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The Kuwait-British Archaeological Expedition to as-Sabiyah: Report on the first season's work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Robert Carter ,
Harriet Crawford ,
Simeon Mellalieu  and
Dan Barrett
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Extract

The British Archaeological Expedition to Kuwait was formed in the spring of 1998 as the result of a visit to Kuwait by Harriet Crawford in November 1997. This visit took place at the invitation of the Director of the National Museum, Dr Fahad al Wohaibi. Several possible projects were discussed and permission was later granted by the Secretary-General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters for a preliminary survey by the Expedition, to be carried out jointly with a team from the National Museum of Kuwait, of the area known as as-Sabiyah at the north end of Kuwait bay (Fig. 1). The area had already been the subject of a preliminary study by Dr Fahad, who had identified one well-preserved site (H3) with both painted and plain Ubaid pottery on the surface. It was also agreed that the team should undertake exploratory work at this site. Dr Fahad's generosity in inviting a British team to work with him in the area was matched only by the kindness with which the Expedition was received in Kuwait. The achievements of the first season are due in large measure to the support offered to us by our colleagues in the National Museum and in the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters.

The objectives of the first season, which lasted for five weeks in October and November 1998, were as follows: to begin a detailed archaeological survey of the Jazirat Dubaij, a promontory within the Sabiyah area; to conduct a preliminary examination of the geomorphology of the area in order to establish the configuration of the shoreline at a period contemporary with the Ubaid-related site now known as H3; to contour this site; to undertake a surface collection of artefacts at H3; to confirm the presence of structures at the site and to establish the depth of deposit present. All these objectives were achieved.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 61 , 1999 , pp. 43 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1999

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