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<\/a><\/p>\n18 May 2026 – Celebrating International Museum Day at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi – Top photo: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech and Avaneesh Rajan Khatavkar operate the PaleoLab inside the museum, where children and visitors can meet and engage with palaeontologists to talk about and touch real fossils. Bottom photo: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech measures a child against a leg bone (replica femur) of “Stan” our famous Tyrannosaurus rex<\/em>.<\/p>\n 6 February\u00a0 2026 – I was honoured to meet Professor Donald Johanson, the American palaeoanthropologist, when he visited the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, to be reunited with \u201cLucy\u201d. In 1974 he discovered \u201cLucy\u201d, also known as \u201cDinkinesh\u201d (Amharic: \u12f5\u1295\u1245 \u1290\u123d<\/span>,\u00a0<\/small>\u2018<\/span>you are marvellous<\/span>\u2018<\/span>),\u00a0Australopithecus afarensis,\u00a0<\/em>at Hadar in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia. \u201cLucy\u201d is a\u00a0 40 per cent complete skeleton of one of the most important early human ancestors. The famed 3.2-million-year-old fossil transformed our scientific understanding of humanity\u2019s origins. \u201cLucy\u201d is on temporary loan to the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi courtesy of the Ethiopia Heritage Authority.<\/p>\n 20 November 2025 – I was very honoured to give a VIP tour of the Late Miocene gallery (Abu Dhabi 7 million years ago) at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi to His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, and to His Excellency, Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism \u2013 Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 4 May 2025 – Giving a talk “Abu Dhabi 7 million years ago: a story told by fossils displayed in the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi” This talk<\/span> takes visitors on a journey back to around 7 million years ago when the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi emirate was a landscape covered with lush, subtropical forests and grasslands \u2013 similar to the East African savannahs of today and criss-crossed by a large river system. Herds of ancient elephants roamed this landscape leaving not only traces of their bones but also their footprints. Other animals included hipparions (ancient equids), giraffes, gazelle, hyenas, sabre-toothed cats, apes, ostriches and other birds, on land and, in the rivers, hippopotami, crocodiles, turtles and freshwater fish.<\/p>\n April 2025 – The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi (NHMAD) team is growing.<\/p>\n 15 February 2025 – Returning 31 years later to the Sir Bani Yas Church and Monastery – Pointing to a photograph of myself excavating at the site taken in February 1994.<\/p>\n 11 December 2024 – Heritage Middle East at the Abu Dhabi<\/p>\n National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), Abu Dhabi. Special photographs generated by the AI Photographic booth installed near the entrance to the exhibition – Self portrait as a Sheikh in the Abu Dhabi desert, and as a hunter of Tyrannosaurus rex<\/em> !<\/p>\n 20 November 2024 – I participated in the Majlis Fann by BMW series of talks at Abu Dhabi Art. I gave a talk about Palaeontology in the UAE, and then Dr Richard Cuttler, Dr Michele Degli Esposti and Federico Borgi gave talks about Archaeology in the UAE.<\/p>\n 6 November 2024 – Visiting Gobekli Tepe as part of the World Neolithic Congress which took place in Sanliurfa, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey.<\/p>\n 6 October 2024 – Attending the 2nd<\/sup> International Council for Archaeozoology Medieval Working Group meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria<\/p>\n 23 July 2024 – Man on the Moon – Visiting the Sharjah Center for Astronomy & Space Sciences<\/p>\n 1 May 2024 – I gave a lecture entitled \u201cA Thousand and One Fossils: A Lecture on the History of Abu Dhabi\u201d at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in the Inspire: Cultural Programme \u2013 Venue: Lifestyle Corner \u2013 Hall 9; Wednesday 1st May 2024 at 5:00 pm. This was linked to the publication of the book: Bibi, F., A. Hill and M. Beech. 2017. A Thousand and One Fossils \u2013 Discoveries in the Desert at Al Gharbia<\/em>. Yale University Publications in Anthropology and Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority. ISBN 978-1933789071. 4 March 2024 – I gave a talk at the Abu Dhabi Culture Summit 2024 in a session called “Culture and Climate Change” held in the Manarat Al Saadiyat Auditorium from 17:35-18:05PM. The session was moderated by Bastien Varoutsikos (Director of Strategic Development, ALIPH Foundation) and also featured Teresa Patricio (President, ICOMOS).<\/p>\n 22 February 2024 – I talked about the forthcoming Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 22 February 2024 – I showed some of the Late Miocene Baynunah\u00a0Formation fossils which will be displayed in the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 22 February 2024 – I showed where\u00a0 Late Miocene Baynunah Formation fossil sites are located within the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi emirate.