Khaybar through time. First results of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project (2020−2021) in the light of historical sources
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2022
- handle: 10670/1.rzs2ch
- hal: hal-03974134
Mots-clés
Khaybar Hijaz Oasis Prehistory Historical periodsSujets proches
Prehistoric antiquities Prehistory Prehistoric archaeology Early man Prehistoric human beings Cavemen (Prehistoric peoples) Prehistoric humans Man, Prehistoric Prehistory Prehistoric archaeology Archeology archeologyCiter ce document
Guillaume Charloux et al., « Khaybar through time. First results of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project (2020−2021) in the light of historical sources », HAL-SHS : archéologie, ID : 10670/1.rzs2ch
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The Khaybar oasis is a cultural landscape that has been shaped over thousands of years by human occupation and wherecommunities continue to live to the present day. It lies on the edge of a large lava field called Ḥarrat Khaybar in north-west SaudiArabia and combines unique geology, rich archaeology, and spectacular traditional heritage. It has been preserved for millennia,and human presence seems to have been continuous from the earliest prehistoric times to the birth of Islam and beyond.This article presents a preliminary general assessment of the archaeology of this major Arabian oasis. It aims to introduce theobjectives and methods of our new survey and excavation project, the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project (2020–2024),supported by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA), and the FrenchCentre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It also highlights the preliminary results of field surveys carried out inside the RCU oasiscore zone in Khaybar in November 2020 and June 2021. The project yielded important discoveries in its first seasons of activity,such as the presence of Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupations, the identification of specific patterns of local desert kites, the firstanalyses of protohistoric funerary structures, the discovery of a monumental pre-Islamic outer wall that surrounded the oasisin the past, new pre-Islamic and Islamic sites, as well as a significant number of inscriptions and rock art from different periodsand traditions.