Stone extraction in Northwest Arabia, from the Iron Age to the early 20th century. New insights from Dadan (Saudi Arabia)

International audienceThe Iron Age site of Dadan, in north-west Arabia, lies in the valley of al-‘Ula, at the core of the Hejaz range. During the first millennium BC, it was a major political center as well as an important trade hub on the ‘incense road’ linking South-Arabia with Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia. Since 2019, a new Saudi French archaeological project, combining excavations and field survey, has been going at this site. As part of this project, a study of quarrying and stonecutting techniques was launched in February/March 2020.The site is composed of a large tell covering c. 8 ha, located at the foot of a sandstone massif forming a spectacular, 100 to 200 m high cliff. Both the cliff and the interior of the massif bear a very large amount of extraction traces spanning more than 3 millennia – from the Iron Age to the early 20th century, as shown by traces of extraction with explosives. A wide array of extraction techniques can be recognized (conch, vertical, underground, extensive) as well as spectacular rock-cut features.The study undertaken in 2020 deals with extraction at several scales and from different perspectives. A detailed analysis of the visible extraction traces makes it possible to draw comparisons between the different sites/quarries and investigate their relative or absolute chronology. By comparing the quarries with the excavated architectural remains, it is also possible to shed light on the whole work process, from the extraction of stones to their use in construction – and even their reuse, either at the site itself or in the neighboring Islamic “old town” of al-‘Ula