Saruq al-Hadid Archaeological Research Project (SHARP): Interim Report 2

<p><b>Executive / Media Summary</b></p> <p><i><b>Excavation and Dating (Chapters 1 and 2)</i></b></p><ul><li>Season 2 <b>excavations</b> were undertaken across a total of 22 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>As with previous excavations, only rare and ephemeral <b>structural remains</b> were recorded, with the exception of a small, standing mortared structure in the Horizon IV (2^nd millennium BC) deposits.</li><li><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), as well as organic artefacts made from 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 environmental and cultural history of the site. The formation of the gypsum pavement at the site has been bracketed to the early-mid Holocene by OSL dating, indicating a period of wetness following dune deposition at the Late Glacial Maximum c. 15,000 years ago and pre-dating renewed dune formation after the mid-Holocene moist phase, i.e. from c. 4000 BC. Human occupation at the site now appears almost continuous from the 3^rd millennium BC to the early Iron Age. Earlier (Neolithic) and later (post-Iron Age, and Islamic) occupation are also noted, but not as clearly characterised.</li></ul>