What is ‘Islamic’ archaeology?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2015
The flight of Muhammad and his companions from Mecca to Medina in AD 622 (the hijra) initiated one of the world’s great intellectual and cultural movements, which in a few centuries was to extend from China to the Atlantic. As western archaeologists, we have probably accorded relative neglect to the study of the material culture arising from Islam, although it clearly has much to offer for the understanding of all societies. To help redress the balance, Antiquity has invited a number of scholars active in the archaeology of Islamic culture to give us a taste of work in progress. This special series, which will feature in each issue in 2005, is introduced by its convenor, Andrew Petersen.