Report of TSMO archaeological project - SEASON 2018-2019 (Field missions TSMO 1A & 1B) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 49: 147-158, Archaeopress, Oxford, UK., 2019
Triliths are stone monuments distributed in the landscape throughout the coastal highlands of southern Arabia, from Ḥaḍramawt in Yemen to Raʾs al-Ḥādd in Oman. They consist of three standing flat stones forming a pyramid which stands in line with others on a low platform complemented by arranged square-shaped boulders and large fireplaces. Triliths’ site stone compositions mark a special space of particular meaning for rituals we still do not know. They were 14C dated (from the charcoal of the fireplaces) to the Late Iron Age period (200 BC–AD 400). The interpretation is challenging due to a lack of underlying archaeological evidence. The first in-depth study on the triliths of southern Arabia yielded a consolidated trilith dataset of 554 trilith sites consisting of 2162 trilith clusters. It showed great variability in the spatial configuration of trilith elements, architectural design, and level of preservation. The increased number of trilith sites has started to reveal trails of mobility across southern Arabia. Some trilith sites are exceptional in size and unique in layout, which needs further attention. Field missions in Oman are planned in 2018–2020 to collect more relevant data, challenge trilith chronology, and test existing trilith interpretation hypotheses.
Triliths. Hinterland monuments of ancient nomads [Window 48]
In the Shadow of the Ancestors: The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civilization in Oman (Second Expanded Edition)., 2018
in Cleuziou S. & Tosi M. (Frenez D. & Garba R., eds.), In the Shadow of the Ancestors: The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civilization in Oman (Second Expanded Edition). Muscat: Ministry of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman.
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 , 2019
Renewed excavations in 2016–17 and 2017–18 at the Umm an-Nar coastal site HD-1 at Ras al-Hadd, in the Sultanate of Oman, provide new insights on regional and long-distance interactions during the Early Bronze Age. The Italian-American ‘Joint Hadd project’ is led by Maurizio Cattani from the University of Bologna, and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, under the auspices of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture of Oman. New radiocarbon dates place the site firmly in the mid-third millennium BC. Plant and faunal remains are being examined to determine seasonal subsistence patterns and fishing strategies. The discovery of lithic, copper, and shell manufacturing debris provides new information on local technologies. Fibres and textiles preserved on copper tools and other artefacts reveal the nature of local fibre production and possible long-distance trade of other fibres. Finished stone beads of local as well as non-local materials indicate the importance of both regional and external trade. A wide variety of local as well as Indus-related ceramics reveal connections to regional Umm an-Nar communities and the more distant Indus source areas. Preliminary results of selected artefact analyses are presented here to highlight new directions for research.
Preliminary Results of the Dhofar Archaeology Survey
A general archaeological survey of the Governorate of Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, conducted under the auspices of the Office of the Advisor to H.M. the Sultan for Cultural Affairs, was carried out from 2008 to 2009. Over 300 new sites have been identified, adding to the 800 previously known sites. Identification covers the lower Palaeolithic through to the Islamic period. Geographically, sites have been identified from the RubΚ al-Khālī, Nejd (Najd), the Dhofar hills, and the coastal plains. The most outstanding results of the survey to date include: 1) the prolific nature of the Upper Palaeolithic in the fore Nejd; 2) the Neolithic occupation of the Nejd and Dhofar hills (8500–3500 BCE); 3) the expansion of cattle and ovicaprid domestication in the Bronze Age of the Dhofar hills and Salalah plain (3500–1000 BCE); 4) Iron Age rock shelters in the Dhofar hills with associated stratigraphical debris and rock paintings; 5) the recognition of early Islamic seaports on the Dhofar coast; 6) the integration of archaeological sites into the medieval al-Baleed (al-Balīd) horizon (1000–1500 CE).
2012
Report of the archaeological, geophysical, archaeozoological and topographical activities of the French-Saudi mission in the oasis of al-Kharj, 80 km South of Riyadh, in the Central Province of Saudi Arabia carried out from November 11 to December 18 2012. It includes chapters on: - The geographic and historical setting - Description on the Registration system - Report of the exploration of the site of al-Yamāma: geophysical survey, topographical survey, archaeological sounding, excavation of a mosque, zooarchaeological study, restoration process - A geomorphological study of al-Kharj area.