UNESCO/UCL International Expert Workshop: Maritime Silk Routes Serial Nomination

Start: May 30, 2017 09:00 AM
End: May 31, 2017 05:00 PM

Location: UCL Institute of Archaeology

A UNESCO/UCL international expert workshop on the serial nomination of the Maritime Silk Routes will be held at the UCL Institute of Archaeology on 30 & 31 May.

The UNESCO project is exploring potential approaches to the serial nomination of the Maritime Silk Routes. There has been much discussion of possible strategies for UNESCO World Heritage nominations of the impact of maritime trade on the cultures and civilizations of East, Southeast, South and Western Asia, often referred to as the Maritime Silk Routes. The goal is to bring together scholars who have worked on the history, archaeology, and heritage of maritime interactions across this vast area to discuss the strategy for such a project.

The workshop will explore issues of chronology, the changing nature of routes, impact, the surviving range of archaeological and built heritage, the role of land routes connecting ports with their hinterlands and production sites, the complexity of port cities, and the approaches to wrecks and cargoes.

The workshop hopes to start the process of defining strategies for further research and as a platform for engaging in dialogue with the State Parties along the routes. A draft working document will be circulated in advance of the meeting, to act as a platform for discussion.

Further details about the workshop will be posted in due course. Currently there are c. 40 participants expected to attend from Japan, Republic of Korea, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Iran, Abu Dhabi, Oman, and Tanzania and international scholars from Australia, Canada, France, and the UK.

Further information from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/1378/

Any enquiries about the event may be directed to Tim Williams.

UNESCO/UCL International Expert Workshop: Maritime Silk Routes Serial Nomination

A UNESCO/UCL international expert workshop on the serial nomination of the Maritime Silk Routes will be held at the Institute on 30 & 31 May.

The UNESCO project is exploring potential approaches to the serial nomination of the Maritime Silk Routes. There has been much discussion of possible strategies for UNESCO World Heritage nominations of the impact of maritime trade on the cultures and civilizations of East, Southeast, South and Western Asia, often referred to as the Maritime Silk Routes. The goal is to bring together scholars who have worked on the history, archaeology, and heritage of maritime interactions across this vast area to discuss the strategy for such a project.

The workshop will explore issues of chronology, the changing nature of routes, impact, the surviving range of archaeological and built heritage, the role of land routes connecting ports with their hinterlands and production sites, the complexity of port cities, and the approaches to wrecks and cargoes.

The workshop hopes to start the process of defining strategies for further research and as a platform for engaging in dialogue with the State Parties along the routes. A draft working document will be circulated in advance of the meeting, to act as a platform for discussion.

Further details about the workshop will be posted in due course. Currently there are c. 40 participants expected to attend from Japan, Republic of Korea, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Iran, Abu Dhabi, Oman, and Tanzania and international scholars from Australia, Canada, France, and the UK.

Start: May 30, 2017 09:00 AM
End: May 31, 2017 05:00 PM

Location: UCL Institute of Archaeology

Any enquiries about the event may be directed to Tim Williams.

For more information visit:

Expert Meeting on World Heritage Meeting of the Maritime Silk Routes (PDF from UNESCO website)

UNESCO – Silk Road: Dialogue, Diversity and Development

Bronze Age Trading Post found on Sir Bani Yas Island

ABU DHABI, 24th May, 2017 (WAM) — Excavations by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, TCA Abu Dhabi, archaeologists have revealed stunning evidence of a 4,000-year-old trading post on Sir Bani Yas island off Abu Dhabi’s coast. The excavations focused on a stone-constructed building at a site on the island’s south-west coast.

Inside the building a number of fragmentary large jars were found, which were made in Bahrain around 4,000 years ago and belong to a time when the UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, and south Asia were engaged in intensive maritime trade with the jars transported through the Arabian Gulf by ship.

Although fragments of pottery like these have been found before in the UAE, this is the first time that several complete examples have been discovered. Analysis of the artefacts is just beginning, but preliminary results indicate that pottery from Pakistan was also found. Bronze tools are also present, attesting to the important role that the UAE played in the export of copper to its Bronze Age neighbours. Along with the bronze tools is a well-preserved fish hook.

One of the most remarkable finds was a stamp seal, probably made from steatite. This is an example of a famous ‘Dilmun Stamp Seal’. Dilmun was the ancient name for Bahrain and adjoining regions, and merchants used these stamps to authorise shipments of goods around the Arabian Gulf. A few examples have been found before in the UAE, but this is the first Dilmun Stamp Seal to be discovered from the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.

TCA Abu Dhabi archaeologist Abdulla Khalfan Al Kaabi said, “The moment when we discovered the Dilmun Stamp Seal was very special. We immediately realised the important implications of this find. Holding this in our hands for the first time since a Bronze Age merchant had used it almost 4,000 years ago was a magical moment.”

The seal appears to show an animal and a human figure under the moon. The meaning of the seal is still a mystery but Al Kaabi and TCA Abu Dhabi colleague Ali Abdul Rahman Al Meqbali are researching it and comparing it to the other seals that have been found in the Arabian Gulf.

Together, the artefacts and the building indicate that Sir Bani Yas held an important position in Bronze Age maritime trade. This trade is well-documented from both ancient texts and archaeology and involved the exchange of copper from the Al Hajar mountains of the UAE and Oman, semi-precious materials from south Asia, and goods from Bahrain and Iraq. The trade relied upon ports and staging posts in which boats could stop, exchange goods, and replenish supplies. In many ways, these ports represent a pre-cursor to the Free Zones that are an important part of the UAE economy today.

Why Sir Bani Yas was particularly important in this trade is still being investigated, but there is a long history of occupation on the island, made possible, in part, by the presence of fresh water. Even in the comparatively recent past, the village of Zahir had palm gardens irrigated with well water. The island is also close to the mainland, so goods could be easily exchanged.

The finds from the excavation came from just one building and surface remains indicate that several other buildings may be located at the same site. TCA Abu Dhabi archaeologists are just beginning the analysis of material from this year, and they will present their results at an international conference at the British Museum this July. Other sites on the island, such as the early Christian monastery, are well-known. The Bronze Age site will now also feature as an important part of a heritage tourism trail planned for the island.

The results achieved thus far add another level to the remarkable history of Abu Dhabi, a history being revealed by on-going TCA Abu Dhabi excavations on the islands, the coast, and in the Al Ain region.

TCA Abu Dhabi archaeologist Ali Abdul Rahman Al Meqbali said, “I am proud to be involved in researching the prehistory of Abu Dhabi Emirate. Our recent excavation on Sir Bani Yas island has rewritten our knowledge of contacts with the Bronze Age civilisations of the Arabian Gulf and beyond.”

New species of Hippo discovered in Abu Dhabi

 


A new species of hippopotamus known as ‘Archaeopotamus qeshta’ has just been recognised and published by a group of palaeontologists working on the 6-8 million year old Late Miocene Baynunah geological formation, located in Al Dhafra, in the western region of Abu Dhabi emirate in the UAE.   This is a relatively small hippopotamus which had a moderate size of about 600 kg. Its mandibles are characterised by symphyses that are greatly elongated relative to their width. It has characteristic teeth and its small dimensions are confirmed by measurements to its metapodial and/or phalangeal dimensions.

Boisserie, J.-R., M. Schuster, M.J. Beech, A. Hill and F. Bibi. 2017. A new species of hippopotamine (Cetartiodactyla, Hippopotamidae) from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. PalaeoVertebrata 41-1-e2. doi: 10.18563/pv.41.1.e2