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Alula archeology11/24/2023 ![]() “The fellowship aims to support the heritage of AlUla and establish it as a center of knowledge in the field of antiquities protection, and enhances the Kingdoms Institute’s position as a leading entity that implements innovative solutions and ideas in the field of heritage research, preservation and publicization.” Jose Ignacio Gallego, the RCU’s archaeology and heritage research executive director, said: “The international fellowship program will enhance knowledge transfer between international experts and trainees in a variety of specialized fields.” Training for field and administrative positions will be offered during the course of the program, which includes the study of artifacts and the preservation of archaeological monuments and key sites of interest. It is expected to strengthen the scientific and technology transfer partnership between the RCU and UNESCO. ![]() The program, in cooperation with archaeologists and heritage experts from the RCU’s Kingdoms Institute, is part of a four-month workshop in AlUla. The international fellowship program provides the opportunity to explore and learn about civilizations in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula. There is much more to come as we reveal the depth and breadth of the area's archaeological heritage," said Rebecca Foote, Director of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research for RCU.RIYADH: The Royal Commission for AlUla has announced the launch of an International Fellowship Program in the field of antiquities preservation in cooperation with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. ![]() "This article from RCU's work at AlUla establishes benchmarks. The researchers note that AlUla is a largely unexplored area located in a part of the world that has a fertile archaeological heritage of recognized global value. The AAKSAU team is led by researchers from the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia. ![]() The researchers expect more findings in future as a result of the massive survey from the air and on the ground, and multiple targeted excavations in the AlUla region undertaken by the AAKSAU and other teams, which are operating under the auspices of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). The fieldwork uncovered other noteworthy artifacts, including a leaf-shaped mother-of-pearl pendant at the volcanic uplands site and a carnelian bead found at the arid badlands site. Rock art found in the region indicates that the Neolithic inhabitants used dogs when hunting ibex, and other animals. The dog's bones were dated to between circa 42 BCE. The weathering patterns and superimpositions visible on this panel indicate a late Neolithic age for the engravings, within the date range of the burials at the recently excavated burial sites. This is the earliest evidence of a domesticated dog in the Arabian Peninsula by a margin of circa 1,000 years.Īn AlUla rock art panel shows two dogs hunting an ibex, surrounded by cattle. "AlUla is at a point where we're going to begin to realize how important it was to the development of mankind across the Middle East," said the AAKSAU director, Hugh Thomas. To have that kind of memory, that people may have known for hundreds of years where their kin were buried-that's unheard of in this period in this region," said Melissa Kennedy, assistant director of the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AAKSAU) - AlUla project. "What we are finding will revolutionize how we view periods like the Neolithic in the Middle East. The researchers found the dog's bones in a burial site that is one of the earliest monumental tombs identified in the Arabian Peninsula, roughly contemporary with such tombs already dated further north in the Levant.Įvidence shows the earliest use of the tomb was circa 4300 BCE and received burials for at least 600 years during the Neolithic-Chalcolithic era-an indication that the inhabitants may have had a shared memory of people, places and the connection between them. The discovery came from one of the projects in the large-scale archaeological surveys and excavations of the region commissioned by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU).
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