A FREE talk about the histories of ancient Africa and Asia will take place at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, next Wednesday.

Prof Michael Petraglia, co-director of the Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art, and Culture at the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow of Linacre College, will discuss how satellite images have revealed locations of ancient rivers and lakes in Arabia.

The work indicates that Arabia may have been a central crossroads between early Asian and African cultures.

Prof Petraglia’s talk will take place in the MBI Al Jaber building at the college in Merton Street, starting at 5.30pm.

Mashael Al Jaber, of MBI Al Jaber Foundation, said: “This lecture provides the chance to change perceptions of prehistory of the region, and highlight the role it played in supporting the common ancestors of Europeans and Arabs alike.”