https://youtu.be/kUaSPa03WoM This Arcadia Foundation funded project (2015-2024) will record and make available information about archaeological sites and landscapes which are under threat across the Middle East and North Africa. The project is based in the Universities of Oxford, Leicester and Durham. The archaeological heritage of the Middle East and North Africa, which is of international significance for all periods, is under increasing threat from massive and sustained population explosion, agricultural development, urban expansion, warfare, and looting. The project will use aerial photography and satellite imagery to map unrecorded and endangered archaeological sites, to a uniform standard, and will evaluate and monitor their condition. The information provided will assist with the effective protection of these sites by the relevant authorities. The use of satellite and aerial imagery is especially important for those countries where access on the ground is currently either impossible or severely restricted (e.g. Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen). The Middle East and North Africa contains some of the best preserved archaeology anywhere in the world. It encompasses the great river valleys of Mesopotamia (the Tigris and Euphrates) and Egypt (the Nile), the Fertile Crescent, the Cradle of Civilization, the Holy Land, the fertile coastal lands of North Africa, the desert kingdoms of Arabia and the ancient cities of Iran. These archaeological zones are also some of the most vulnerable. The sites range in date from prehistory, through the earliest civilizations, including the Persian, Greek, Roman and Islamic empires, to the modern era. We estimate, from experience gained in Jordan, Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia, that a conservative estimate of the number of sites in ‘Arabia’ alone is in the region of 1.5 million. If this is then multiplied for the whole region, the total for the whole of the Middle East and North Africa could be as many as 3–5 million archaeological sites. Not all of these sites are currently endangered, but a significant percentage will be, and many more will come under threat. The vast majority of the sites are unrecorded and largely unknown to the relevant authorities in the countries concerned. Unlike much of western Europe where many of the sites have been ploughed, and some of the remains are buried and thus largely invisible beneath the soil, the sites in this region are (for the most part) visible on the surface and are made of stone or earth. However, the agents of destruction are much more devastating than just ploughing and are increasing: they include looting, urban expansion, road and infrastructure building and quarrying, bombing and shelling, as well as the surface clearance of immense areas for agricultural expansion, often leaving no trace of these significant sites. This project will provide the data to improve our understanding of the archaeology of the region, as well as the preservation, management and conservation of endangered archaeological sites from Iran to Mauretania, Syria to Egypt. The project is creating an open-access database to record the information about each site and its condition, in a user-friendly format. The information will be used improve the conservation of threatened sites and landscapes, and the project will create the tools and technology to access and disseminate this information rapidly. The aim is to create a network of well-trained staff (professional and voluntary) in the region, with the skills to record and manage sensitive archaeological sites and landscapes, to ensure that the cultural heritage will be better managed in the future. Director: Bill Finlayson OBE (University of Oxford)
Principal Investigator: Professor Andrew Wilson (University of Oxford)
Co-Investigators: Professor David Mattingly (Leicester University), Professor Graham Philip (Durham University)
