Seeing through the dunes

Abstract

Geophysical techniques have been developed and used in the investigation of archaeological sites predominantly in temperate climates in northern Europe and North America; relatively little geophysical work has been undertaken on sites in arid environments. This article presents a magnetometry survey of the Iron Age (ca. 1300–300 B.C.) site of Muweilah, United Arab Emirates and examines the problems specific to geophysical investigations in arid environments such as large mobile sand dunes. Initially, a background to the archaeology of the United Arab Emirates is provided with an emphasis on the significance of the site of Muweilah in the context of the Iron Age II (ca. 1100–600 B.C.) period in SE Arabia. This is followed by a discussion of the advantages of employing magnetometry on a site such as Muweilah. Having detailed the methods employed and the practical limitations experienced, the results of the magnetometry survey and subsequent test-excavations are provided. A number of positive and negative anomalies were recorded and investigated through excavation. The results indicate that Muweilah is a settlement of significant size. The methodological and archaeological implications of these results are discussed. In conclusion, we show how the results of the geophysical survey significantly augment the current understanding of the site of Muweilah and provide the foundations for future informed archaeological excavations.