Settlement history in the eastern Rub al‐Khali: Preliminary Report of the Dubai Desert Survey (2006–2007)

Regional archaeological survey in desert areas of Dubai, U.A.E., has identified numerous archaeological sites in this rapidly changing landscape. Subsurface geophysical surveys have been undertaken in concert with surface collection and test excavation to document the extent and chronology of each site. Contrary to expectations that deserts were permanently abandoned following the end of the mid‐Holocene pluvial phase around 4000 BC, two sites, Al‐Ashoosh and Saruq al‐Hadid, show evidence of substantial occupation during the late third and early first millennia respectively. These findings suggest that the Rub al‐Khali supported human settlement much later than is generally thought, challenging traditional understandings of the region’s cultural and environmental histories.