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Ailyn Agonia
DOHA
FINDINGS and accomplishments of the five-year archaeological project of Qatar Museums (QM) and German Archaeological Institute (GAI) in the southern part of Qatar and the project in the ancient city of Meroe in Sudan were presented at the Doha Fire Station Auditorium on Thursday.
Remains of human activities, artefacts and other findings during the ancient and pre-modern settlements in southern Qatar, particularly at Assaila Basin and Umm-al-Houl sites, were shared with the audience. The remains include porcelain, pottery, metal objects, glass bottles, coins and traces of trade and hunting activities. The findings were results of the South Qatar Survey Project (SQSP) that started in 2012.
"At several campsites artefacts of the modern period have been found such as coins and glass bottles which turned out to be of importance from cultural and archaeological perspective. Currencies point to the contact with other Arab countries like Lebanon, Saudi Arabia or Oman. Soft drink bottles of different brands appear in the 1950s and reflect the economic market.
"Interestingly the larger amount of bottles belonged to the 1970s. This could indicate the change in consumer behaviour that may reflect Qatar's economic boom after the proclamation of independence in 1971," according to Professor Ricardo Eichmann, first director of the Orient Department at the German Archaeological Institute, during his presentation of the findings of SQSP.
He also pointed out that among their conclusions is the diversity in the topography of southern Qatar representing different human activities and land use.
Alexandra Riedel, also from the German Archaelogical Institute, presented the works of Qatar Mission for the Pyramids of Sudan in Meroe (QMPS) that she has headed since 2015 as part of the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project. The project focused on the stabilisation and conservation of the Sudanese World Heritage site of Meroe-Bagrawiya.
Speaking on the occasion, Qatar Museums Acting Chief Archaeology Officer Ali al Kubaisi underscored the significance of cooperation between QM and GAI, in reconstructing the history of Qatar in order to understand how Qatar's inhabitants communicated and interacted throughout the millennia with the outside world. He also emphasised Qatar Museums' goal of supporting projects aimed at exploring and preserving cultural heritage worldwide.
He said,"The SQSP documented archaeological and heritage sites south of the Doha Dukhan road with the aim to assess the settlement history and land use in ancient and pre-modern Qatar, discovering in the process a wealth of evidence associated with wells, surrounding gardens, and early hunting areas in the southern part of the Qatar peninsula.
The German archaeologists also undertook, as in the case of the coastal settlement of Umm Al Houl, regular excavations, and delivered stunning results."
"This highly interdisciplinary research project brought together scholars from various disciplines. While the QMPS in Meroe, the 'flagship' of the 41 missions currently working under the umbrella of Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project and in close cooperation with the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, focused on the stabilisation and conservation of the Sudanese World Heritage site of Meroe-Bagrawiya with its dozens of pyramids, funerary temples and underground tombs," the official added.
