ADIAS Occasional Newsletter - May 2001
(issue no. 3 of the 2001-2002 Season)

Mid Islamic site at Ra's Ghumeis

During a short bout of random survey work last spring, ADIAS Academic Director Dr. Geoffrey King, accompanied by our faunal expert Mark Beech, identified a previously unrecorded site at the very tip of Ra's Ghumeis, the westernmost of the three smaller peninsulae that project from the Sila'a Peninsula. The site, which was given the code name RG-1, was situated on a low rocky outcrop to the east of the tip of Ras Ghumeis, and is accessible at low tide.

On the outcrop, King and Beech found a large ashy mound with scatters of shell and fish bones and also an extensive scatter of pottery. On one side of the mound were the remains of a stone structure, built of slabs of local rock. A small selection of pottery was collected, as well as ash samples for C14 dating. A further visit was made to the site by Peter Hellyer and field archaeologists Daniel Hull and Stephen Rowland in late March 2001, to check on the status of the site, and to collect a further sample of pottery, while the site was drawn by Hull and Rowland during a further short visit in early April.

The results of the C14 dating have now been received, while a preliminary study of the pottery from the site has now been completed by our ADIAS ceramicist, Dr. Robert Carter. Both suggest that the site was occupied in the 14th Century AD, with two C14 results providing the closely matching calibrated dates of 1283-1418 AD and 1285 - 1423 AD, (at a 2 sigma level of confidence). These identify the site as being mid Islamic, a period for which little evidence is so far known from the coast and islands of Abu Dhabi. Adjacent to deep water, and overlooking the route into the sheltered haven between Ra's Ghumeis and the island of Al Ufsaiyyah, to the east, the Ra's Ghumeis 1 site is ideally located to serve as a lookout point or brief stopping off point for passing shipping. A selection of environmental data (fish bones, etc.) has been collected, so that the diet of the occupants of the site can be studied.

The pattern of settlement on Al Ufsaiyyah suggests occupation during earlier periods as well, including the early First Millennium AD and in the Late Stone Age, and, not surprisingly, there is also evidence from Ra's Ghumeis of occupation at other periods as well. On the spit of rock that leads out from the Ra's Ghumeis headland towards the islet containing Site RG-1, a small collection of pottery was made in March 2001 which has been identified by Rob Carter as probably Late pre-Islamic in date. Three kilometres to the south, along the western coastline of the Ra's Ghumeis peninsula, the March 2001 visit identified another site on a headland overlooking a sheltered bay. An extensive scatter of Late Islamic pottery was present on the site, as well as a number of stone hearths, of the type found in large numbers throughout the islands of Abu Dhabi. ADIAS has also received an assemblage of pottery collected from elsewhere in the general vicinity by an amateur enthusiast. The pottery appears to be Late pre-Islamic, although the precise location of the collection point has yet to be confirmed.

It seems, therefore, that the Ra's Ghumeis area may have been used intermittently since at least the middle of the First Millennium AD, and perhaps much earlier. Certainly sites dating back to the Late Stone Age have been found on nearby islands, like Ghagha' and Al Ufsaiyyah. The RG-1 Mid-Islamic site is possibly the most interesting of the sites so far identified on the mainland in this part of Abu Dhabi, since it relates to a period that is still little recorded or understood. Further research is planned, both at the site itself and in the general vicinity. The Ra's Ghumeis sites are close to a Coastguard installation, and, to ensure their protection, details of the sites will be provided to the relevant authorities.

