New data from the renewed excavation at Salūt: the Iron Age settlement (Qaryat Salūt)
Keywords:
Iron Age, Oman, settlement, south-east Arabia, proto-urbanizationAbstract
The Iron Age in south-east Arabia has mostly been investigated by research projects that focus on sites located in the United Arab Emirates. Sites such as al-Rumaylah, Muwaylih, and Tall Abraq have provided the basis for a wider regional chronological framework, as well as a deeper understanding of the dynamics that have paved the way for some of the major changes occurring during the first millennium (e.g. aflaj irrigation). In this respect, the Iron Age archaeological evidence from Oman has been less studied. Recent excavations carried out by the Italian Mission to Oman at the site of Salūt (near Bisyā in central Oman), however, are bringing substantial archaeological evidence to light; they promise to give a fundamental contribution to issues which, until now, have been relying on a very misbalanced data set from a geographical point of view. Specifically, the recent excavation of 'the lower settlement' (Qaryat Salūt) has revealed the presence of a significantly larger inhabited area than what was previously thought. If analysed together with the very high ₁₄C dates from the upper, fortified area of the site (Ḥişn Salūt), this evidence may suggest the presence of a large settlement in central Oman by the end of the second millennium characterized by an unmistakably 'classic' Iron Age material culture.
References
Avanzini A. & Degli Esposti M. (eds) 2018. Husn Salut and the Iron Age of South East Arabia. Excavations of the Italian Mission to Oman 2004–2014. (Arabia Antica, 14). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider.
Bähr J. 2011. Einführung in die Urbanisierung. In Das Online-Handbuch Demografie des Berlin-Instituts. www.berlin-institut.org/online-handbuchdemografie.html (15 December 2017).
Benoist A. 1998. La céramique de l’Age du Fer à al Madam (Emirat de Sharjah). In M. Mouton (ed.), Assemblages céramiques des sites de l’Age du Fer en péninsule d’Oman. (Documents d’archéologie de l’Arabie, 1). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient Méditerranéen. CD-ROM.
Benoist A. 2010. Authority and religion in south east Arabia during the Iron Age: A review of architecture and materials from columned halls and cultic sites. Pages 109–143 in A. Avanzini (ed.), Eastern Arabia in the first millennium BC. (Arabia Antica, 6). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Brettschneider.
Benoist A. & del Cerro Linares M.C. 1998. La céramique de Rumeilah (Emirat d’Abou Dhabi). In M. Mouton (ed.), Assemblages céramiques des sites de l’Age du Fer en péninsule d’Oman. (Documents d’archéologie de l’Arabie, 1). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient Méditerranéen. CD-ROM.
Boucharlat R. & Lombard P. 2001. Le site de Rumeilah (oasis d’al-Ain, E.A.U.). In M. Mouton & W.Y. al-Tikriti (eds), The architectural remains of the Iron Age sites in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. (Documents d’Archéologie de l’Arabie, 2). Lyon: Maison de l’Orient Méditerranéen. CD-ROM.
Cleuziou, S. 2003. Early Bronze Age trade in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea: The society behind the boats. Pages 134–149 in D.T. Potts, H. Al-Naboodah & P. Hellyer (eds), Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates. Proceedings of the First International Conference on the archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press.
Condoluci C. 2018. The Iron Age architecture. Pages 210–278 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Condoluci C. & Degli Esposti M. 2018. The function of the site. Pages 363–370 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Condoluci C., Degli Esposti M. & Phillips C. 2018. A complete stratigraphic sequence for the Early Iron Age of central Oman. Excavations in the Basement and in the Burnt Building. Pages 93–180 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Cordoba J. M. 2010. L’architecture domestique de l’Age du Fer (1300–300 av. J.-C.) dans la péninsule d’Oman. Quelques documents sur les villages et la culture des oasis. Pages 143–157 in A. Avanzini (ed.), Eastern Arabia in the first millennium BC. (Arabia Antica, 6). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider.
Degli Esposti M. 2015. Salut and its neighbours. Pages 77–86 in A. Avanzini (ed.), In the heart of Oman. The castle of Salut. Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider.
Degli Esposti M. 2016. Excavations at the Early Bronze Age site ‘ST1’ near Bisyah (Sultanate of Oman): Notes on the architecture and material culture. Pages 665–678 in R.A. Stucky, O. Kaelin & H-P. Mathys (eds), Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. June 9–13, 2014, University of Basel. iii. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Degli Esposti M. & Condoluci C. 2018. Husn Salut in the Iron Age. Pages 33–92 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Degli Esposti M. & al-Muzini W. 2016. A new seal from the ancient oasis of Salut (Central Oman). Egitto e Vicino Oriente 38: 89–94.
Degli Esposti M. & Phillips C. 2012. The impact of Iron Age occupation on a Bronze Age archaeological landscape; results from the IMTO excavations at Salut, Sultanate of Oman. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 42: 87–100.
Degli Esposti M., Cremaschi M., Perego A. & Zerboni A. 2018. Geographical and environmental setting. Pages 19–32 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Liverani M. 1988. Antico Oriente. Storia, società, economia. Bari: Laterza.
Magee P. 1996. The chronology of the southeast Arabian Iron Age. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7: 240–252.
Magee P. 2001. Excavations at Muweilah 1997–2000. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 31: 115–130.
Magee P. 2003. Columned halls, power and legitimisation in the southeast Arabian Iron Age. Pages 182–191 in D.T. Potts, H. Al-Naboodah & P. Hellyer (eds), Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. London: Trident Press.
Magee P. 2007. Excavations at Muweilah (Sharjah) 2004–2007. (Sharjah Antiquities, 11). Government of Sharjah, Department of Culture & Information, Directorate of Antiquities.
Phillips C. 2010. Iron Age chronology in South East Arabia and new data from Salut, Sultanate of Oman. Pages 71–80 in A. Avanzini (ed.), Eastern Arabia in the first millennium BC. (Arabia Antica, 6). Rome: ‘L’Erma’ di Bretschneider.
Tagliamonte E., Degli Esposti M. & Phillips C. 2018. Other areas of excavation. Pages 181–200 in Avanzini & Degli Esposti 2018.
Van de Mieroop M. 1997. The ancient Mesopotamian city. New York: Oxford University Press.
Published
How to Cite
License
Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, UK
