John Dore UNESCO Libyan Valleys Papers

Field notes, correspondence, catalogues and drawings of finds, publication drafts, reports and press cuttings relating to John Dore's role in the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey (ULVS). Collection primarily pertains to John Dore's work on the project, which centred on ceramics. Further material from the project may be found in D54.

The collection includes records relating to the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Civilisation Project of 1979; the "ULVS Gazetteer of Sites" and the drafting of the monograph "Farming the Desert: The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey" and other papers.

The collection was accumulated by John Dore in the University of Newcastle and primarily pertains to his role as a ceramicist in the ULVS project. The material was transferred to the University of Leicester with the rest of the Society for Libyan Studies Archive in 2012.

1. UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey

2. Notebooks

3. Catalogues and Finds Records

4. Finds Note Cards

5. Gazetteer of Sites

6. "Farming the Desert: The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey"

7. Papers and Reports

8. Finds Drawings

9. Press Cuttings

10. Miscellaneous Documents

11. Photographic Slides

Available for general access

Please contact the BILNAS General Secretary on gensec@bilnas.org If you wish to consult the archive.

The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey (ULVS) was an inter-disciplinary archaeological project which, between 1979 and 1989, conducted fieldwork in Tripolitania (north-west Libya) in order to explore evidence of human exploitation and investigate the long-term relationships between settlement, land-use, and environment on the desert margins.

The Libyan government initiated the ULVS and goals were determined by Muammar Gaddafi who wished to determine whether modern farmers could exploit the resources of a dry and inhospitable area as had been done in the Roman era. In 1978, Gaddafi commented that "if archaeology is to be practices at all, then at least let it be relevant to the needs of the people today".

It was in this context that the Libyan Department of Antiquities approached UNESCO with the request to facilitate a series of collaborative archaeological projects within the pre-desert zone of northern Libya. From the outset, the project was seen as an interdisciplinary one. UNESCO approached the British Academy and John B. Ward Perkins proposed G.D.B. "Barri" Jones as one of two field directors for the project. Graeme Barker took on the role as the second field director due to his expertise in archaeological ground survey and in the analysis of past agricultural systems, which included previous work in Libya. Following the preliminary season, David Gilbertson joined as a third field director to co-ordinate the studies in geomorphology and palaeoecology and David Mattingly adopted a pivotal role in directing survey work and many of the excavations. John Dore of the University of Newcastle played a leading role as a ceramicist for the project, 1980 - 1989.

The Anglo-Libyan project was able to undertake the five seasons of fieldwork planned in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984 and a final season in 1989. The gap between the fourth and fifth season was prompted by a temporary break-off of diplomatic relations between Britain and Libya.

The survey culminated in the publication of Graeme Barker, David Gilbertson, Barri Jones and David Mattingly (eds.), "Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey", (London, 1996) in two volumes. These volumes represent the final reports of the multi-disciplinary surveys carried out between 1979 and 1989.

Sources:

Barker, Graeme, David Gilbertson, Barri Jones and David Mattingly (eds.), "Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey", (London, 1996);

Mattingly, David J., “Surveying the Desert: From the Libyan Valleys to Saharan Oases” in British School at Athens Studies 11 (2004): 163–176;

Stone, David L., (2000). Review of Graeme Barker, David Gilbertson, Barri Jones, and David Mattingly "Farming the Desert: the Unesco Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey" in Libyan Studies, 31, pp 145-147. doi:10.1017/S0263718900005367.

D54, the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey fonds, for material related to the ULVS project but not to Dore.