<\/p>\n 22 February 2024 – I gave a talk on Ancient Abu Dhabi at the SeaWorld Science Talks at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi on Yas Island. This was entitled:\u00a0 From Ancient Seas to when Elephants Walked in Abu Dhabi \u2013 what fossils tell us about the historic environments of the UAE. <\/em>You can see this talk on the YouTube SeaWorld Science Talks channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n 11 February 2024 – Visited the Georgia National Museum to see their fantastic exhibition of “Stone Age Georgia” which included their atrium of hominin replica skulls.<\/p>\n 1 December 2023 – Enjoying a cold week in Paris where I gave a seminar and took part in a PhD examination committee at the Sorbonne University, and visited the Mus\u00e9um National d’Histoire Naturelle, Mus\u00e9e de l’Homme and Institut du Monde Arabe.<\/p>\n 10 November 2023 – Attending the opening of the Sir Bani Yas Visitor Centre at the Church-Monastery site on Sir Bani Yas Island.<\/p>\n 14 September 2023 – Attending the World Archaeology Summit, held at the Maraya Concert Hall, the World’s Largest Mirrored Building,\u00a0 at AlUla in Saudi Arabia. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 10 September 2023 – Celebrating my 60th Birthday in Abu Dhabi<\/p>\n 1 September 2023 – visiting “Horridus”, the Triceratops horridus<\/em> skeleton at the Melbourne Museum in Australia. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2 February 2023 – Checking out a dinosaur bone at the Field Museum, Chicago, USA. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 14 November 2022 – His Excellency Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, together with Dr Mark Jonathan Beech at the Fifth Anniversary Gala Dinner at Louvre Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 25 August 2022 – Attending the ICOM 2022 Congress<\/a> in Prague, Czech Republic as a member of the delegation from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n 17 June 2019 – On the afternoon of Monday 17th June 2019 we had the honour of a visit to the Sir Bani Yas Church and Monastery from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Rulers\u2019s Representative in Al Dhafra, and his two sons, HH Sheikh Hazza bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Yas bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They were accompanied by Sultan Khalfan Al Rumaithi, Undersecretary of the Ruler\u2019s Court in Al Dhafra, Ahmed Matar Al Dhaheri, Director of the Ruler\u2019s Representative Office in Dhafrah Region and HE Mohammed Ali Al Shadi Al Mansouri, Director General of the Al Dhafra Municipality.\u00a0 This visit was following the completion of conservation and enhancement work carried out at the site by the Department of Culture and Tourism.<\/p>\n 7 June 2019 – Participated in the conference, Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas (ASWA) \u2013 Barcelona, Spain \u2013 3-7 June 2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 15 December 2018 – H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the United Arab Emirates, declared 2019 as the Year of Tolerance<\/b>.<\/p>\n His Highness Sheikh\u00a0Mohammed bin Zayed\u00a0Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, posted on his Instagram account a photograph of myself showing to the Christian Bishops of the Gulf some of the pieces of decorated plaster stucco discovered at the Church and Monastery on Sir Bani Yas Island. This photograph was taken during the visit made by\u00a0Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the former UAE Minister of State for Tolerance, and the Christian Bishops of the Gulf to Sir Bani Yas on 17 January 2017.<\/p>\n 22 November 2018 – Third International Conference on the Archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula (The Neolithic in Arabia) – 20-22 November 2018, held at Kuwait National Library, Kuwait City, Kuwait.<\/p>\n 28 February 2018 – On Wednesday 28th February 2018 we had a visit to the Marawah MR11 excavations from a team from the Zayed National Museum (Noura Al Moubarak and Emma Thompson) accompanied by Peter Magee (Head of Archaeology at the Historic Environment Department at the Department of Culture and Tourism).<\/p>\n Here is a nice selfy of the MR11 archaeological team plus visitors. In a clockwise direction from the giant selfy stick holder:\u00a0Howell Magnus Roberts<\/a>,\u00a0Alan Sartori<\/a>,\u00a0Richard Cuttler<\/a>,\u00a0Kirk Roberts<\/a>, Samander Khan,\u00a0Zahir Khan<\/a>, Abdulla Jalil Muhammad, John Martin,\u00a0Mark Jonathan Beech<\/a>, Rashid Ali,\u00a0Peter Spencer<\/a>, Peter Magee,\u00a0Emma Thompson<\/a>, and Noura Al Mubarak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Macron points to the Marawah Ubaid vase as our Chairman, HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak (Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism) explains about our recent excavations on Marawah Island.