the USA withdrawal from the JCPOA have ranged from support to disapproval. Regardless, Iran still maintains significant regional influence and tensions in the Middle East have flared. The provocative withdrawal enacted by the Trump Administration additionally contributes to further strengthening the current Iranian regime and simultaneously encourages the Iran to look East for business ventures, thereby facilitating Asianization.
"Survey work in 2004 identified two extensive lithics scatters in the south-eastern desert of Abu Dhabi at Umm az-Zumul. both scatters were within small interdunal areas to the south-east of large barchan dunes. At the first site (Khor... more
"Survey work in 2004 identified two extensive lithics scatters in the south-eastern desert of Abu Dhabi at Umm az-Zumul. both scatters were within small interdunal areas to the south-east of large barchan dunes. At the first site (Khor al-Manahil) a controlled pick-up of lithics recorded almost 3000 fragments of flint and stone artefacts. The typology of the artefacts suggests the scatter belongs to the so-called Arabian Bifacial Tradition (ABT). This dates the scatter to the mid-Holocene, between the seventh and fifth millennia, when the climate was wetter and the conditions more favourable. A series of undated "burnt mounds" at Khor al-Manahil was also recorded and excavated.
The second scatter (Kharimat Khor al-Manahil) was again comprised of flints belonging to the Arabian Bifacial Tradition. OSL dating suggested that these must date later than 9,000 years ago. Two shell beads, found in association with the flint scatter resemble types well known from the Neolithic cemetery of Jebel al-Buhais 18, located in Sharjah emirate in the UAE."
