Archaeology of Oman

Archaeology of Oman,The present-day "unicode|Salṭanat IPA|ʿUmān", lies in south-eastern Arabia. While traditional Oman also includes the present-day United Arab Emirates, their prehistoric remains differ from those of Oman proper, particularly after the end of the Early Iron Age. Archaeology is conditioned by the geographical situation. The amount of moisture dictates the amount and place of agriculture and population which are possible.Different ages are reflected in typological assemblages, Old Stone Age, New Stone Age, Copper Age, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age, that is Samad Culture, late pre-Islamic culture, Age of Islam. What is referred to as a culture is inferred from a regularly reoccurring assemblages of artefacts. The names of the ages are conventional and are difficult to fix in terms of absolute years. Aside from this the development is highly regional. The archaeological assemblages of the south Province Dhofar differ completely from those of the central part of the country.What all of the periods share is that they are known primarily from cemeteries.

Old Stone Age: Known primarily from stray finds.

New Stone Age: The first agricultural settlements. Known from a variety of coastal sites.

Copper Age, Hafit: Known from a cemetery site on the Jebel Hafit. Typically cairns lie on top of hill crests. Copies and pottery imports from southern Mesopotamia.
Bronze Age: The Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq Periods. Known from numerous sites, for example respectively the island Umm an-Nar and the Wadi Suq. Typically, nice wheel-turned painted pottery.

Early Iron Age: Known from different cemetery and copper producing sites including the settlement on the Jebel Radhania, Lizq. Hand-made, hard-fired pottery.

Late Iron Age, Samad Culture: The type-site of this illiterate, iron-using period is Samad al-Shan. Typically, individual stone-built graves are sunk into the earth in the plain. Handmade pottery, some glazed imports.
Late Pre-Islamic Northern Culture: Known from different sites, for example Amla, al-Fuwayda.
Islamic Age:

ources

*D.T. Potts, The Persian Gulf in Antiquity, 2 vols., Oxford 1992
*Paul Yule, Die Gräberfelder in Samad al-Shan (Sultanat Oman) Materialien zu einer Kulturgeschichte. Orient-Archäologie 4, Rahden 2001, ISBN 3-89646-634-8
*Paul Yule & Gerd Weisgerber, The Metal Hoard from ‘Ibrī-Selme, Sultanate of Oman. (Prähistorische Bronzefunde xx7, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07153-9
*Juris Zarins, Persia and Dhofar: Aspects of Iron Age International Politics and Trade, in: Studies in Honor of Michael C. Astour on his 80th Birthday (Bethesde 1997) 615-689