Recipient Prof David Mattingly
Date 01 February, 2021
Amount £2997 (Pilot Project Award)
Summary The proposal seeks funding for a series of seven AMS radiocarbon dates as part of a larger project (which has had major funding from ERC and AHRC) on the archaeology of the Wadi Draa in southern Morocco.

The samples have been selected to fill gaps or add detail to a framework established by my earlier AMS dating programme. The broader objectives of the project are to date key Protohistoric socio-economic and technological developments in this part of the Sahara – oasis formation and the first agriculture and metallurgy – and to establish more accurate knowledge of the main stages of further oasis and urban expansion in the Medieval period.

The requested dates will form the basis of an article for Libyan Studies and will also help inform decisions about fieldwork targets in the next phase of work.