The agricultural basis of Umm an-Nar society in the northern Oman peninsula (2500-2000 BC) (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
This paper presents an updated compendium of the archaeological and ancient textual data about long-range trade and multicultural interactions involving the nomadic and sedentary communities of the Oman Peninsula, with a specific focus on the Early Bronze Age including the so-called Hafit and Umm an-Nar periods (ca. 3200-2000 BC). Substantial evidence of direct and intermediated interactions is discussed in light of their contribution to the local development of particular socio-technical spheres and how they influenced the cultural and economic setting of the local society in the different phases. In order to properly interpret the long-term significance of this phenomenon, the discontinuous trajectory of mutual inputs with neighbouring regions is considered within a longer time span covering the seven millennia from the Neolithic to the beginning of the Iron Age.
Socio-political factors influencing early Islamic copper production in Oman
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2024
The early Islamic period was marked by a resurgence in large-scale copper production in southeast Arabia. This is in contrast to the preceding era (early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE) and its notable lack of evidence of copper production. Various external and internal factors, including a flourishing Indian Ocean trade and environmental limitations, have been suggested as factors in this renewal and in its subsequent decline. However, the socio-political and economic factors that formed the framework for industrial growth during this transformative period are rarely considered. This paper delves deeper into the socio-political background of the early Islamic period in relation to industrial growth in southeast Arabia. To bridge the gap between historical and archaeological evidence, we also present new data from surveys and excavations conducted at early Islamic industrial sites in Wadī al-Rākī, Oman. These findings offer new insights into the history of large-scale copper processing in the region.
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.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2018
The Early Bronze Age site of RJ-2, located close to the coastal village of Ra’s al-Jinz on the eastern Omani coast (Niyabat Ra’s al-Hadd), was the focus of archaeological investigations for over two decades. The latest campaigns of excavation unearthed an architectural complex (Building XII) dated to the very end of the Umman-Nar period (Final UaN,c.2100–2000 BCE), previously attested on site by poorly preserved remains. This paper presents the remains explored during the most recent fieldwork, focusing on the stratigraphic-structural sequence and the spatial layout. It also considers the transformations affecting structural evidence and material culture during this period, at both local and regional level, highlighting their significance for a comprehensive assessment of the last occupations related to the Early BronzeAge in south-eastern Arabia. The paper concludes by showing how the Final Umman-Nar phase represents an age of substantial socio-cultural innovations, which most likely shaped the transition towards the following Wadi Suq period.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2021
Significant changes in the material culture, subsistence and mode of life are associated with the Middle (c. 2000–1600 BCE) and Late Bronze Ages (c. 1600–1300 BCE) in Eastern Arabia. Since first excavations in the 1970s, research has focused on the United Arab Emirates, where all major sites of this period known to date are situated. This birthed the idea of two different lines of development in the second millennium BC. While a more gradual change is assumed for the United Arab Emirates, Central Oman was regarded as having completely abandoned settled agricultural life, returning to a less complex social organisation. This article presents new evidence from Tawi Said, Al‐Mudhairib and the Wilayat al‐Mudhaybi that shows that the developments in both regions were more akin to each other than previously assumed. This encourages us to reconsider our assumptions about Central Oman’s social complexity during this pivotal period of Oman’s history.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 2017
The nature of cultural interactions between the Indus Civilization and Magan is explored in this paper. The presence of Indus potters in eastern Arabia can now be demonstrated based on a combined technological and petrographical study of a range of pottery types found at the site of Salūt ST1 (Sultanate of Oman). Similar discoveries from other Umm an-Nar sites in the Sultanate of Oman and the UAE supports the hypothesis that Indus communities were living alongside the Magan people at Umm an-Nar sites more extensively than previously thought.
Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists(4), 2019
Iron Age II is considered the classical period of the Iron Age (figure: 2(1)). This period shows sudden increase in distribution and diversification in settlement pattern, in South-eastern Arabia (2). The settlements during this period expanded to include inland (3), mountains (4) and coastal sites (5). Settlements became more diverse to include non-residential architecture. An appearance of irrigation technology (Falaj) along with camel domestication coincides with this increase. This increase was accompanied byregional (6)(between the varied types of settlements) and trans- regional contact (with south Arabia) and goods exchange(7) (8) (9) The layout, the location, the structure and the material culture excavated from this period reflects a complex community (10) (11). This manifested in the appearance of a belief system related to both irrigation and bronze production (the snake cult) (12), specialized labour in pottery (13), metal production (14) (15) and administration systems (16), fortification structures related to the agriculture activity (17), symbolic (axe heads on the stamp seals) and prestigious goods for elites (18). This paper argues that irrigation technology was responsible for creating a social elite class. This class was responsible for cyclic production, the expansion and the diversification of settlement patterns using the domestication of the camel.