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2016
- handle: 10670/1.9b0zes
- halshs: halshs-03520224
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/ , info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Mots-clés
al-Kharj Saudi Arabia Bronze Age funerary practices landscape archaeology spatial analysisSujets proches
Rock-tombs Graves Sepulchers Vaults (Sepulchral) Memorial gardens (Cemeteries) Necropoles Churchyards Burial grounds Graves Necropoli Necropolises Memory gardens (Cemeteries) Graveyards Burying-grounds Necropoleis Memorial parks (Cemeteries)Citer ce document
Anaïs Chevalier et al., « The Bronze and Iron Age funerary landscape in central Arabia », HAL-SHS : archéologie, ID : 10670/1.9b0zes
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Résumé
Bronze and Iron Age tombs are a critical element in the archaeological landscape of the central Arabian oasis of al-Kharj. The Saudi-French archaeological Mission in al-Kharj identified seventeen necropolises on the ground, two of them comprising several hundred tombs. In the major necropolis at ʿAyn al-Ḍilaʿ, thirteen graves were excavated in 2013 and 2016, yielding data on the funerary practices and shedding light on chronological issues. This field approach was completed by remote-sensing analysis of the oasis of al-Kharj, which led to the geolocation of c.6,000 tumuli. Spatial analysis of these graves shows a distribution strongly dictated by proximity to building material and water sources as much as by land marking. The close proximity of the two main necropolises to palaeolakes raises the matter of the long-lasting activity of this hydrological feature in the area until the early Bronze Age, questioning the duration of the mid-Holocene humid phase in central Arabia. All in all, remote sensing and fieldwork provide us with an insight into the way of life, appropriation of land, and resources as well as the funerary practices of semi-mobile protohistoric populations.