Al Da'asa ( ar, دعسة) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located on the western coast of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. It is the most extensive Ubaid site in the country. It was excavated by a Danish team in 1961. The site is theorized to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment, possibly a lodging for a hunting-fishing-gathering group who made recurrent visits. This is evidenced by the discovery of nearly sixty

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

s at the site, which may have been utilized to cure fish, in addition to flint tools such as scrapers, cutters, blades and arrow heads. Furthermore, many painted Ubaid potsherds and a

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used ...

bead were found in the fire pits, suggesting overseas connections. In the mid-1900s, after oil was discovered to the north in Jebel Dukhan, the industrial city of

Dukhan Dukhan ( ar, دخان) is a city in the western municipality of Al-Shahaniya in the State of Qatar. It is approximately west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency QatarEnergy and is the site of the first oi ...

was formed to provide infrastructure and services for workers of the Dukhan oil fields. A village was established at Al Da'asa for oil workers employed in Dukhan.

Etymology

According to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, the word 'Da'asa' is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

term used for

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s, being so named for an old footpath found here.

Archaeology

Discovery

Under the leadership of Danish

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

Holger Kapel, several flint sites in Qatar were excavated from 1960 to 1964. Al Da'asa was the largest of these sites, and was discovered in 1961. A number of highly weathered potsherds were collected from the site for analysis. Shortly after, the site was revealed to a British excavation team who identified the potsherds as originating from the

Ubaid period The Ubaid period (c. 6500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall and later by Leonard Wo ...

Excavations

In addition to the 1961 excavation led by Holger Kapel, the site was again excavated in 1978 by a team led by Beatrice De Cardi. Quern stone fragments, hearths and Ubaid pottery were discovered during the first excavation. A

bead and three fragments of red, non-Ubaid pottery, thought to originate from the Arabian coast, were also among the discoveries.

Occupation

Al Da'asa's residents are thought to have comprised fishermen or merchants from Ur. However, the stone tools uncovered are consistent with tools used elsewhere in Arabia during the Ubaid period and bear no resemblance to the tools used in southern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

Posthole In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide; however, truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive, most ...

s, meant for tents or huts, were noticed by the excavators. The mass number of

s suggest mass activity took place during its occupational period, and may be attributed to a relatively sizable population in which each family cooked in a separate fire pit.Abdul Nayeem (1998). p. 118 Another possibility is that the hearths were made to cure and dry large amounts of fish.

Recent history

A village was established here in 1956 to provide housing for oil workers employed in the

industrial city. By 1990, the house had around 70 households. Aside from the oil industry, some of its inhabitants made their living from fishing and selling their catch in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

References

{{Archaeological sites in Qatar Archaeological sites in Qatar Ubaid period Al-Shahaniya