The Impact of Human and Natural Threats on the Archaeological Landscape of the Western part of Jalan, Sultanate of Oman..pdf (original) (raw)
Related papers
A Multitude of Monuments: Finding and defending access to resources in 3rd Millennium BC Oman
2012
How do different types of monuments and different monumental forms express social realities and inform larger social patterns? This dissertation research adds to this discussion from the perspective of the region best known for its ancient monuments: the Middle East. Known to its neighbors as the land of “Magan,” the Oman Peninsula in the third millennium BC was the location of a dispersed yet well-integrated cultural tradition known as the Umm an-Nar. The people of Magan were trade partners with both the Mesopotamians to the west and the Indus to the north. Beginning in the late fourth millennium, the integration of coastal fishing communities and interior agricultural oases across the hyper-arid peninsula was matched by the development of a monumental tomb tradition spanning the length and breadth of Magan. In certain places – such as the Wadi al-Hijr – a second monumental tradition developed alongside the tomb tradition: that of the Umm an-Nar “tower.” The combination of these two types of monuments provides a unique opportunity to consider the way(s) in which middle-range societies use monuments. This data set is a combination of published and unpublished excavation reports – particularly the towers of Bat by the American Expedition – and a survey designed and carried out for this project. The research progresses in several stages. Survey results indicate a high degree of clustering among the tombs, and occur within a variety of landscapes. I argue that the earliest (“Hafit”) tombs mark access to resources, but are also mnemonics of regional social integration. Although the later (“Umm an-Nar”) tombs do not mark resources, they reference the earlier tomb tradition, concentrate energy in the mortuary realm and on the monument itself, and thereby indicate a shift toward local (tomb-based) group identity. Excavations (led by the author) at the Hafit-Umm an-Nar transitional tower at Matariya demonstrate a change over time in the monumental aspects of the structure. This research argues that intensification limited access to underground and permanent water sources, and was used by local groups to leverage relative social, economic, and political position. Resource exclusivity flew directly in the face of ideologies of integration, visible in the Hafit tomb tradition, and Umm an-Nar people attempted to off-set this tension through an intensification of their mortuary practices. Contemporary monument types balance tensions between environments, individuals, kin and corporate groups. A diachronic study points to the ways in which structures of both types expand in monumentality. Together, synchronic and diachronic comparisons between different monument types indicate both growing friction between social groups, and a refusal to admit these divisions. Future research should investigate the tensions noted here.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 47: 93–100. Archaeopress, Oxford, UK., 2017
The aAl-Duqm area (al-WusΓā administrative division, Sultanate of Oman) is located in eastern-central Oman and is marked by a relatively flat topography (Quaternary Period sedimentary cover) with some residual hills (mostly Upper Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary). In November–December 2015 the whole area, which is covered by the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD), was surveyed with the main aim of assessing the archaeological potential and related risks of this area, now affected by rapid development. The team recorded about 900 archaeological finds, ranging from a single hearth to clusters of tumuli tombs, flint scatters, triliths clusters, and stratified open-air sites. It encountered archaeological remains from a wide chronological period, ranging from at least the Late Pleistocene, with some earlier less certain evidence, to the early first millennium AD. The huge amount of data, all conveyed in a GIS (geographic information system) database, will be used for academic purposes (research in land-use modalities, resource acquisition strategies, population dynamics) and as an analytical tool of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MOHC). The collected data will be used in all phases of the archaeological valorization and preservation of the archaeological heritage within the SEZAD area.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 54th, 2022
Summary Following a first season of joint investigations carried out at the two settlement sites of Bāt and al-Arid (15 km northwest of Bāt) in the Sultanate of Oman, during winter 2019 (Castel, Barge, Besnard et al. 2019), the MBA Mission (Mission archéologique de Bāt/al-Arid) carried out a second season of excavations at the settlement site of al-Arid in 2020. This contribution aims to present the latest results from this extensive survey, the excavations and the different studies of this new mission, carried out by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Three structures were excavated: one out of seven towers, with a regular internal plan, a tomb that yielded a Jemdet-Nasr plain vessel and an Umm an-Nar Black-on-Red Fine Ware pot, and a building assigned to the Late Umm an-Nar period. In addition, the investigations carried out on two abandoned irrigation canals, one of which may be related to the Bronze Age settlement, were continued. The first results obtained from the analysis of the pottery are presented and the Bayesian chronological analysis makes it possible to place all the radiocarbon dated events in the regional chronology. All these combined results shed new light on the al-Arid site and enable us to refine its chronology, thus enriching the debate on third millennium settlement patterns in the southern piedmont region of interior Oman. Keywords: Oman, Hafit, Umm an-Nar, tower, irrigation canal
2013
The Early Bronze Age funerary archaeological landscape of western Ja'alan: results of three seasons of investigation This paper presents the results of three seasons of investigations in the western part of Ja'alan in the southern al-Sharqyiah Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The results highlight the importance of this part of Ja'alan during the Early Bronze Age (EBA), particularly the Hafit period and provide us with important information about the funerary archaeological landscape during this period. The results also reveal important aspects of landscape utilisation and occupation during this time and add to our knowledge of the cultural and economic facets of the earliest Bronze Age societies.The distribution of tombs in the landscape suggests that they were constructed by nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoral groups that shifted from one location to another in search of grazing for their livestock. The availability and seasonality of natural resources such as water, pasture and game made it necessary for them to mark their tribal territory with their funerary structures.