Probable fossil footprints found in Western Region

Impressions in a rock surface that may be fossil footprints of a herd of animals that appear to have resembled elephants have been recorded by an ADIAS team in the Western Region. The footprints, on a fossilised flood-plain at Mleisa, around 40 km, south of Ruwais, were identified by field archaeologists Daniel Hull and Stephen Rowland early last month during a visit to the area. They were guided to the site by Mubarak al Mansouri, Transport and Public Relations Co-ordinator at Jebel Dhanna for ADIAS sponsor ADCO. Mubarak and his family have known of the footprints for many years, but the site had not previously been examined by archaeologists. The plain where the probable footprints were identified appears to be an area of fossilised mud, perhaps left after heavy floods. Stretching across the plain are lines of depressions, nearly circular in shape, that are approximately the size of elephant footprints. The prints suggests that around ten animals walked in line for several hundred metres across the plain, while the prints vary in size, suggesting that animals of different ages were present. The presence in the Western Region of fossils from the Late Miocene period, around 5 to 6 million years ago is now well-known, thanks to work in the Jebel Dhanna area by the Natural History Museum in London, supported by ADCO. Fossils from this period have also  now been identified by ADIAS much closer to Abu Dhabi, in the Rumaitha oilfield. These footprints south of Ruwais may, however, be much younger in terms of geological time. During the Pleistocene period, coinciding with the great Ice Ages and covering the last million years or so, up until around 10,000 years ago, there was much more rain than there is today, with periods when much of the Empty Quarter was covered with rivers and a landscape very similar to the present-day savannahs of East Africa. The rivers drained into the Arabian Gulf through the Sabkhat Matti, now an extensive area of salt-flats. Surveys in the Empty Quarter have found evidence from the Pleistocene period of large lakes and the remains of animals like hippopotami and water buffalo. The fossilised flood plain and footprints in the Mleisa area may date to this period. If so, it will be the first time that such evidence has been identified in the Emirates. In a report to Minister of Information and Culture HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan early this month, ADIAS has stressed the importance of protecting the site and of carrying out further investigations. Of particular importance is the need to study the geology of the fossil floodplain, so that a date can be placed on the footprints. it is hoped that this study can be carried out with the assistance of the ADCO Geology Department. Besides the footprints, the Mleisa plain also yielded tools from the Late Stone Age, including a fine arrowhead. Further survey work in the area is provisionally planned for next winter.

'Ubaid pottery from Al Aryam

Further survey work on the island of Al Aryam, just west of Abu Dhabi, was carried out by ADIAS in March and April, at the request of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, ERWDA. During the work, several previously unrecorded sites from the Late Islamic period were identified, the majority of which were on a rock outcrop near the north-west corner of the island. Of much greater significance, however, was the finding in the same area of a sherd of painted pottery from the 'Ubaid civilisation in southern Iraq, dated to around 7000 years ago. The sherd has been provisionally identified by ADIAS ceramics expert Dr. Robert Carter as belonging to the Ubaid 2 or "Hajji Mohammed" period, and was presumably brought to Al Aryam by sailors or traders from Mesopotamia. 'Ubaid sherds have previously been identified by ADIAS on Ghagha, Dalma and Marawah, (and, possibly, on Abu Al Abyadh), but the sherd from Al Aryam is the finest in terms of its surviving decoration yet to have been found on the islands of Abu Dhabi. The site where the sherd was found, along with other Late Islamic material, is close to a group of rock shelters on the north-west corner of the island. Such shelters have not previously been found by ADIAS on the coast and islands of Abu Dhabi, and ADIAS will now be seeking permission from HH Sheikh Hamdan for further work in the area to be undertaken, to see if any further remains from the 'Ubaid period can be identified.

Preliminary survey of Futaisi island completed

With the permission of HE Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, an ADIAS team carried out a preliminary survey of the island of Futaisi, just west of Abu Dhabi, in March. Futaisi, one of the group of barrier islands that stretches along much of the coastline from Ras Ghurab to the Dabb'iya peninsula, is one of the last major islands to be visited by ADIAS, and the results of the survey have helped to fill in an large "blank" on the ADIAS database of coastal and island sites. As expected, the survey produced considerable evidence of occupation during the Late Islamic period, mainly pottery sherds but with some pearl oyster middens, particularly along the east coast of the island and around the shores of the creek that enters the north coast of Futaisi. The southern part of the island is largely sabkha and enclosed inter-tidal flats, and, as expected, little evidence of occupation was identified in those areas. On the sides of the creek, several stone-covered mounds and rectangular fireplaces were also identified. These are of the same types that have been recognised on most of the offshore islands, and may be pre-Islamic in date, although no definite dating can be ascribed to them unless excavation and radiocarbon dating is undertaken. As regular readers of the Occasional Newsletter will know, dating of such mounds and fireplaces on the islands of Balghelam, Rufayq and Marawah has produced a wide range of dates from around 2000 BC to 200 AD. The evidence of Late Islamic occupation is consistent with use of parts of the coastline by fishing communities, although there are also two water cisterns, a graveyard and a mosque, now restored, which suggest permanent, or at least frequent, occupation, at least during the winter months. Residents of Abu Dhabi island with good eyesight, or binoculars, will know that there is a large fort on the island. This has been completed only in the last few years, although parts of it are older. Further research is necessary on the history of this fort, which is probably of a fairly recent date and seems to have been abandoned by its original builders before it was completed. One find of considerable interest was a pottery and shell scatter on the north-east side of the Futaisi creek which contained a substantial number of cuttlefish "bones," the white oval-shaped internal soft skeleton of cuttlefish. While such "bones" have been found at sites on other islands, the Futaisi site is the first to be identified by ADIAS which suggests specific exploitation of this species. Due to time constraints, the March survey was unable to cover all of the island, and certain areas, particularly along the north coast in the vicinity of the now-unused golf course, still need examination. ADIAS is grateful to HE Sheikh Hamad for granting permission to visit the island, and for providing the necessary logistics support.

