Failaka
Dates of work: 13 March–24 April 2016
Team:
Program Directors: Prof. Piotr Bieliński, archaeologist (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw), Sultan Al-Duweish (Department of Antiquities and Museums of the State of Kuwait)
Field Director (Failaka Archaeological Research Project): Dr. Agnieszka Pieńkowska, archaeologist (PCMA)
Archaeologists and archaeological team support: Hamed Al-Mutairi, Mustafa Ansari, Talal Abdullah Shameri (Department of Antiquities and Museums of the State of Kuwait)
Archaeologists: Mateusz Iskra, Piotr Zakrzewski (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw), Dominika Majchrzak, Ewelina Mizak (independent), Jakub Kaniszewski (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw), Marek Truszkowski (PCMA), Łukasz Miechowicz (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
Topographer: Jolanta Juchniewicz (independent), Antoni Mrozowski (independent), Piotr Zakrzewski (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw)
Archaeologist/ceramologist: Marta Mierzejewska (PCMA)
Photographer: Adam Oleksiak (freelance)
Documentalist: Marek Puszkarski (PCMA)
Scuba divers: Magdalena Nowakowska, Szymon Lenarczyk, Anika Kamińska (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw)
Student-trainees: Anna Graczyk, Jakub Stępnik, Katarzyna Cieślak, Karol Ochnio
Excavation at the site of Kharaib el-Desht on Failaka Island, Kuwait, began in 2013 and continued in 2015 and 2016.. In the third season, work also encompassed the southeastern part of the site, Area 3, where the exploration of a stone structure was resumed. A fragment of a residential complex was also unearthed in this area. Test trenches, opened inside the stone structure and below the foundation level of the residential remains, confirmed the existence of an earlier phase, predating the Desht settlement.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our gratitude to the Kuwaiti National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, especially to the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums Dr. Sultan Al- Duweish. We are grateful to all the staff of the Department of Antiquities and Museums of the State of Kuwait, particularly to Dr. Hamed Al-Mutairi and Mr. Talal Al-Saie, for their active participation. All members of the Polish spring team greatly appreciate constant support and friendly advice of the General Director of the Kuwaiti–Polish Mission, Prof. Piotr Bieliński.
Text: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 26/1
Contact
Agnieszka Pieńkowska: a.pienkowska(at)uw.edu.pl