Ground-penetrating radar and magnetic survey of Saruq Al-Hadid, United Arab Emirates: Revealing archaeological features

Saruq Al-Hadid, situated in the southern part of the Emirate of Dubai, has been the focus of numerous excavation campaigns since 2002. These excavations have uncovered thousands of archaeological objects dating from the Umm Al-Nar period (2600–2000 BCE) to the Middle Islamic era. Despite these efforts, the majority of the Saruq Al-Hadid archaeological site remains unexplored. This study integrates high-resolution Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and magnetic data, coupled with topographic data, to identify and analyze possible archaeological features within the sand dunes, specifically at a site called SAR53. SAR53 site is characterized by thick sand covering, with the northeastern and southeastern parts having a maximum thickness of 7.57 m above the bedrock, gradually decreasing towards the central part to less than 1 m. Five main structures labeled A-E have been identified in the current study in the eastern, southern, and southwestern parts of SAR53. These linear structures, likely walls or channels, are oriented in N-S, NE-SW, and ESE-WNW directions and are located at varying depths ranging from 0.5 to 2 m below the ground surface. Moreover, a total of 462 anomalies with potential archaeological value have been identified from the GPR profiles. Several positive magnetic anomalies were found in SAR53, most aligning with the locations of the identified features from the GPR data. Furthermore, some reactivation surfaces bounding numerous depositional layers were interpreted, indicating changes in climate conditions such as wind direction and intensity, air humidity, rainfall amounts, and the presence of temporary water channels.