Closing the gap: survey and excavation at Ibrāʾ, Sultanate of Oman
Keywords:
Ibrāʾ, Umm an-Nar, domestic architecture, copper processing, Archaeological survey, Ibrāʾ SouthAbstract
The newly discovered Early Bronze Age site of Ibrāʾ South at the southern outskirts of the modern town of Ibrāʾ offers a range of archaeological features dating to the Umm an‑Nar period. In this paper, the results of the first season of fieldwork conducted by the Goethe University Frankfurt are presented, including a detailed surface survey and finds collection as well as small-scale excavations of two domestic buildings. The site also allows a study of different functional zones within the settlement, among others an area of copper processing and systems of water management, as well as indications of a planned settlement layout.
References
Bernardini F., Vinci G., Prokop D., Barro Savonuzzi L., de Min A., Lenaz D. … Cattani M. 2020. A multi-analytical study of Bronze Age pottery from the UNESCO site of Al-Khutm (Bat, Oman). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 12/8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01099-x
Bonnenfant P. & Le Cour Grandmaison C. 1977. The Ibrāʾ and Muḍayrib area. Journal of Oman Studies 3: 91–94.
Costa P.M. 1983. Notes on traditional hydraulics and agriculture in Oman. World Archaeology 14/3: 273–295.
de Cardi B., Collier S. & Doe D.B. 1976. Excavation and survey in Oman, 1974–1975. Journal of Oman Studies 2: 101–187.
Degli Esposti M.D. 2014. Excavations at the Early Bronze Age Site ‘ST1’ near Bisya (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. Wiesbaden: Harrassovitz.
Döpper S. 2021. The Middle and Late Bronze Age in central Oman: New insights from Tawi Said, Al-Mudhairib and the Wilayat of Al-Mudhaybi. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 32: 313–327.
Döpper S. & Schmidt C. 2014. German expedition to Bat and Al-Ayn, Sultanate of Oman. The 2010 to 2013 seasons. Journal of Oman Studies 18: 187–230.
Frenez D. 2020. Cross-cultural trade and socio-technical developments in the Oman peninsula during the Bronze Age, ca. 3200 to 1600 BC. OCNUS 27: 7–47.
Frenez D., Degli Esposti M., Méry S. & Kenoyer J.M. 2016. Bronze Age Salūt (ST1) and the Indus Civilization: Recent discoveries and new insights on regional interaction. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 46: 107–124.
Hastings A., Humphries J.H. & Meadow R.H. 1975. Oman in the third millennium BCE. Journal of Oman Studies 1: 9–55.
al‑Jahwari N.S., Douglas K., Al-Belushi M. & Williams K.D. 2019. Umm an-Nar settlement at Dahwa (DH1), Oman. Pages 29–50 in S. Döpper (ed.), Beyond tombs and towers: Architecture of the Umm an-Nar period in eastern Arabia. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Kerr A. 2016. A house complex in Bronze Age Arabia: A study of ‘Umm an-Nar’ and ‘Wadi Suq’ domestic architecture at the Settlement Slope, Bat (Oman). Durham e-thesis [online]. Available at http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11730/1/eThesis.pdf?DDD6+= (Accessed 29/09/2023).
Méry S. 2000. Les céramiques d’Oman et l’Asie Moyenne: Une archéologie des échanges à l’Âge du Bronze. (Monographie du Centre de recherches archéologiques, 23). Paris: Centre d’études Préhistoire-Antiquité-Moyen Âge.
Méry S., Degli Esposti M., Frenez D. & Kenoyer J.M. 2017. Indus potters in central Oman in the second half of the third millennium BC. First results of a technological and archaeometric study. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 47: 163–184.
Schmidt C. & Döpper S. 2016. Umm an-Nar pottery assemblages from Bāt and al‑Zībā and their functional contexts. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 46: 247–262.
Schreiber J. 2005. Archaeological survey at Ibrāʾ in the Sharqīyah, Sultanate of Oman. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 35: 255–270.
Weisgerber G. 1981. Mehr als Kupfer in Oman – Ergebnisse der Expedition 1981. Der Anschnitt. Mitteilungsblatt der Vereinigung der Freunde von Kunst und Kultur im Bergbau 33/5–6: 174–263.
Weisgerber G. 1983: Copper production during the third millennium BC in Oman and the question of Makan. Journal of Oman Studies 6/2: 269–276.
Yule P. & Weisgerber G. 1996. Die 14. Deutsche Archäologische Oman-Expedition 1995. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 128: 135–155.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Archaeopress Publishing, Oxford, UK