Muʿtariḍ Community Mall: more insights into the development of the hydraulic, agricultural, and funerary landscapes of al‑‘Ayn (UAE)

Abstract

Excavations carried out in 2023 for a major commercial construction project along the north-western edge of Muʿtariḍ Oasis produced important new evidence for the origins and development of the hydraulic, agricultural, and funerary landscapes of al‑‘Ayn.
The multi-period palimpsest presented by the site includes at least one monumental Umm an-Nār (2600–2000 BC) tomb, located nearly 10 km to the south of the nearest known parallels at Hīlī. The Bronze Age funerary landscape to which this tomb belongs is overlain by an extensive and complex Iron Age (1300–300 BC) field system, with a network of channels feeding coherent groups of tree pits and plots and providing further evidence of the scale, extent, and diversity of Iron Age agriculture in al‑‘Ayn. Deep sections provided by 4 m+ excavations for underground car parks immediately to the north and west of the preserved archaeological landscape have shown the relationship between the natural geomorphology of the site and the Iron Age hydraulic and agricultural systems.
The Iron Age agricultural landscape here is preserved beneath 1–2 m-deep deposits of wind-blown sand overlain by late Islamic earthen structures that were in turn abandoned and then buried by the formation of aeolian dunes. These structures include several walls forming part of a field system around the western edge of Muʿtariḍ Oasis, as well as more fragmentary remains of a fortified house or defensive tower and a well-preserved mosque.
Subsequent agreement between the developer and DCT (Department of Culture and Tourism) Abu Dhabi to preserve parts of these three key elements in situ within a 3000 m2 area of the plot provides a significant opportunity for future presentation of the site and increased public engagement with ongoing archaeological investigations by DCT Abu Dhabi into the development of the oasis landscape of al‑‘Ayn.