I co-authored a publication on Plaster production in the Late-Seventh Millennium BCE. This was based on the excavation of a series of Neolithic plaster processing pit kilns located at site GHG0063 on Ghagha Island, close to the western border of the United Arab Emirates with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The published paper includes details of the associated finds, as well as analysis of the plaster ware sherds discovered at the site.

Al Hameli, N., Cuttler, R.T., Crassard, R., Lidour, K., Zaggia, C., Elfaki, A.A.,  Beech, M.J., Dingwall, L. and Magee, P.  2026. Plaster production in the Late-Seventh Millennium BCE:  the earliest Arabian Neolithic plaster processing pit kilns discovered on GHG0063, Ghagha Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 74, JASREP 105880. ISSN 2352-409X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105880

Abstract:
Excavations on the northern coast of Ghagha Island (UAE) revealed multiple stone lined pits within large deposits of ash and charcoal. Two further trenches to the south and west of the pits revealed the remains of domestic structures and a large quantity of artefacts. Preliminary evidence suggest that these structures are the ephemeral remains of plaster processing pit kilns. If so, these are the first of their kind to be discovered in the regional Neolithic, making GHG0063 the earliest plaster production site in the Arabian Neolithic. Radiocarbon dates place the activities associated with these pits within the latter half of the seventh millennium BCE. This is around two hundred years later than the earliest settlement site on Ghagha (GHG0014) but immediately predating the 8.2 ka BP event that regionally saw a shift from increased precipitation to a period of hyperaridity. This paper will detail the excavations and results from preliminary analyses to provide evidence for plaster production kilns on GHG0063.

Keywords: Lime; Pit kiln; Plaster wares; Projectile points; Neolithic; Arabian Gulf; Arabian Neolithic; Pyrotechnology; Plaster; Lithics

On the 1st June 2026 I celebrated the anniversary of my 20th year working for the Department of Culture and Tourism, and its predecesors (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority). Note: that is 15 years since the establishment of the combined Culture and Tourism Authority, hence the trophy and certificate stating “15 years”.

In actual fact, I have conducted palaeontological and archaeological fieldwork for 32 continuous years in Abu Dhabi emirate, since I began in 1994 on the archaeological excavations on Sir Bani Yas Island, where we discovered the  7th-8th-century CE Church and Monastery of the Church of the East. I  worked initially for the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) from 1994-2006, and moved to Abu Dhabi to work here permanently from October 2002 onwards. At the end of May 2006 the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIAS) became integrated into the newly created, at that time,  Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).

My first contract began on the 1st June 2006 for the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)  where I worked from 2006-2012 as Cultural Landscapes Manager in the Historic Environment Department. Our office was based in the Cultural Foundation and then in the ADACH former National Archives building in Abu Dhabi.

I then worked as Head of Coastal Heritage and Palaeontology in the Historic Environment Department for the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) from 2012-2018. Our office then moved to Nation Towers on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi.

In 2018 we became the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) and I became the Head of Archaeology: Al Dhafra and Abu Dhabi in the Historic Environment Department, which was a role I carried out up to 2023. I was for two years from 2023-2024 the Head of the Maritime and Palaeontology Unit in the same department, whilst in parallel I worked as Curatorial and Scientific Lead for the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi from 2021-2024.

From 2024-2025 I was appointed Scientific Research Lead in the Curatorial and Collections Management Section of the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.

On 15 October 2025 I was appointed Acting Geoscience Section Head in the Curatorial Department of the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.

All long serving employees were awarded with a trophy, certificate and gift voucher in Nation Towers, the headquarter’s building of the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi. It is nice to be recognised for all the hard work put in over the years for countless projects.  May there be many more years to come!