<\/p>\n 25 October 2017 – Top officials of Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi inspect progress of archaeological excavations on Marawah Island (Photo credit: WAM Emirates Press Agency). From left to right: HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Dr Mark Jonathan Beech, HE Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Rita Aoun-Abdo, Professor Peter Magee, Dr Richard Cuttler, Abdulla Khalfan Al Kaabi, Unknown, Dr Olivier Brunet and Abdulla Ghanam bin Kadas Al Rumaithi.<\/p>\n 20 September 2017 – Opening of the Memories of a Journey Hajj Exhibition at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – Dr Mark Beech stands in front of the showcase which exhibits nine pieces of decorated plaster stucco from the Sir Bani Yas Church (Photo credit: Dr Richard Cuttler)<\/p>\n 17 January 2017 – Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of State for Tolerance, and the Christian Bishops of the Gulf come to visit the Sir Bani Yas Church and Monastery (Photo credit: WAM Emirates News Agency)<\/p>\n 2017 – I make a new friend at the Al Ain Camel Market (Photo credit: Sonia O’Connor)<\/p>\n 15 September 2016 – His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, gives Pope Francis a photo book of archaeological findings on Sir Bani Yas Island. I helped to prepare this special book about Sir Bani Yas and the Church of the East<\/a>. It featured details of our excavations of the church and monastery on Sir Bani Yas Island, as well as showing some of the plaster stucco decoration with crosses found at the church (Photo credit: WAM).<\/p>\n 1 June 2016 – Dr Mark Beech (standing) and Dr Khalid Al Bloshi (sitting) present an overview of the geological history of Abu Dhabi at the Multaqa series of talks for the Zayed National Museum, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (Photograph by Dr Sarina Wakefield)<\/p>\n 1 June 2016 – Dr Mark Beech carefully installs the 7 million-year-old Late Miocene crocodile skull from Gerain Al Aysh into the showcase at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (Photograph by Alison Kelly, ZNM)<\/p>\n April 2016 – Dr Mark Beech gives training to NYUAD students in the use of Leica GS14 differential GPS surveying equipment at the Neolithic Ubaid-related settlement on Dalma Island. This was part of a fieldwork trip to investigate the heritage of Dalma Island, planned by Dhakira – the Center for Heritage Studies in the UAE, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), together with the Historic Environment Department from the then Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) (Source: Professor Robert Parthesius<\/a> – Dhakira Center for Heritage Studies in the UAE<\/a>, NYUAD).<\/p>\n 11 February 2016 – The Late Stone Age Neolithic coastal settlement of MR11 on Marawah Island.<\/p>\n 8 December 2015 – Viewing the 15,000-year-old woolly mammoth skeleton exhibited at Marina Mall. Standing tall at four metres and weighing one tonne, the genuine fossil was discovered in the late 1990’s on the banks of the Irtysh River in Siberia (Photo credit: Delores Johnson, The National) – for more info<\/a>.<\/p>\n 10 September 2014 – Sir Bani Yas church and monastery with the old former TDIC shelter over the church.<\/p>\n 10 August 2014 – <\/span>View of Stanage Edge in the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. Dry stone walls, sheep, and purple heathe<\/span>r.<\/span><\/p>\n 2011 – Sitting in Faisal Al Nuaimi’s tent in northern Qatar with his falcon.<\/p>\n 2007 – I enter the Grand Tomb at the Hili Archaeological Park, whilst a french archaeologist looks on…<\/p>\n 29 September 1995 – Attending the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) Bird Remains Working Group Conference at the University of Southampton, UK.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1994 – Excavating animal bones at the 7th-8th century Church and Monastery belonging to the Church of the East on Sir Bani Yas Island, Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi emirate.<\/p>\n 1989 – Riding on a camel in the Pabbi Hills, Punjab province, Pakistan, whilst working on the Early Man in Pakistan research project.<\/span><\/p>\n 1985 – My first job after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology (University College London) was working as an Archaeozoologist in the Ancient Monuments Laboratory, English Heritage headquarters building, Fortress House,\u00a0 Saville Row, London. Here I am entering animal bone data into a very primitive IBM PC computer! The late Beverley Meddens is advising me.<\/p>\n 1984 – excavating lithics scatters at Boxgrove in Sussex, UK (Photograph courtesy of Duncan Lees).\u00a0 I am the one in the stripy tshirt! The Palaeolithic site of Boxgrove in the UK is one of Europe\u2019s most significant prehistoric archaeological locations. Dating to around 480,000 years ago, Boxgrove has yielded well-preserved evidence of Britain’s earliest human remains (Homo heidelbergensis<\/em>),\u00a0 including fossilized bones, such as a partial human tibia and two teeth, as well as remarkably preserved Acheulean stone tools, and butchered animal bones. The famous Horse Butchery Site provides rare evidence of a group of early humans processing a large horse, revealing sophisticated hunting, tool-making, butchery and food processing behaviour.