The first excavation season of a joint project of the PCMA and Department of Archaeology and Excavations, Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Oman, was carried out in the microregion of Qumayrah in the fall of 2016. A single tomb was investigated at an Umm an-Nar period burial site in the area of the village of Al-Ayn. A complete ground-plan was traced, identifying the tomb as an example of a well-known type with interior divided into four burial chambers by crosswalls. The excavated quadrant yielded commingled skeletal remains and mortuary gifts: numerous beads, a number of pottery sherds and a single complete vessel, a few metal objects and a score of stone vessel fragments.
Munoz et al. (2017). First campaign of survey and excavations at Shiyā (Sūr, Sultanate of Oman)
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2017
Munoz et al. (2017). First campaign of survey and excavations at Shiyā (Sūr, Sultanate of Oman), Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 47: 185-192. We present the results of the first fieldwork season at Shiyā, near Sūr, Sultanate of Oman, carried out in January 2016. Drone aerial survey, field walking, and excavations were undertaken to obtain a first overview of the archaeological potential of the area, already known from previous research as an important protohistoric necropolis. Over 400 cairns were identified and integrated into a 3-D model of the landscape providing an accurate map. Three Hafit-type tombs, with different locations within the landscape (low and high terraces), were excavated to test the degree of preservation of the structures, grave-goods, and osteological remains. The results of this first season are very encouraging, and underline the high potential of the area. Further investigation may enable a reconsidering of a series of questions related to coastal occupations in the region. The many graves and their diversified locations might offer insights concerning the typo-chronology of the monuments, the correlation between tomb density and number of individuals per tomb (MNI), and the degree of congruence between the monumentality of the structures and the value of associated grave-goods. Furthermore, the numerous Early Bronze Age tombs suggest a long-term occupation and hint at the presence of an important settlement in the area, which would allow a more in-depth consideration of the relation between graveyards and settled areas. Keywords: Early Bronze Age, Oman, funerary landscape, 3-D model, Hafit-type graves
2009
Fig. 1. Study area along Wādī Banī ‘Awf and the al-Hamra-region. (Part of topographical map Rustaq 1:100,000 NF 40-3D Ministry of Defence of the Sultanate of Oman by Hunting Surveys Limited 1984 reduced to scale 1:200,000). A preliminary report on the participants and aims of the interdisciplinary project 'Transformation processes in Oasis settlements in the Sultanate of Oman' as well as the first archaeological results were presented on the 30th Seminar for Arabian Studies and published afterwards (Häser 2000: 115-118). The data collection is completed now and the detailed classification of the material is in progress. In this article the main results of the archaeological surveys in regard to the occupational development of the areas under study will be summarised.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2013
The Social, Spatial, and Bioarchaeological Histories of Ancient Oman (SoBO) project has conducted three seasons of survey and excavation in north-western Oman. Focusing on third-millennium BC archaeological features, this project is unique because of the combination of geospatial survey and bioarchaeological excavation of mortuary monuments in and around the town of Dhank. Here we report our initial findings, define our survey area and techniques and discuss excavated funerary structures and associated radiocarbon dates from both charcoal and human skeletal remains. This report presents preliminary results that introduce this new project on the prehistoric mortuary landscapes of Oman and highlight the techniques the SoBO team employs to examine Bronze Age communities in this rural location.
New evidence of prehistoric tomb diversity in Dhank, Oman
Journal of Oman Studies, 2020
Williams, K.D., & Gregoricka, L.A. (2020). New evidence of prehistoric tomb diversity in Dhank, Oman. Journal of Oman Studies, 21, 102-127. Discussions of mortuary monumentality of the prehistoric Oman Peninsula are largely dominated by highly visible Hafit-type cairns and Umm an-Nar tombs of the Early Bronze Age. Less well understood are the morphologically distinct “tumuli” that share this funerary landscape but often go unrecognized or are miscategorized as deflated Hafit-type cairns. These monuments display unique stepped exterior ringwalls and demonstrate a remarkable longevity, showing continuous use from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. More importantly, however, these funerary structures are evidence of considerable prehistoric tomb heterogeneity in the Oman Peninsula, as opposed to the simple linear model of evolution from Hafit-type cairn to Umm an-Nar communal tombs frequently referenced to conceptualize social change in the region. Radiocarbon dates are presented in conjunction with archaeological and bioarchaeological assessments to interpret the place of these monuments within this landscape and cultural history of the region. In particular, the consistent presence of Iron Age ceramics placed atop these tumuli suggest the continued performance of mortuary rituals at these sites, and more broadly, demonstrate recognition of this sacred landscape as imbued in collective ancestral memory.