New light on the late Wadi Suq period from the Ṣuhār hinterlands
Keywords:
late Wadi Suq, ceramics, soft-stone vessels, visibility, Landscape archaeologyAbstract
The late Wadi Suq has been an elusive phase in the archaeology of the Oman peninsula. It is mostly documented in the settlements of Kalbāʾ and Tell Abraq, both located in the United Arab Emirates. The tell deposits with late Wadi Suq levels at these sites remain poorly understood, and the same applies to the limited evidence from funerary sites. In the Ṣuhār hinterlands we have previously found what appears to be late Wadi Suq materials in cemeteries, but these surface finds consist of a few sherds and soft-stone fragments that can be interpreted in various ways. In the 2018 season, however, an unequivocal Wadi Suq non-funerary site was found on a steep outcrop in Wādī Fizḥ, at Site 84. In this contribution we present Site 84, its characteristics and location, the structures that are visible, and the artefact assemblages collected from its surface.
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