Saruq al-Hadid Archaeological Research Project (SHARP): Interim Report 3

Abstract

<p><b>Executive / Media Summary</b></p> <p><i><b>Excavation and Dating (Chapters 1 and 2)</i></b></p><ul><li> Season 3 <b>excavations</b> were undertaken across a total of 17 five by five metre trenches in the central sector of the site, revealing a deep stratigraphic sequence spanning the 3^rd through 1^st millennia BC (i.e. Umm an-Nar period, Wadi Suq period, Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age) and incorporating five major cultural Horizons (labelled I-V from top to bottom).</li> <li>Season 3 excavation concentrated predominantly on the lower stratigraphy of the site, i.e. Horizons III, IV and V which date primarily to the second millennium BC. Excavations have facilitated the division of these major Horizons into sub-phases, allowing for a better understanding of the formation of the site and the relative chronology of the human activities that took place there. </li><li>As with previous excavations, only rare and ephemeral <b>structural remains</b> were recorded, although <b>artefactual remains</b> were again abundant, including metals (copper alloy, iron, gold, silver and lead), metal production residues (slag and refining waste, casting spills), ceramics, soft-stone vessels, and beads of semi-precious stones and artificial materials (frit, glass).</li><li><b>Organic remains</b>, including discarded materials and artefacts, were also abundant, representing the use of animal bone, wood, and marine shell.</li> <li>Ongoing <b>absolute dating</b> programmes incorporating radiocarbon (C14), thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating have further clarified the cultural history of the site. Although the OSL dating proved particularly difficult, due to feldspar contamination in the site sediments, the C14 dating programme allowed for a clearer understanding of the dating of Horizon III to c. 1200-1000 BC.</li><li>A refined <b>TL dating</b> programme provided further evidence for use of the site for metallurgical activities over a long period from the early Iron Age (c. 1000 BC), through the late pre-Islamic period (c. 300 BC - AD 600), and into the early Islamic period (c. AD 800-1100). The reliability of the TL analyses has been improved by the use of better environmental dose monitoring by the measurement of site sediments, and is further supported by the calculation of a correct early Iron Age date for a ceramic vessel fragment from Horizon III.</li><li>Evidence for <b>late pre-Islamic</b> metallurgical activity in southeastern Arabia is particularly rare, and the results open up an entirely new period of human activity at the site that is barely glimpsed in other material indicators.</li></ul>