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Speakers and Programme 2024

AWAS 2024 brings together a roster of speakers from around the world to explore the theme of mobile communities
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Symposium Programme

The AlUla World Archaeology Symposium 2024 will begin with an opening address welcoming the audience and initiating Symposium proceedings. Dr Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani

The keynote address of AWAS 2024 provides introduces the archaeology of mobile communities as a discipline, featuring its key elements, the history of scholarship in this area and how the traces of mobile communities are investigated within different landscapes, with an emphasis on areas of global relevance. Dr Willeke Wendrich

An examination of approaches to mobile archaeology including key techniques and theoretical approaches for investigating the traces of mobile communities, including discussion of best practices and innovative methods. Dr Stefano Biagetti

In the following three presentations, speakers will present case studies on various aspects of the complex interactions of mobile communities with settled communities or other mobile communities and provide an overview of the key social, political and environmental elements driving these complex interactions.

  • 11:00-11:30: Mobile communities and liminal spaces, a sea of possibilities 
    The first presentation weighs the existing research on mobile communities and liminal zones, exploring how they played a role in boundaries and place-making of countries, empires and more. Prof Cyprian Broodbank
  • 11:30-12:00: How Cultural Interactions and the Exchange of Ideas between Mobile and Settled Communities Can Influence Landscapes and Placemaking 
    The second presentation explores the existing evidence of cultural interactions between mobile groups and settled communities, and how the exchange of knowledge and practices can result in more or less visible place-making and landscapes. Dr Wang Rui

Three presentations and the ensuing discussions assess various types of tangible evidence including building techniques, ceramics, metalwork and warfare, technological adaptations, and patterns in encampments location and organisation.

  • 13:30-14:00: Trade, Commerce and Exchange: The Economic Drivers of Mobile Livelihood 
    The session's first presentation provides insight into existing knowledge and evidence of trade and exchange between mobile groups and sedentary communities, and how this influenced livelihoods. Dr Valentina Azzarà
  • 14:00-14:30: Architecture and Artefacts: Material Culture as Evidence of Mobile Society 
    In the second presentation, the speaker focuses on the discovery and analysis of physical traces and built evidence of mobile communities, and what artefacts and architectural evidence can tell us about cultural interactions and exchanges of mobile groups. Dr Khalid Alasmari
  • 14:30-15:00: Movable Heritage and the Role of Museums 
    A look at the role of museums as the “final place” of the journey of archaeology from the trench onwards. Museums have shaped and are shaping both the discipline and our understandings of past and present cultures and communities. Dr Emma Haitengi

An opening presentation and two case-study discussions provide insight into the state of existing archaeological evidence of monumental efforts undertaken by mobile communities, including construction of funerary or ritual monuments or defensive features.

  • 15:30-16:00: Opening presentation 
    An introductory presentation by the moderator on “monumental” evidence related to otherwise “ephemeral” traces of mobile communities, including funerary or ritual monuments and defensive features, also in relation to settled communities and how both types of communities interact with such monumental structures. Mantshebi Matabane
  • 16:00-16:30: Traces of Mobile Communities in Desert Peripheries, Jordan 
    The speaker presents a case study from Jordan. Dr Wael Abu Azizeh
  • 16:30-17:00: Mustatils, Kites, and other Monumental Structures in Khaybar and AlUla 
    Over 1,600 Mustatils, characterised by low stone walls and open design, have been identified in the northern Arabian Peninsula through aerial surveys. This will be a joint case-study presentation from teams working in AlUla on Mustatils, Kites (large animal traps) and defensive features (the Khaybar Oasis wall, a shared resource for settled and mobile communities). Dr Melissa Kennedy, Dr Rémy Crassard

An introduction to the showing at Maraya of masterpieces from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN), along with time to view the exhibits.

An overview of the day ahead.

Presentation focuses on the importance of conservation and achieving a balance with touristic activation, with an eye on local communities and how the narrative of movement is included in all these processes. Peter DeBrine

This theme will be explored through a presentation and three workshops, as described below.

10:30-10:40: Introductory presentation 
An introduction on why it is important to build resilience in the field of the archaeology/heritage of movement, and how critical challenges, such as conflict, climate crisis, overtourism, and illicit trade, must be met with innovative solutions. From 10:40-12:30, the workshops will explore these elements in more depth through case studies and presentations from key participants from around the world. The session will be focused on listening, engagement, and knowledge exchange to devise best practices and solutions.

Workshop 1: The Legacies and Impact of Conflict and War on Mobile Communities, with a Special Focus on Recognising and Combatting Illicit Trade and Trafficking: 
Conflict and war create deep challenges for mobility patterns and archaeological site management and conservation. With a special focus on recognising and combatting illicit trade and trafficking, and employing a case studies approach, we discuss solutions and policies for mitigating this challenge. Ms Fionnuala Rogers, Mr Jonathan Wilson

Workshop 2: Climate Change, Natural Disasters and Mobility Patterns to the Modern Day 
Critical challenges, such as conflict, climate crisis, overtourism, and illicit trade, must be met with innovative solutions. The following workshops will explore these elements in more depth through case studies and presentations from participants from around the world. Dr Hans-Georg K Gebel, Dr Seke Katsamudanga

Workshop 3: Roles of the local/indigenous communities in modern-day liminal zones and their involvement (continued or lost) in cultural heritage sites.  
Many archaeological sites are found in remote areas where indigenous and local communities live. This workshop will consider how indigenous communities lost rights to their heritage through various means including colonialism, and the opportunities to decolonise archaeological heritage practices in site management, research, conservation and monitoring. Dr Edward Matenga, Mr Chris Polglase, Mr Andrew Hall

Three breakout groups corresponding to the workshops held in the previous session will discuss and align around an outcome for the Symposium – development of a set of principles, a toolkit and/or expert report on archaeology and mobile communities, and ways to create a network of experts on the topic, based on key points shared during the sessions and Symposium discussion overall. Delegates will then reconvene in Plenary Hall for the close of the Symposium, including feedback and recap.

