Saruq al-Hadid: a persistent temporary place in late prehistoric Arabia

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

“…Saruq al‐Hadid is located in the mobile dune fields of the Rub’ al‐Khali desert, on the southern fringes of the Emirate of Dubai. Ongoing excavations there since its discovery in 2002 have outlined a long sequence of temporary human occupation extending from the Bronze Age into the early Iron Age, with later periods of re‐use into the Islamic period (Weeks et al., , ). Originally a seasonal campsite with evidence for hunting and herding, the use of the site was most intense in the early Iron Age (c. 1200–800 BCE) when it is thought to have functioned as a site of gathering and commemoration for multiple communities.…”

The exploitation of marine resources at Saruq al‐Hadid: Insights into the movement of people and resources in Bronze and Iron Age south‐eastern Arabia

“…The remains of marine animals from Iron Age contexts may therefore represent movement of people from coastal sites to Saruq al‐Hadid in order to undertake these activities. It is unclear whether the seasonality and/or temporality of the occupation also changes between these two periods, as discussed in further detail by Weeks et al ().…”

“…domesticates, wild animals from the interior, wild animals from the coast) aligns with and enhances our understanding of the nature of occupation at Saruq al‐Hadid. In the Bronze Age the site is hypothesised to have been temporarily occupied by members of a multi‐sited community that occupied different parts of the landscape on a potentially seasonal basis (Weeks et al, : 8). One could therefore hypothesise that the marine animal remains in the Bronze Age contexts from Saruq al‐Hadid are representative of a seasonal subsistence strategy that involved transhumance, by a sector of the community, from the coast to the interior.…”

“…The activities undertaken at Saruq al‐Hadid during the Iron Age contrast with those undertaken at the site during the Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence from Iron Age deposits suggests that materials and objects were brought to the site for the purposes of manufacture and exchange, as well as for socially constitutive group “ritual” activities that may have linked multiple communities (Weeks et al, , ). Recent studies on the provenance of the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age ceramics at Saruq al‐Hadid have suggested that the assemblage was being brought to the site from a number of locations (Karacic et al, ), reinforcing the hypothesis that the site was frequented by groups from around the region.…”

“…Programmes of survey and excavation undertaken at the site have identified persistent, temporary occupation from the Early Bronze Age, locally known as the Umm an‐Nar period, through to the early Iron Age ( c .2000–800 BCE), with evidence for periodic later activities through to the Islamic Period (Casana, Herrmann, & Qandil, ; Contreras et al, ; Herrmann, Casana, & Qandil, ; Karacic, ; Karacic, Boraik, & Qandil, ; Karacic et al, ; Nashef, ; Weeks et al, , , ). This activity is represented by a deep stratigraphy of interspersed cultural and natural layers in the central area of the site (Weeks et al, : 8, fig. 3; ), that can be divided into five archaeological “horizons”.…”