New evidence for the Early Islamic landscape of Al Ain Fieldwalking and surface ceramics from Slemi, Jimi Region

The Early Islamic archaeology of Al Ain and neighbouring Buraimi is increasingly coming into focus following recent discoveries on both sides of the border. Key sites of this period include an arish settlement at Qattara, a mudbrick village found at Hamasa, and a mosque and falaj at Oud Al Toubah (Power et al. 2011; 2015; Al Tikriti et al. 2021). Slemi is located roughly in the middle of these sites and as such fills a gap in the Early Islamic landscape of Al Ain. A fieldwalking study, including the collection of surface ceramics enabling a full typological quantification, was undertaken in collaboration with students from UAE University. The assemblage indicated a 9th- to late 10th-/early 11th century occupation. Surface ceramics from Slemi likely represent an arish suburb of the nearby mudbrick settlement at Hamasa or else result from the manuring of open fields or palm groves in the Early Islamic landscape.

Nour Nasser Al Marzooqi, Peter Sheehan, Timothy Power, Malak Al Ajou