Al-Arid, an Early Bronze Age settlement site in the interior of the Oman peninsula. Results of the second season’s excavations (2020)

Corinne Castel (1) , Jacques Élie Brochier , Olivier Barge (1) , Blandine Besnard (1) , Elsa Ciesielski , Lionel Darras , Yasmin Kanhoush , Georges Mouamar , Frédéric Riviere , S. Sanz , Margareta Tengberg (2) , Vézy Pauline

1 Archéorient - ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
2 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements

Following a first season of joint investigations carried out at the two settlement sites of Bāt and al-Arid (15 km north-west of Bāt) in the Sultanate of Oman, during winter 2019 (Castel et al. 2020), the MBA Mission (Mission archéologique de Bāt/al-Arid) carried out a second season of excavations at the settlement site of al-Arid in 2020. This contribution aims to present the latest results from this extensive survey, the excavations, and the different studies of this new mission carried out by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. Three structures were excavated: one of seven towers, with a regular internal plan; a tomb that yielded a Jemdet-Nasr plain vessel and an Umm an-Nar Black-on-Red Fine Ware pot; and a building assigned to the late Umm an-Nar period. In addition, the investigations carried out on two abandoned irrigation canals, one of which may be related to the Bronze Age settlement, were continued. The first results obtained from the analysis of the pottery are presented and the Bayesian chronological analysis makes it possible to place all the radiocarbon dated events in the regional chronology. All these combined results shed new light on the al-Arid site and enable us to refine its chronology, thus enriching the debate on third-millennium settlement patterns in the southern piedmont region of interior Oman. Keywords: Oman, Hafit, Umm an-Nar, tower, irrigation canal

Mots clés: Early Bronze settlement; irrigation canal; tower; Umm an-Nar period; interior Oman

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Corinne Castel, Jacques Élie Brochier, Olivier Barge, Blandine Besnard, Elsa Ciesielski, et al.. Al-Arid, an Early Bronze Age settlement site in the interior of the Oman peninsula. Results of the second season’s excavations (2020). Proceedings of the 54th Seminar for Arabian Studies, 54, Archaeopress, pp.71-86, 2022, Proceedings of the 54th Seminar for Arabian Studies. ⟨hal-03455168⟩