Team analyses archaeological sulphur mines

A fourth phase of archaeological investigations into a complex of sulphur mines at Jebel Dhanna, in Abu Dhabi's western region, has been completed by the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS, it was announced yesterday.

The investigations were carried out with the support of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, ADCO, and focused on the area that falls within the oil export terminal facilities of company.

The sulphur mines, the only ones of their type known anywhere in the UAE, were first recorded by ADIAS during a baseline study of the ADCO concession area in 1998. The second and third phases of study of the mines were carried out in 2000 and last year, and the recent work brings to an end the fieldwork component of the ADIAS study.

The recent fieldwork was directed by Daniel Hull, ADIAS's resident archaeologist, with the support of Stephen Rowland, an environmental archaeologist from York in the UK.

In all, 180 mine shafts have been recorded by ADIAS within the ADCO terminal area, some as deep as 10 or 12 metres into the hillside.

Many are also linked to underground chambers and tunnels, with domed roofs, ledges, ventilation and light holes and steps cut in the rock to allow access from above. Preliminary estimates suggest that as much as 1,500 cubic metres of rock may have been removed during the mining operations, with as much as 90 tonnes of sulphur being recovered.

The remains of a number of collapsed rock shelters and water catchment systems have also been recorded by the team, while environmental data has been recovered which will help provide an idea of what the lifestyle of the miners.

The team is now analysing the finds from the mines, and is also arranging for radiocarbon dating to be carried out on ash and charcoal recovered from the vicinity of some of the shafts. This will help to provide an idea of the date of the mining operations.

Pottery collected from around the mine sites is from the late Islamic period, 100 to 400 years ago. Historical research, however, has not yielded any references to the mining operations over the last couple of hundred years, and it seems, therefore, that the main phase of activity at Jebel Dhanna may have taken place 200 to 400 years ago.

A regional trade in sulphur is known from the late 17th and 18th centuries, with records of sulphur shipments being known from mines on the Iranian side of the Arabian Gulf.

Once the analysis of the finds is complete, ADIAS plans to prepare a publication on the Jebel Dhanna mines.

"We are delighted, once again, to be able to thank ADCO for their support for our work,"ADIAS Executive Director Peter Hellyer said.

"Since the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey was established in 1991, we have been able to count on ADCO for support, and we are particularly grateful for the facilities they have extended to us for research in the onshore oilfields and other parts of their area."

Welcoming the completion of the ADIAS fieldwork, ADCO General Manager Andre van Strijp commented: "Under the terms of its health, safety and environment, HSE, policy, ADCO is committed to the identification and preservation of the national heritage of the United Arab Emirates.

"In particular, it is an essential part of this policy that archaeological sites within the company's operational areas are protected and studied. We are delighted to have been able to work with ADIAS on the investigation of these sulphur mines, which are an important part of the industrial history of the UAE."

The Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey was established on the instructions of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1991, and operates under the patronage of Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It has so far recorded over 1,000 archaeological sites.