Renewed excavations at Tell Abraq, Umm al-Quwain, 2019–2020 — insights into the site’s occupation from the mid-second millennium BC to the late pre-Islamic period
Keywords:
South East Arabia, Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Tell Abraq, UAE archaeologyAbstract
In late 2019, stratigraphic excavations were restarted in the eastern part of Tell Abraq, a multi-period site located immediately south of the capital town of Umm al-Quwain and divided between its Emirate and the Emirate of Sharjah. The site is known to have hosted continued human occupation between c.2500 BC and AD 300; within this wide range, the new research project aims specifically to focus on the Late Bronze Age/Iron Age I transition and possibly on the late pre-Islamic occupation of the site. During the first evaluation season in 2019 and more extensive excavation in 2020, relevant stratigraphic sequences were studied and a substantial building preliminarily dated to the early first millennium BC was discovered, which changes the picture of this phase of the site’s occupation. The first overview of these results is provided here.
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