ABSTRACT
Despite decades of Saharan research and dramatically improved possibilities of access to remote areas in recent years, we remain woefully ill-informed about many aspects of the archaeology of the Sahara. There have been comparatively few large-scale projects with diachronic focus and employing interdisciplinary methods. 1 The purpose of this brief note is to draw the attention of a wider community of scholars to one such project and to illustrate the potential contribution of this sort of research. Set against a background of accelerating destruction and erosion of the cultural heritage of the Sahara, landscape archaeology has a major role to play in conservation efforts preserving by record if not always in physical terms. However, the window of opportunity for exploiting the full potential of what is currently preserved is closing fast, in the face of modern development, extractive industry, tourism, looting and poor understanding of the resource in regional government.
