This article describes the research questions and presents the initial AMS dates of the Middle Draa Project (southern Morocco), a collaborative field survey project between the University of Leicester and the Institut National des Sciences de l' Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP) of Morocco. Starting from a very low baseline of past archaeological research in this pre-desert valley, the overall objective of the project is to establish the extent, character and chronology of the rich archaeology of the Wadi Draa. The results presented here detail a hitherto unknown phase of major occupation in the Draa in the 4th-6th centuries AD evidenced by complex hilltop settlements and extensive cairn cemeteries (an initial typology is presented). A second medieval phase comprised major urban centres that are contemporary with the Almoravid and Almohad periods of Moroccan history. Alongside these urban centres, there are the remains of substantial mudbrick oasis settlements and irrigation and field-systems of a contemporary date. A key contribution of this paper concerns the construction of an outline chronology based upon initial analysis of the ceramics collected, but crucially supplemented and supported by a major program of AMS dating. The remote sensing and field survey data collected by the project enable us to develop some hypotheses concerning the long-term history of this important oasis valley.
This article provides an outline of the Libyan Antiquities at Risk (LAaR) project, which has developed a reference database and website recording Libyan antiquities that are under threat of being stolen and sold on the illegal art market. Since the Arab Spring in 2011 and the subsequent political instability, the number of antiquities that are trafficked out of Libya has risen sharply. The illustrated reference collection created by LAaR is mainly aimed at customs officials, international agencies, museum curators, the police and cultural heritage sector, to alert them about the likelihood of Libyan provenance of previously unrecorded material of similar appearance to known pieces, and thereby help to prevent the sale of Libyan antiquities on the illegal art market. LAaR is a collaboration between the Society for Libyan Studies and the University of Leicester.
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