A detailed report, the first in a series of four, of two Anglo-Libyan projects carried out in the Fazzan region of southwest Libya. This volume outlines the history of the area, the work of Charles Daniels in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the most recent project directed by David Mattingly. The aims of the project are matched by the sections of this report and include syntheses of survey and excavation evidence for the geography, climate, hydrology and environment, as well as archaeological and historical data. Individual chapters also focus on the field-walking carried out from 1997 to 2000, the evidence for fortifications, settlements and domestic architecture, religious and funerary structures, irrigation technologies, rock art and inscriptions, ending with a summary of human activities in Fazzan from the palaeolithic to early modern period.