The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: a Zooarchaeological Perspective 289 C.E
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ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. Editors: Daniel Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Copyright: ©2003 Trident Press and listed contributors. This book is a compilation of papers presented at The First International Conference on the Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, held in 2001, in the U.A.E. under the patronage of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the U.A.E. These Proceedings are published by Trident Press Ltd. in cooperation with the Zayed Centre for Heritage and History, (a constituent organisation of The Emirates Heritage Club, United Arab Emirates). Editors: Daniel Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Production Direction: Paula Vine Copy editing: Moira Ruddy Typesetting: Johan Hoffsteenge Photographs: Full-page colour plates are, unless otherwise credited, copyright of Trident Press Ltd. Authors have separately credited the sources of photographs and/or illustrations that are included in this book. All rights are reserved. The rights of: D.T. Potts, B. de Cardi, S. Blau, H. Kiesewetter, E. Shepherd Popescu, H. Kallweit, V. Charpentier, M. Uerpmann, S.A. Jasim, C. Velde, L. Weeks, R. Carter, S. Cleuziou, T. Vosmer, R. Boucharlat, J.M. Cordoba, P. Magee, P. De Paepe, K. Rutten, L. Vrydaghs, E. Haerinck, J. Elders, P. Yule, S. Worrell, J. Price, T. Sasaki, H. Sasaki, G.R.D. King, P. Hellyer, D. Hull, M. Beech and C.E. Mosseri-Marlio to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Sections 77 and 78. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN:1-900724-88-X 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. Foreword It is now more than 40 years since the first archaeological excavations in the United Arab Emirates were undertaken, at the island of Umm an-Nar, adjacent to Abu Dhabi. Those excavations, which began in 1959, led to the recognition of a previously unknown civilisation, and, during the decades that have followed, further excavations and studies by archaeological teams, both from the U.A.E. and from universities and other academic institutions from around the globe, have made discoveries that have placed this country firmly on the map, in terms of its contribution to world heritage and to the emergence of modern civilisation. Yet, despite those discoveries, we, the people of the United Arab Emirates, still know little of our past. While there have been papers presented at international conferences abroad, or published in international scientific journals, relatively little has been published in the U.A.E. itself, and even less in Arabic. Nor, despite the extensive amount of work that is undertaken in the U.A.E. every year, there has never before been a conference devoted specifically to the archaeology of this country. In recognition of that and inspired by the words of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, “a people that does not know its past can have neither present nor future,” the Zayed Centre for Heritage and History, organised the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, held in Abu Dhabi in April 2001. As the papers in this volume show, the conference was attended by many of the leading local and international archaeologists who have worked in the U.A.E. over the last 40 years. It would be impossible to present the whole of the country’s archaeological record in detail in one publication, or at a single conference. From this volume, however, a coherent picture emerges of the whole range of the archaeological heritage of the people of the U.A.E., from the Late Stone Age, over 7000 years ago, until the Late Islamic period. That picture also includes insights into the important cultural heritage of the Emirati people, who have interacted with countries throughout the world for thousands of years. Especially with the Arabian Peninsula. It is my hope that this volume will help not only the people of the Emirates, but also others, to gain an insight into that past. It is one of which we can rightly be proud. Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Deputy Prime Minister of the U.A.E. 5 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. Contents Foreword HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan 5 Introduction D.T. Potts 9 Overview B. de Cardi Is There a Future for the Emirates’ Past? 17 S. Blau Conscious Receivers: ADiscussion of Museums and the Construction of National 23 Identity in the U.A.E. Late Stone Age (Arabian Neolithic) H. Kiesewetter The Neolithic Population at Jebel Buhais 18: Remarks on Funerary Practices, 35 Palaeodemography and Palaeopathology E. Shepherd Popescu The Neolithic Settlement Sites on the Islands of Dalma and Marawah, U.A.E. 45 H. Kallweit Remarks on the Late Stone Age in the U.A.E. 55 V. Charpeniter From the Gulf to Hadramawt: Fluting and Plunging Processes in Arabia 65 M. Uerpmann The Dark Millennium: Remarks on the Final Stone Age in the Emirates and Oman 73 The Bronze Age S.A. Jasim The Third Millennium Culture in the Emirate of Sharjah 85 C. Velde Wadi Suq and Late Bronze Age on the Oman Peninsula 101 L. Weeks Prehistoric Metallurgy in the U.A.E.: Bronze Age – Iron Age Transitions 115 R. Carter Tracing Bronze Age Trade in the Arabian Gulf: Evidence for Way-stations of 123 the Merchants of Dilmun between Bahrain and the Northern Emirates S. Cleuziou Early Bronze Age Trade in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea: The Society behind 133 the Boats T. Vosmer The Naval Architecture of Early Bronze Age Reed-built Boats of the Arabian Sea 151 The Iron Age R. Boucharlat Iron Age Water-draining Galleries and the Iranian ‘Qana–t’ 161 J.M. Cordoba Villages of Shepherds in the Iron Age: The Evidence of Al Madam (AM1 173 Thuqaibah, Sharjah, U.A.E.) P. Magee Columned Halls, Power and Legitimisation in the Southeast Arabian Iron Age 181 6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. The Late Pre-Islamic period E. Haerinck Internationalisation and Business in Southeastern Arabia during the Late First 195 Century B.C./First Century.A.D.: Archaeological Evidence from ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, U.A.E.) P. De Paepe, K. Rutten, APetrographic, Chemical and Phytolith Analysis of Late Pre-Islamic Ceramics 207 L. Vrydaghs, E. Haerinck from Ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, U.A.E.) J. Elders The Nestorians in the Gulf: Just Passing Through? 229 P. Yule Amlah/Al Fuedah, A Cemetery of the Late Pre-Islamic Age in Al Zahirah 237 (Sultanate of Oman) The Islamic period S. Worrell and J. Price The Glass from Kush, Ra’s al-Khaimah, U.A.E. 247 T. and H. Sasaki Southeast Asian Ceramic Trade to the Arabian Gulf in the Islamic Period 253 G.R.D. King and P. Hellyer Islamic Archaeology in the Deep Sands of Abu Dhabi Emirate 263 D. Hull Sulphur Mines at Jebel Dhanna, Abu Dhabi: Preliminary Survey and Excavation 277 Results Environmental archaeology M. Beech The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: A Zooarchaeological Perspective 289 C.E. Mosseri-Marlio The Rat Remains from Kalba, U.A.E. 309 Synopses of papers presented at the conference H. Qandil Recent Discoveries at Jumeirah 318 M. Taha Excavations at Al Qusais 319 Index 321 Photographic acknowledgements 333 Other papers presented at the conference were as follows: P. Iddison The Archaeology of Food in the U.A.E. D. Kennet Recent Work at Kush, a Sasanian and Early Islamic Site at Ra’s al-Khaimah C. Philips Kalba-4, a Multi-period Site on the East Coast of the U.A.E. H-P Uerpmann Potential Origins of Stone Age Populations in Southeastern Arabia 7 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: A Zooarchaeological Perspective MARK BEECH (ABU DHABI) 289 ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: A Zooarchaeological Perspective MARK BEECH (ABU DHABI) Introduction and more substantial (T. Vosmer, pers. comm.). Larger net sinkers may have been used in conjunction with gill Fishing forms an important activity in many societies nets or beach seines; small examples may have been used throughout the world today and also played a significant in conjunction with casting nets or small beach seine nets. role in the life and subsistence of many prehistoric societies It is also possible that some were used as line sinkers to (Acheson 1981; Yesner 1980). For the coastal communities weigh down a line baited with a number of hooks. The of southeast Arabia fishing has always been an important interpretation and classification of small to medium sized economic activity. Marine resources undoubtedly made modified stones as net sinkers or line sinkers is thus an important dietary contribution to the inhabitants of this somewhat problematic. The general opinion seems to be region. The first part of this paper discusses the that ‘small size’ and ‘weight’ = ‘casting’ or ‘beach seine archaeological evidence for fishing equipment and traps.