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The "Works of the Old Men" in Arabia: Discovering a prehistoric landscape from the air … and from space

For over a century aerial archaeology has been in the vanguard of archaeological discovery and recording. Thanks to a unique twenty year programme of aerial reconnaissance in Jordan combined with the growing availability of high-resolution satellite imagery we can now thickly ‘populate’ with often novel archaeological sites one of the most inhospitable landscapes in the world – interior ‘Arabia’ from Syria to Yemen and in particular the volcanic lavafields.

About the speaker

David Kennedy, BA (Manc), D.Phil. (Oxon), FSA, FAHA, FRGS: Emeritus Professor University of Western Australia and Associate Member of the School of Archaeology, University of Oxford.

David's principal research focuses on the Roman Near East where he has conducted fieldwork since 1976 ranging from survey in the Southern Hauran (Jordan) and the hinterland of Jarash to excavation at Zeugma (Turkey). Of particular interest are the Roman army and military installations, landscape archaeology and Aerial Archaeology. The last of these has stimulated research on other periods from the Neolithic through the Umayyad to the Ottoman and British, on the archaeology of Saudi Arabia and on 19th century western exploration ‘east of Jordan’.

David was founder in 1978 of the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME), co-director of the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) project since 1997 and Affiliate and Co-Founder of the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project since 2015.

Recent publications include Gerasa and the Decapolis (2007), Settlement and Soldiers in the Roman Near East (2013) and an eBook, Kites in ‘Arabia’ (with R. Banks and P. Houghton) (2014). In progress are books on the Hinterland of Roman Philadelphia, the Umayyad Palace at Muwaqqar and Travel and Travellers East of Jordan in the 19th Century.

Tuesday, 14th November 2017, 7:30pm

PLEASE NOTE REVISED VENUE: Law Lecture Theatre First Floor Room 106 (Law)

Doors open 7pm, talk commences 7:30pm Cost: $5 donation (Free for Friends of the Library Members)

Media references

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