Monumentality, Social Memory and Territoriality in Neolithic-Chalcolithic Northwestern Arabia

During the 2018 and 2019 seasons of the AAKSA project, two recently looted burial structures were identified and recorded. Despite being heavily disturbed, excavations revealed these structures to be collective burials dating to the fifth and fourth millennium BC. In addition to significant skeletal material, evidence for funerary offerings, including jewelry and the remains of a dog were identified. The evidence recovered from these graves provides a new insight into the social and funerary landscapes of north-west Arabia during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, shedding light upon issues of social memory, territoriality and monumentality in the Middle Holocene of the Arabian Peninsula.