Bat Archaeological Project Report of the 2018-19 Season

The 2018-19 season was concerned with identifying the intensity and kinds of landuse in the Bat site. The study area consisted of a 0.23 km2 space between the five maintowers of Bat: Al-Rojoom, 1156, Al-Khafaji, Al-Ahliya, and Matariya. Thirty-ninetransects were walked at 5 m intervals. All diagnostic finds were mapped andcollected and a count of non-diagnostic finds kept for each transect. A total of 218(180 previously undocumented) features were documented within the thirty-ninetransects. The majority of identifiable feature types were walls, and the majority of artifactsrepresented belonged to the Bronze Age.There is a clear variation in the distributions of ceramics across the site. Many of the transectsindicate extensive use during the Umm an-Nar period. However, the transects aroundMatariya indicate use primarily during the early Umm an-Nar period and earlier; transectsbetween Rojoom and Khafaji indicate use during the Iron Age and later; and transectsbetween al-Ahliya and the Settlement Slope suggest use in the Pre-Modern period.Petrographic analysis of ceramics from the Bat to ‘Amlah areas show distinct changes both intime and in space. The ceramics from Bat South are the same as those from Bat, suggestingthat the people lived and/or worked closely together.The survey identified three areas for targeted excavation. These trenches focused on: (1)Hafit period mudbrick architecture east of Matariya tower; (2) intact Umm an-Nar depositsacross from the Settlement Slope; and (3) varying ancient topography in the center of the site.Future fieldwork will focus on understanding the relationship between settlement,subsistence, and sociopolitical organization in prehistoric Bat and its environs.Results of this research include: (1) presentation at the Seminar for Arabian Studies (July2019) and (2) three separate presentations at the American Schools of Oriental Researchconference (November 2019); (3) publication in the Proceedings of the Seminar for ArabianStudies (vol. 49); and (4) work on an article for Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy (TBD).