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Oman announces new archaeological discovery dating back to the third millennium BC

The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism announced a new archaeological discovery from the Early Bronze Age in the Dahwa area in the Wilayat of Saham in the North Al Batinah Governorate

Oman News Agency

info@thearabianstories.com

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

MUSCAT: A joint Omani-American archaeological excavation team, supervised by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, revealed the discovery of a set of distinctive archaeological tools from the third millennium BC.

The team is headed by Professor Dr. Nasser Al Jahwari and Dr. Khaled Douglas from the Department of Archeology at Sultan Qaboos University, and Professor Kimberly Williams from Temple University Philadelphia in the United States.
Speaking about the importance of the Dahwa archaeological site, Professor Nasser Al Jahwari, who discovered the site in 2013, pointed out that the Dahwa archaeological site is among the important early Bronze Age sites in the North Al Batinah Governorate due to the nature and quantity of archaeological finds that were discovered during the various seasons of survey and excavation that began in 2013 and continued until 2021.

He added that in 2013 AD, the department began its field work by conducting a comprehensive archaeological survey in the Dahwa region, and five distinct archaeological sites were discovered that include ancient settlements dating back to the so-called Umm al-Nar culture (2600-2000 BC).



He explained that these sites represent the oldest permanent settlements in the north of the Sultanate of Oman, and as a result of the importance of this discovery, the Archeology Department continued the field research to identify the nature of the settlement and its exact history, by conducting six seasons of archaeological excavations, all of which focused on the sites of Dahwa 1 and Dahwa 7.

He further stressed that the aim of the excavation was to identify the nature of settlement and its chronology, the general planning of the buildings, their types and function, the economic and social activities, and the environmental conditions surrounding the site.

He pointed out that the archaeological work of the Department of Antiquities at Dahwa 7 included the excavation of stone buildings with different functions, including warehouses, industrial buildings for processing copper ore, administrative buildings, and ritual buildings – the first of their kind in prehistoric times in Oman, in addition to a mass grave of a thousand and three BC, and it is the only tomb found in Dahwa 7 settlement.

He stated that the department, in cooperation with Professor Kimberly Williams, excavated this tomb and it turned out that the burial in this tomb was collective, and consists of six burial chambers, in addition to finding the remains of skeletons, a large number of local and imported pottery, smooth stone pots, and some jewelry.

Professor Kimberly Williams notes that among the most important distinctive tools in this tomb are the remains of silver jewelry, such as beads that are part of a necklace and a number of rings. She said: “It is interesting that one of the silver rings that was found bears a seal engraved with the famous Indian bison cow, which is a distinctive decorative pattern and shape known in the culture of the Indus Valley (Harappa), which indicates the activity of trade between regions and ancient civilizations where we find These shapes are repeated in circular stone seals in the areas associated with trade with the Indus Valley at that time in Iran, Bahrain, Mesopotamia, and also in Oman.”

Professor Jonathan Mark Kenoer, an expert in ancient technologies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: “Although seal rings are a model for later time periods, this discovery proves that the Bronze Age people were more intelligent and technologically advanced than previously thought, as they indicate, at an early stage, that they introduced management solutions which allowed them to grow economically in the following millennia.

Dr. Dennis Frienz, an Italian expert on ancient trade routes between the Indus Valley and Oman, and a collaborator with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, pointed out that the discovery of a silver ring in a tomb in North Al Batinah Governorate may have been made in Mesopotamia or Iraq, using silver from Anatolia or Turkey.

It is worth noting that in Oman, seals engraved from soapstone were previously found at the sites of Salut and Maysir, but the ring discovered from Dahwa’s tomb is the first time that this shape has been found engraved on a metal ring.

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