Ancient iron objects from early Iron Age archaeological sites are almost always severely corroded, which can severely limit the possibilities for their archaeometallurgical analysis. In this paper, a range of corroded iron objects from different sites and regions of the ancient Near East are investigated with the purpose of developing an integrated scientific approach to the investigation of such materials, outlining the capabilities and major technical limitations of currently available techniques. Specific objectives of the research include: (1) Assessing the state of degradation of ancient ferrous objects in respect to the portion of remnant carburized areas preserved; (2) Identifying metallographic structures and evaluating the carbon content from the observation of remnant carburized areas; (3) Developing an understanding of the representativeness of remnant carburized areas in corroded ferrous samples; and (4) Exploring the validity and technical constraints of SEM-EDS analyses of slag inclusions in corroded iron artefacts for the determination of provenance.

The archaeological site of Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, presents a long sequence of persistent temporary human occupation on the northern edge of the Rub’ al-Khali desert. The site is located in active dune fields, and evidence for human activity is stratified within a deep sequence of natural dune deposits that reflect complex taphonomic processes of deposition, erosion and reworking. This study presents the results of a program of radiocarbon (¹⁴C) and thermoluminescence dating on deposits from Saruq al-Hadid, allied with studies of material remains, which are amalgamated with the results of earlier absolute dating studies provide a robust chronology for the use of the site from the Bronze Age to the Islamic period. The results of the dating program allow the various expressions of human activity at the site—ranging from subsistence activities such as hunting and herding, to multi-community ritual activities and large scale metallurgical extraction—to be better situated chronologically, and thus in relation to current debates regarding the development of late prehistoric and early historic societies in southeastern Arabia.

Recent excavations at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, have recovered more than 200 kg of ferrous remains from early Iron Age contexts dated to c. 1250-800 BCE, transforming our understanding of the scale of early iron use in southeastern Arabia. Many of these ferrous artefacts show typological parallels with contemporary objects from Luristan in western Iran, and the possibility of their long-distance import from this well-known iron producing and using region has long been recognized. The present study uses material from Saruq al-Hadid and the contemporary site of Muweilah to explore the provenance of the earliest iron from southeastern Arabia, by (i) summarizing the evidence for the iron resources and technology in the region and adjacent areas; and (ii) compositionally analysing iron ores, iron slags and slag inclusions in artefacts from Saruq al-Hadid and Muweilah, alongside Iron Age ferrous artefacts from Iran, using OM, SEM-EDS, XRF, ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS. Multivariate statistical analyses are used to explore these geochemical data, alongside a large dataset of ores and artefacts derived from existing geochemical and archaeological publications. The study identifies slag samples from Muweilah as originating from iron smithing activities, providing the first evidence for iron working of any kind in southeastern Arabia. Differences in the geochemical compositions of the material from Saruq al-Hadid and Muweilah and iron ores from the U.A.E. and Oman - particularly the distribution of rare earth elements - suggest that Iron Age ferrous artefacts from southeastern Arabia were not smelted from locally-available iron ores. Rather, the study demonstrates geochemical similarities between southeastern Arabian iron objects, contemporary objects from Luristan, and ores of the Sanandaj-Sirjan metallogenic belt of Iran, suggesting that iron may have been imported, at least partially as complete objects, from this region. Multiple source deposits are indicated, however, and the possible contribution of iron from other regions of ancient Western Asia and neighbouring regions remains to be further explored. The research provides critical new information regarding the long-distance exchange contacts of southeastern Arabia society during the floruit of the early Iron Age, in the late second and early first millennia BCE.

This paper presents an integrated approach to the identification of complex re-processing operations of ancient ferrous artefacts from the multi-period site of Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Spatial and morphological studies and a range of archaeometric analyses - optical microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, Micro-Raman spectroscopy, neutron tomography - are used to identify various processing markers preserved in these heavily corroded objects and to distinguish two groups of differently processed fragments. The main analytical focus is the investigation of corrosion layers preserving traces of hot oxidation and forging of metallic iron, along with re-heating of previously formed rust layers. The collected evidence suggests that the numerous iron artefacts ritually deposited of at the site in the early Iron Age were subsequently retrieved and re-forged into semi-products as a part of larger scheme of recycling operations, in which Saruq al-Hadid was a first node.

In September 2014, the University of New England (UNE), Australia, began a three-year programme of archaeological fieldwork and post-excavation analyses focused on the site of Saruq al-Hadid. In this paper, we present the initial results of our current field and laboratory research particularly related to site stratigraphy and formation processes, relative and absolute chronology, and the preliminary results of various programmes of post-excavation analyses including archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, ceramic and archaeometallurgical studies. These studies provide new data to build into the archaeological understanding of Saruq al-Hadid that has, to date, focused largely on intensive excavation.

In this paper, the authors use the site of Saruq al-Hadid – a ‘persistent temporary place’ located in the mobile dune fields of the north eastern edge of the Rub’ al-Khali desert – as a lens to focus discussion on the variable nature of temporary sites and mobile adaptations within the archaeology of southeastern Arabia, the relationships between temporary sites and permanent settlements, and the evidence for collective events and gatherings from later prehistory into the Islamic period. They discuss evolving arguments regarding sedentary and mobile sites and groups in Arabia from the Neolithic period to the Iron Age, and summarize the material record of human activity at Saruq al-Hadid. This research emphasizes the site’s changing significance as a temporary place and its emergence, in the early Iron Age, as a locus for periodic interaction between multiple community groups.