1. Archaeology and Early Islamic History Religion, Society and the State

2. An account of Muslim Origins The Prophetic biography (Sira) Problem of the earliest textual sources The rise of the Islamic state Was Mecca even Mecca?

3. The Revisionist Dilemma Is the Muslim narrative of origins true? When do we first see the Muslims as a unified group (umma)? Does the archaeological record give us something that texts do not?

4. Categories of Evidence Mecca and Medina Religious architecture/monuments Numismatics Inscriptions

7. Other Possible Roles for Archaeology and the Early History of Islam Studies of culture contact Transformations of the landscape The workings of empire and its institutions The break with late antiquity