\u00a0 These finds provide crucial insights into the behavior, technology, and environment of early humans in northern Europe. Boxgrove\u2019s exceptional preservation allows researchers to reconstruct ancient landscapes, hunting practices, and tool-making techniques, making it a key reference point for understanding human evolution and adaptation during the Lower Palaeolithic period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 18 May 2026 – Celebrating International Museum Day at the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi – Top photo: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech and Avaneesh Rajan Khatavkar operate the PaleoLab inside the museum, where children and visitors can meet and engage with palaeontologists to talk about and touch real fossils. Bottom photo: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech … Continue reading Gallery<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n
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\nSpeaker: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech (Scientific Research Lead, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi)<\/p>\n
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\n22 January 2025 – From left to right: Dr Mark Jonathan Beech (Scientific Research Lead, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi) and Dr Luca Bellucci (Curator – Palaeontology, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi) examine a Stegotetrabelodon emiratus<\/em> adult femur discovered at Umm Al-Ishtan in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi emirate.<\/p>\n
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\nhttp:\/\/yalebooks.com\/book\/9781933789071\/thousand-and-one-fossils<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n22 February 2024 – I gave a talk on Ancient Abu Dhabi at the SeaWorld Science Talks at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi on Yas Island.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n23 March 2022 – Link to interview on Twitter about the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi (NHMAD)<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n2019 – Source:\u00a0 DCT 2019: Archaeological Discoveries: Marawah Island (page 120), Ghagha Island (page 121) and Hudayriat Island (page 122). In: 2019 Annual Report \u2013 Volume 1 \u2013 Culture.\u00a0 Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi). ==><\/a><\/p>\n
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\n8 November 2017 – Official opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi. From left to right: His Highness Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces), Manuel Rabate (Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi), Emmanuel Macron (President of France), Jean-Luc Martinez (President of the Louvre Paris), HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak (Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism), & Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron (Photo credit: WAM Emirates Press Agency).<\/p>\n
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\n1 June 2016 – At the end of the Multaqa lecture at Manarat Al Saadiyat. From left to right: Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Kaabi, Dr Khalid Al Bloshi, Dr Mark Beech, Rita Aoun-Abdo (Executive Director – Culture Sector), Amal Daiban, Salama Al Shamsi (Project Curator – Zayed National Museum), His Excellency Saif Saeed bin Ghobash (Director-General of TCA Abu Dhabi), and others.<\/p>\n
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\n16 April 2016 – Dr Mark Beech explains the ongoing work at the Sir Bani Yas Island church and monastery to Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi (UAE State Minister for Tolerance), Mohammed Khalifa Al Mubarak (Chairman, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority), Dr Joseph Elders and Peter Hellyer (Courtesy: Ministry of State for Tolerance)<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>2014 – Discovering new Late Miocene Stegotetrabelodon emiratus<\/em> elephant bones at Umm Al-Ishtan, Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi emirate, UAE<\/span>, with Hamed Majid Al-Mansouri, Abdulla Khalfan Al Kaabi (front left to right) and Ahmed Abdulla ElHaj (back right).
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\n<\/a>May 2009 – Outside the Giant Panda enclosure at Beijing Zoo.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>2009 – Receiving the Sheikh Mubarak Bin Mohammed Natural History Prize for 2008 from H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. This is an award given by the Emirates Natural History Group in recognition of services to archaeology of the UAE.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>May 2003 – Photograph taken by Time Out Abu Dhabi magazine for a feature article on my work on palaeontology and archaeology in the UAE.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>18 September 1998 – Meeting HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove for the launch of the Regeneration Through Heritage website.<\/span>
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\n1988 – Playing guitar in Nikiup, Bulgaria. I was working on the Nicopolis-ad-Istrum archaeological excavations of a Roman, Late Roman and Byzantine city.<\/span><\/p>\n
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