BAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT
Season Reports
PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE 2022-23 SEASON
The Bat Archaeological Project (BAP) conducted its 2023 season of excavations and survey from 27 December 2022 - 4 March 2023. Our research concentrated on five specific areas: 1) archaeological excavations of Umm an-Nar period houses at Rakhat al-Madrh (رخـــــــــة ا لمـــــــــدره); excavations and mapping of Umm an-Nar
period and Iron Age architecture at the Khutm Settlement; 3) test excavations at Operation A, near the proposed site of the Bat Visitors Center; 4) geomorphological and geophysical analyses at Rakhat al-Madrh; and 5) an expanded arts outreach and experimental archaeology program to further engage the local community.
PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE 2021-22 SEASON
The Bat Archaeological Project (BAP) conducted its 2022 season of excavations and surveys from 26 December 2021 – 24 February 2022. Our research concentrated on five key areas: 1) archaeological excavation at the southeastern end of the Settlement Slope in Umm an-Nar mortuary and domestic contexts; 2) excavation of Umm an-Nar period houses at Rakhat al-Madrh; 3) systematic survey to better understand temporal relationships and artifact density between Bat’s different areas; 4) geomorphological analyses at Rakhat al-Madrh; and 5) an expanded arts outreach and experimental archaeology program to further engage the local community.
PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE 2019-20 SEASON
The Bat Archaeological Project conducted its 2020 season of excavations and survey from 4 December 2019 - 27 January 2020. Our research concentrated on three specific areas: 1) archaeological survey between the Bat towers and surrounding the proposed visitor’s center site; 2) excavations of Umm an-Nar period houses at the Settlement Slope and at Rakhat al-Madrh (Bat South); and 3) artifact and landscape analyses
PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE 2018-19 SEASON
The 2018-19 season was concerned with identifying the intensity and kinds of land use in the Bat site. The study area consisted of a 0.23 km2 space between the five main towers of Bat: Al-Rojoom, 1156, Al-Khafaji, Al-Ahliya, and Matariya. Thirty-nine transects were walked at 5 m intervals. All diagnostic finds were mapped and collected and a count of non-diagnostic finds kept for each transect. A total of 218 (180 previously undocumented) features were documented within the thirty-nine transects. The majority of identifiable feature types were walls, and the majority of artifacts represented belonged to the Bronze Age.
