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Saudi Heritage Commission Announces New Archaeological Discoveries in Jurash

The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
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Saudi Heritage Commission Announces New Archaeological Discoveries in Jurash

The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA
The Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash in Saudi Arabia's Asir region. SPA

The Saudi Heritage Commission has announced its most prominent discovery in the archaeological site of Jurash, Asir region, the result of strenuous excavations taking place during its 15th season in 2023, nominating “Jurash Archaeological Site” as one of the most important archaeological sites in the south of the Kingdom.

The scientific team at the site revealed on Monday new architectural residential units whose walls were built with stones and clay.

The units are an extension of what was unveiled during archaeological excavations in previous seasons, specifically on the northern side of the site.

The Heritage Commission also announced the discovery of a new irrigation technology consisting of a well built using the method of stacked stones, connected to water channels built with two rows of stones with a channel between them for distributing water to the residential units, and other channels branching out from it that flow into water basins adjacent to the units.

Also discovered were stoves and terraces built of stones and clay.
A large number of stone tools for daily use were also found, in addition to a collection of beads made of fine stones.

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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
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Australia Bans Uranium Mining at Indigenous Site

A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows a sign at the Energy Resources Australia (ERA) Ranger Project Area in Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Northern Territory, Australia, July 11, 2024. (Reuters)

Australia moved Saturday to ban mining at one of the world's largest high-grade uranium deposits, highlighting the site's "enduring connection" to Indigenous Australians.

The Jabiluka deposit in northern Australia is surrounded by the heritage-listed Kakadu national park, a tropical expanse of gorges and waterfalls featured in the first "Crocodile Dundee" film.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the national park would be extended to include the Jabiluka site -- which has never been mined -- honoring the decades-long desires of the Mirrar people.

"They were seeking a guarantee that there would never be uranium mining on their land," Albanese told a crowd of Labor Party supporters in Sydney.

"This means there will never be mining at Jabiluka," he added.

Archaeologists discovered a buried trove of stone axes and tools near the Jabiluka site in 2017, which they dated at tens of thousands of years old.

The find was "proof of the extraordinary and enduring connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have had with our land", Albanese said.

"The Mirrar people have loved and cared for their land for more than 60,000 years.

"That beautiful part of Australia is home to some of the oldest rock art in the world," he added.

Discovered in the early 1970s, efforts to exploit the Jabiluka deposit have for decades been tied-up in legal wrangling between Indigenous custodians and mining companies.

It is one of the world's largest unexploited high-grade uranium deposits, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Rio Tinto-controlled company Energy Resources of Australia previously held mining leases at Jabiluka.

The conservation of Indigenous sites has come under intense scrutiny in Australia after mining company Rio Tinto blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in 2020.

Australia's conservative opposition has vowed to build nuclear power plants across the country if it wins the next election, overturning a 26-year nuclear ban.