RCU presents an overview of AlUla’s heritage and the latest archaeological research in AlUla and Khaybar.. Rebecca Foote

Closing remarks recap the Symposium’s discussion and key takeaways, describe the value of the Symposium and look ahead to the next iteration of AWAS with the Summit in 2025. Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani

The visit will involve a presentation of Jabal Ikmah, its inscription to the UNESCO Memory of the World register and aspects of site management.

Optional add-on tour of Khaybar or Tayma. Participants will visit one of these oases with Rawi guides and subject-matter experts, and discuss aspects of archaeology, conservation and site management

Frequently asked questions, and their answers

AWAS brings together a range of stakeholders working in the areas of archaeology and culture site management to host relevant discussions about important topics that impact the development and management of sites of archaeological importance and historical relevance. The inaugural AlUla World Archaeology Summit (AWAS 2023), organised by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and held from 13-15th September 2023, centred around the themes of Identity, Resilience, Ruinscapes, and Accessibility. In partnership with UNESCO, the World Bank, Saudi ICOMOS and others, the Summit brought together over 300 experts from around the world. AWAS 2023 established a new platform for open dialogue on archaeology and cultural heritage, while positioning AlUla and the Kingdom as the new gathering place for the archaeological and cultural heritage communities.

AWAS is distinctive from other global archaeology conferences in its focus on interdisciplinarity, strong connection to global contemporary challenges and the alternating format of the event each year. AWAS aims to broaden the field of archaeology to incorporate stakeholders from a range of practice areas, including anthropology, media, education, policy, government and more. AWAS expands the traditional platform for archaeology conferences by giving greater levels of voice and position to organisations and individuals from areas of the world typically underrepresented in international conferences.

Building on the momentum generated by the 2023 summit, in 2024 RCU is hosting the first AlUla World Archaeology Symposium (AWAS 2024), a more intimate gathering for deeper thematic academic conversations that will complement the upcoming Summit in 2025. The decision to host a Symposium aims to meet the requests of AWAS 2023 and members of the global expert community to offer a deeper dive on specific academic topics relating to archaeology.

Taking place in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, from 30-31st October, the Al Ula World Archaeology Symposium (AWAS 2024) will offer a smaller, issue-focused gathering of experts and practitioners, including international academics, researchers, scientists, cultural heritage practitioners, and others.

The AWAS 2024 programme involves a deep dive on topics relating to the archaeological study and understanding of mobile communities, along with conversations on the latest trends in this field and challenges that are globally applicable.

Participants will explore the dynamic interactions between mobile and settled communities, with experts discussing economic drivers, material culture, environmental adaptations, and the role of museums in preserving mobile heritage to discuss globally relevant research and best practice.

The programme will also include discussions on responsible conservation and adaptive heritage management, sustainable tourism, and the challenges of balancing various interests in archaeological sites.

Case studies from AlUla and around the world will be presented and discussed, ensuring that the agenda is relevant for participants from all geographies. 

The AlUla World Archaeology Symposium 2024 will centre on the theme of “Moving forward: past, present and future in the archaeology and heritage of mobile communities.”

Mobility has played a key role in shaping the world we live in. From prehistory onwards, people moved: to access opportunities, to improve living conditions, to explore, but also in response to environmental constraints, natural disaster, conflict, socio-political instability, and more. The ways, intensity, and means in which people move have left and continue to leave durable traces in the archaeological record, in the landscape, in the narrative associated with heritage places, and in people’s historical memory.

Studying the archaeology and heritage of mobile communities involves understanding the material evidence they leave behind, detecting their traces in the landscape, understanding their mobility patterns, the role and use of natural resources, the interactions with other mobile and settled communities, and the impact of mobility to their identity, beliefs, and habits.

The concept of mobility and mobile communities in relation to heritage can extend into exploring how travellers and tourists visiting heritage sites interact with the physical fabric of such sites, but also with the local and indigenous communities, the engagement of these communities in conservation and site management, and how narratives for heritage sites can be shaped, adapted, or distorted in response to contemporary mobility.

In a world where moving has become easier for many but not for all, a world that has experienced the implications of a sudden lack of mobility during the global COVID-19 pandemic, AWAS 2024 hopes to highlight those aspects of mobility and mobile communities that are often hidden, and to challenge traditional assumptions on past and present mobility.

Located 1,100 km from Riyadh in north-west Saudi Arabia, AlUla County covers more than 22,000km² and includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years to when the Lihyanite and Nabataean kingdoms reigned.

AlUla’s best-known site is Hegra with its monumental sandstone tombs. In 2008, UNESCO inscribed Hegra as Saudi Arabia’s first World Heritage Site.

Saudi Arabia created the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) in 2017 to regenerate the area as a destination for cultural and natural heritage.

In 2021 RCU launched the Journey Through Time masterplan, which set out a 15-year programme to develop the core historical area of AlUla responsibly and sustainably.

In 2022, UNWTO selected AlUla Old Town as one of the world’s Best Tourism Villages.

This July, Time magazine listed Dar Tantora eco-lodge and Sharaan Nature Reserve among the 100 Greatest Places in the World 2024