The winter of 1973-74 saw the extension of British archaeological activities to Qatar, an independent Arab state on the western shore of the Gulf to the east of Bahrain (FIG. 1). Surrounded on three sides by sea, Qatar’s inland borders lie with Saudi Arabia on the south-west and Abu Dhabi on the south-east. From the air Qatar appears to rise imperceptibly from the sea, its arid limestone plateaux stretching endlessly southward until they meet the high encroaching dunes from Saudi Arabia. Although generally flat the terrain is far from featureless and low cliffs, eroded mezas and dramatic gas flares add interest to the landscape in the west near Dukhan where the British Archaeological Expedition to Qatar was hospitably accommodated by the Qatar Petroleum Company.