New Insights on Metallurgical and Ceremonial Activity During the Iron Age II in SAR53, Saruq Al-Hadid (Dubai, UAE)

The 2025 excavation of the SAR53 site within Saruq al-Hadid (Dubai, UAE), conducted by the Sanisera Archaeology Institute under the supervision of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, examined two areas of the site (Areas O and T) and identified activity dating to the Iron Age II. The principal phase, dated to the 9th–early 8th century BCE, combined copper production and the deliberate deposition of ritual objects within the same sector, where metalworking residues were recovered alongside snake figurines, serpentdecorated pottery, weaponry, and other symbolically charged items such as soft-stone vessels, jewellery, and shells bearing pigment. A later phase is associated with charcoal production linked to the supply of fuel for metallurgical processes. Previously interpreted as a peripheral fuel-supply zone for the neighbouring SAR7 sector, SAR53 instead emerges as a self-contained locus of the same practices, suggesting that the embedding of metallurgy within ceremonial life was not restricted to SAR7 but formed part of a broader pattern structuring Saruq al-Hadid as a whole.

Keywords: Saruq Al-Hadid, SAR53· Iron Age II, Copper Metallurgy, Ceremonial Activity, Snake Iconography, Charcoal Production, UAE