Third Phase of Jebel Dhanna sulphur mine study completed

The third phase of ADIAS investigations of the sulphur mines at Jebel Dhanna was carried out in March and April by field archaeologists Daniel Hull and Stephen Rowland, with assistance from ADIAS Executive Director Peter Hellyer. During the investigations, undertaken with the support of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, ADCO, around ten per cent of the mine shafts on the jebel were entered and examined, using special climbing equipment. This study showed that there are extensive galleries and chambers under the surface, linking the mine shafts. One of the chambers is over four metres high, over three metres wide and nearly three metres long. Excavation of several of the small stone structures on the surface, adjacent to some of the mine complexes, was also undertaken. This showed that some were probably water catchment features, while others were small shelters and fireplaces, presumably built by the miners. Charcoal samples have been taken from some of these sites, which we hope to submit for radiocarbon dating. A number of new mine complexes were also identified for the first time during the Phase Three study, confirming that evidence of the sulphur mining industry is likely to be found in suitable geological exposures all over the jebel. Besides the fieldwork itself, our pottery expert, Dr. Robert Carter, of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London, has completed examination of the pottery collected during the second and third phases of work. All of the pottery so far identified on the jebel itself appears to be of 18th and 19th Century date. While we know that local inhabitants continued to visit the mines until recent times, collecting pieces of sulphur to use for making an ointment to treat skin sores on camels, the extent of the mining activity suggests that a major industry of exploiting sulphur once existed at the site. No evidence of this has yet been traced in British archives on the Gulf dating to the 19th Century, or in published extracts from the Dutch archives dating to the 18th Century, and the date of this industrial phase of exploitation is still unclear. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the hearths, and further investigation in the Portuguese historical archive may provide us with an answer. It is clear, however, that several hundred tonnes of sulphur must have been extracted from Jebel Dhanna during the main period when mining took place. Who mined the sulphur and where it went is still a mystery! ADIAS is grateful to ADCO for its support of the Jebel Dhanna research programme, which has begun to uncover the story of the UAE's forgotten sulphur mining industry.

ADIAS at 1st UAE Archaeological Conference

Work undertaken by ADIAS over the last nine years was the subject of several papers presented at last month's First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Emirates, organised by the Zayed Centre for Heritage and History in association with the Ministry of Information and Culture, and held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Emirates Heritage Club. Discoveries at the Late Stone Age sites on Dalma and Marawah were discussed by Elizabeth Shepherd, of the Norfolk Archaeological Unit while Dr. Robert Carter, of the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London, examined the evidence for sailors from the Bronze Age calling at several of the offshore islands, including Ghagha', Sir Bani Yas, Marawah and Balghelam. Dr. Joseph Elders, of the Council for the Care of Churches in England, presented data on the two pre-Islamic monasteries found by ADIAS on the islands of Sir Bani Yas and Marawah, while Dr. Geoffrey King, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, of the University of London, and Peter Hellyer reported on Late Islamic finds in the desert areas of the Western Region. Daniel Hull, also of SOAS, presented a paper on the sulphur mines at Jebel Dhanna, while Mark Beech of the University of York, examined the evidence from environmental remains identified on Dalma, Marawah and Balghelam. Two other papers, by Vincent Charpentier, of France's Centre National pour les Recherches Scientifiques, and Dr. Heiko Kallweit, of Germany's University of Freiburg, included data from ADIAS studies of the Late Stone Age in Abu Dhabi, while the keynote speech to the opening session of the conference, on the necessity of preserving the country's archaeological sites, was delivered by Beatrice de Cardi, an associate of ADIAS since the first survey season in 1992. Papers from the conference are provisionally due to be published next year.

Work on database continues

As mentioned in the last issue of the Occasional Newsletter, ADIAS is now putting together a full database of its discoveries over the last nine years, as part of plans to provide a summary record for inclusion in the Abu Dhabi Emirate Environmental Database, being co-ordinated by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency, ERWDA. Much of the work involved in cataloguing the finds at our Maqta offices was completed by Paula Wallace in March and April, while Mark Beech, our IT specialist (as well as being our lead environmental archaeologist), is currently working with ERWDA on database design. Plans are also being drawn up for the launching of a dedicated ADIAS website, provisionally due to be unveiled over the course of the summer.

More news soon!

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