Farasan Fieldwork Project
Coastal archaeology in the Farasan Islands: report on the 2008 fieldwork of the joint Saudi-UK Southern Red Sea Project Alsharekh, A., Bailey, G.N., Laurie, E.M., Momber, G., Moran, L.J., Sinclair, A., Williams, M.G.W., AlShaikh, N., AlMa’Mary, A., and AlGhamdi, S., Al Zahrani, A., Aqeeli, A., Laurie, E.M., Beech, M. Published as: Report on the 2008 fieldwork of the joint Saudi-UK Southern Red Sea Project. In A.M. Alsharekh, G.N. Bailey (eds) 2014 Coastal Prehistory in Southwest Arabia and the Farasan Islands: 2004–2009 Field Investigations, pp. 77–158. Riyadh: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. ISBN 978-603-8136-01-0. (Series of Archaeological Refereed Studies No 15. King Abdullah Project for Cultural Heritage Care) 1 Fieldwork Objectives In this report we describe the fieldwork undertaken in the Farasan Islands during March 2008, with an outline of key results and a preliminary assessment of their significance. This work builds on the first season’s fieldwork undertaken in 2006 (Bailey et al. 2007a, 2007b, Bailey et al., this volume and covers survey and excavation on land, and offshore exploration of the submerged landscape in inshore waters at depths down to about 20m. Our primary objectives in 2008 were to: Continue the systematic survey, location, mapping and description of the numerous shell mounds located in 2006 Undertake excavation of selected shell mounds to obtain a better picture of their chronology, mode of formation and cultural contents Conduct geoarchaeological observations of the coastal environments associated
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