A first note on the excavations at UAQ38, a new Neolithic site in the Emirate of Umm al-Quwain

At the end of 2018, the first season of excavation was carried out at the shell midden site of UAQ38. The site occupies the top of a sand dune not far from UAQ36 and UAQ2, two other recently investigated Neolithic shell middens. Several well-stratified anthropogenic levels were excavated at UAQ38, which can be dated mainly to the 5th millennium BC, although the recorded artefacts suggest a possible older date for the lowest levels. Food waste, post-holes, fireplaces, and burnt shell dumpings attest to human activities that took place at the site over a rather long period of time. Here the stratigraphic sequence will be presented, together with a first overview of the artefactual assemblage. The collected data will be concisely discussed in order to fit the site within the typology of Neolithic settlements that can be proposed for the area. UAQ38 is so far the only Neolithic site along the northeastern coast of the UAE for which stratified charcoal is available for dating.     

About two seal-impressed jars from Tell Abraq (Emirate of Umm al-Quwain). New evidence for intercultural networks in the lower Arabian Gulf in the late 2nd – beginning of the 1st millennium BC

Ongoing excavations at Tell Abraq (Emirate of Umm al-Quwain, U.A.E.) are revealing new aspects of this multiperiod site, which was occupied from c. 2500 BC to 300 AD. Together with substantial architecture dated to the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, relevant assemblages of archaeological materials are being collected and dated to different phases of the site’s life. Among this material, exceptional is the discovery of two jars bearing the impression of two different cylinder seals, which will be presented here. Seal impressions on any media are extremely rare in the whole of south-eastern Arabia and strongly indicate a foreign provenance for the jars. Their iconographic study, the fabric and morphological parallels for the jars, and probable chronology will be discussed, as this can highlight transmarine connections during the late 2nd-first half of the 1st millennium BC, as well as provide new data to address chronological issues in south-eastern Iran itself.     

Audit Bodies: Embodied Participation,Disability Universalism,and Accessibility in India

Abstract: In this article we think critically about the role of the “access audit” in creating new forms of embodied participation, experiential and technical expertise, and imaginaries of what the modern Indian city should be. We analyze how disability activists make claims about the relationship between subjective bodily experiences and bodies of objective knowledge. We also explore the emergence of a professional access audit apparatus focused on technical standards. As neither volunteer nor professional access audits result in significant architectural or structural changes, we are interested in what other effects and affects these audits produce and what discursive authority claims of inaccessibility have. This article analyzes the practice of conducting “access audits” by lay and professional disability rights activists and organizations in urban India. We argue that access audits are overly focused and that they have limited impact. In overly focusing on physical and technical access, auditors miss the importance of programmatic and policy interventions as well as the need for a more collective contentious politics. Our research illustrates that the contested field of access auditing appears to prevent a unified disability coalition from forming. In addition, it is important for auditors to think critically about the concept of “access” and ask what social, economic, and political processes are embedded within the concept.     

Tales from the old guards: Bithnah Fort, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

This article examines the historical site of Bithnah fort, United Arab Emirates. Relevant historical sources were investigated, which highlighted the strategic importance of Bithnah's location in the Wadi Ham. A theoretical date was proposed for the site based on these historical references. The architectural features and material culture were combined with ethnographic information. This combination of sources allowed for a much clearer understanding of the fort's layout and interior use of space. It also provided a context for the village and agricultural space that surround the fortification of Bithnah.     

Australian-African relations 2002: Another look

Various recent developments and events in Africa, including the involvement in 2002 of the Prime Minister of Australia in Commonwealth initiatives in relation to Zimbabwe, have made it timely to review the nature and extent of Australia's relations with African countries. This commentary describes current Australian policies on Africa, including trade relations and aid programs, against the background of the political and economic situation in Africa in the new millennium. In conclusion, the comment is made that Australia's dealings with African countries might have more significance to its own interests than is generally acknowledged. This is so particularly in respect of common standpoints on multilateral trade issues, and the future of the British Commonwealth.