The Kuwait-British Archaeological Expedition to As-Sabiyah: Report on the Second Season's Work

AMS-dated mollusks in beach ridges and berms document Holocene sea-level and coastal changes in northeastern Kuwait Bay

“…Most sites are partially obscured by wind-blown sand. The Ubaid sites were first reported by Reda (1986) and later excavated by British archeological teams (Carter et al, 1999;Carter and Crawford, 2001Carter, , 2003. Other ancient settlements, although unmarked, can be recognized by concentrations of potsherds littering the surface.…”

Revisiting the Sealands: Report of Preliminary Ground Reconnaissance in the Hammar District, Dhi Qar and Basra Governorates, Iraq

“…Beginning in 1999, archaeological excavations at H3/Tell as-Sabiyah in northern Kuwait provided evidence of an early Ubaid settlement in this area (Carter and Crawford 2001;Carter 2006). The site is located adjacent to a relict beach ridge representing the shoreline of the ancient Persian Gulf.…”

“…Partly due to assumptions about the primary role of irrigation agriculture and animal husbandry in the rise of complex societies, and partly due to sheer inaccessibility, until recently the third pillar of the economy-that of marsh, estuary, and marine resources-was left largely unexplored (Pournelle 2003;Algaze 2008;Eger 2011;Pournelle and Algaze 2012). However, over the past decade or so, the growing availability and utilization of increasingly high resolution, low cost satellite imagery (Hritz 2005(Hritz , 2010Kouchoukos 2001;Pournelle 2003aPournelle , 2006Pournelle , 2007Pournelle , 2012Ur 2003); a new generation of Sumerological and Assyriological work on proto-cuneiform and cuneiform texts related to wetland resources like reeds, pigs, fish, fowl, and trees (Potts 1997: 106-15;Englund 1998;Boehmer 1999: 51-56, 66-67, 71-74, 90-104;Molina and Such-Gutierrez 2004;Scharlach 2004;Wilcke 2007: 115-21;Widell 2009;Firth 2011;Heimpel 2011); and published archaeological investigations both within Iraq and in adjoining areas of Iran and Kuwait (Huot 1999: 30;Pollock 1999: 83;Pournelle 2003b, tables 13-15;Carter and Crawford 2001;Gasche 2004Gasche , 2005Gasche , 2007Carter 2006), have begun to fill this gap. They emphasize the existence, preservation, and importance of paleoenvironmental and archaeological evidence for this littoral third pillar, and the necessity of including these factors into models for the rise of urban complexity in ancient Mesopotamia (Pournelle and Algaze 2011).…”

Boat remains and maritime trade in the Persian Gulf during the sixth and fifth millennia BC

“…The archaeological context of the boat-related finds can only briefly be described (for fuller details on excavations at H3, see Carter et al 1999;Carter & Crawford 2001Carter 2002Carter , 2003. The site is located at the edge of a sheltered bay, now infilled.…”

“…Most assemblages in the Gulf are too small to make meaningful comparisons, but the pottery of Dosariyah, Abu Khamis and Ain Qannas shows strong qualitative parallels with the H3 material: the same types of bowls and cups are present in quantity, while jars are rare or absent. For parallels between the assemblages of H3 and the major Central Gulf sites, see relevant sections in preliminary reports (Carter & Crawford 2001: 11, 2002. At Dalma, of the 1156 Ubaid-related pot and plaster sherds, all but three appeared to have come from bowls or cups, when it could be ascertained (Carter forthcoming).…”