New insights into human occupation through rock art at Khatm al Melaha archaeological site (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)

This paper is an approach to the study and documentation of a quite large group of rock art boulders at Khatm al Melaha (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates). More than 150 decorated stone blocks, with almost 400 motifs, have been identified on a hill close to the Arabian Sea coast, highlighting its importance as a control point for communicating the coast and the hinterland. Although a domestic human occupation of the area has not yet been documented, the symbolic significance of this place is reinforced not only by rock art but also by the presence of several dry-stone tombs. Despite the limited studied area, our contribution outlines a preliminary approach to a previously very little studied territory, providing a local chrono-stylistic proposal for those figurative (humans, animals) and non-figurative (signs) engravings attending to different stylistic conventions, techniques, subject matters and varnish colour. Different digital documentation techniques (digital tracings, terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry, web mapping) have been applied in order to create an updated and accurate data corpus allowing future analysis. The ongoing research will try to find new evidence of symbolic occupation of the territory in relation to human settlements and their relationship within a wider landscape.