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