Research project reconstructing historical environmental conditions in World Heritage landscape awarded flagship grant

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A project led by SoGE's Professor Dave Thomas has been awarded the flagship long-term grant of the Faya Research Grant Programme.

The three-year Faya Palaeolandscape Analysis and Spatio-Temporal Evolution (FAYA-PAST) project will establish the first comprehensive environmental framework for Jebel Faya, Sharjah, UAE across the past 200,000 years using satellite analysis, ground-penetrating radar, field survey, and advanced dating techniques.

By reconstructing how environmental conditions evolved across southeastern Arabia over time, the research aims to explain how early human populations adapted to extreme arid landscapes and dispersed beyond Africa.

The Faya Research Grant is a strategic initiative led by the Government of Sharjah, UAE, and administered by the Sharjah Archaeology Authority, supporting studies of the Faya Palaeolandscape.

"It is an honour to receive the major award from the Faya research programme. With my colleagues Professor Mohammed Ali of Khalifa University and Dr Julie Durcan at SoGE, I look forward to enhancing how we interpret the environmental context and development of the oldest known site of human occupation in Arabia, thereby strengthening the outstanding universal value of the Faya World Heritage property"

Prof. Dave Thomas

21 May 2026