Large Kombewa flake production in north Oman Beshkani, Amir; Beuzen‐Waller, Tara; Bonilauri, Stéphanie ...
Arabian archaeology and epigraphy,
November 2017, 2017-11-00, 20171101, 2017-11, Letnik:
28, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this paper we present the results of surveys carried out in February 2016 along a palaeo‐drainage system near the village of Bisyah. We report first on the geological prospection, which was our ...main goal, and then present our discovery of the only known localities in north Oman of large Kombewa flake production (>10 cm up to 20 cm). Among the scatter of artefacts, we found cores and large Kombewa flakes with two opposed bulbs of percussion, a technology that had not been known in this region until now. In spite of the local features, the typo‐technological traits of the artefacts suggest that at least part of them resemble in some way the Acheulean techno‐complex, but there are still many questions remaining on the age of these artefacts.
Decades of archaeological research in southeastern Arabia (Oman and the UAE) have provided a good understanding of the evolution of human societies in this arid region, with the transition from ...mobile pastoralism to settled agricultural villages occurring at the start of the Hafit period (ca. 3100–2700 BCE). The delayed adoption of farming, ceramics, mudbrick architecture, metallurgy, and other technologies until the start of the 3rd millennium BCE has been a particularly salient feature of this region relative to its neighbours in Mesopotamia, southern Iran, and northwestern South Asia. However, recent geoarchaeological research at the World Heritage Site of Bat, situated within the Wadi Sharsah valley in northwest Oman, has provided evidence of irrigation practices that have been dated to the early-mid 4th millennium BCE. While direct evidence of farming from this early period remains elusive, the presence of irrigated fields at this time raises new questions about the supposedly mobile pastoralist groups of the Arabian Neolithic and the beginning of farming practices in the region.
Après la présentation du potentiel paysager du Jebel Hafit comme objet naturel (géologie, géomorphologie, karst) et l’évocation des usages traditionnels de la montagne en relation avec les réseaux ...d’irrigation (aflaj), l’article montre comment se sont développés plus récemment d’autres modes d’appropriation de l’espace, notamment sur le plan touristique (vestiges archéologiques, route paysagère, points de vue, commerce, hôtels de luxe, folklore, courses de chameaux).
Après la présentation du potentiel paysager du Jebel Hafit comme objet naturel (géologie, géomorphologie, karst) et l’évocation des usages traditionnels de la montagne en relation avec les réseaux ...d’irrigation (aflaj), l’article montre comment se sont développés plus récemment d’autres modes d’appropriation de l’espace, notamment sur le plan touristique (vestiges archéologiques, route paysagère, points de vue, commerce, hôtels de luxe, folklore, courses de chameaux).
This paper starts with a presentation of Jebel Hafit’s landscape potential as a natural object (geology, geomorphology, karst), and the traditional land uses of the mountain in relation to the irrigation networks (aflaj). Then, this paper exposes ancient and recent appropriation of space, in and around Jebel Hafit, including touristic areas and practices, such as cultural and leisure parks, scenic road, viewpoints, trade, luxury hotels, folklore, camel races.
Arabia holds great geographical significance in Palaeolithic studies as the nexus between the African and Asian continents. While researchers have identified various contextual areas from the Middle ...to Late Pleistocene period in the peninsula’s southern, central, and northern zones, some regions such as northern Oman, still need to be explored. This paper is a synthesis of the French Archaeological Mission to Central Oman’s Palaeolithic expeditions (FAMCO). It fills a major geographic gap in terms of mapping the Palaeolithic settlements on the southern piedmont of the Hajar Mountains. Our preliminary surveys around the Adam and Bisya towns in Ad-Dakhiliyah Governorate and test excavation at a stratified Late Palaeolithic site—the first of its kind near the city of Al-Ma’mur—demonstrate a range of lithic industries spanning the Lower Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. By exploring this terra incognita, the provided synthesis will broaden our understanding of the distribution of Palaeolithic populations and different lithic production strategies in the Horn of Arabia.
Due to the richness of its coastal environments, particularly lagoons and mangrove, the low-lying areas of the Omani coastline attracted settlements very early. However, the low-lying coasts are ...highly mobile landscapes, whose evolution is controlled by multiple factors acting at different timescales, from episodic (extreme events) to millennial timescales (gradual shoreline changes). From a geoarchaeological analysis (geomorphological mapping, archaeological survey, core drilling, and sedimentological, faunic and microfaunic analyses), this study proposes for the first time to reconstruct the landscape evolution of the Quriyat coastal plain landscape during the Mid-Late Holocene. Results indicate a coastal landscape dominated by large lagoons and mangroves during the mid-Holocene (5th millennium). Between 6712 -6501 cal. BP and 6183−5992 cal. BP, an extreme wave event identified as a tsunami, is registered in the southern part of the coast. Between 4223−3984 cal. BP and 4150−3981 cal. BP, lagoons were quickly clogging over more than 3.5 km in favour of the development of sebkhas or dune fields. We suggest this rapid evolution is related to erosional crises linked to the setting up of arid conditions in this part of the Omani coast. The production of several sea-level index points shows a great stability of the relative sea-level over the last 6.000 yearscal. BP and point out the predominant role of sedimentary infilling in the coastline evolution of Quriyat. The high sedimentation rates, added to the exposure of coastal hazards, partially explains the relatively low density of archaeological sites found in the Quriyat coastal plain, despite the presence of major shell-midden (Khor Milk I and II), which attest the old attractiveness of this sector. From geoarchaeological and taphonomic points of view, the Quriyat area is considered as having non-favourable conditions for the preservation of archaeological remains.
•Uncovering the stratigraphy of the Bronze Age tell of Kirrha, Greece.•Palaeonvironmental reconstruction of the tell of Kirrha, Greece.•Geoarchaeological approach for Bronze Age coastal settlements ...in Greece.
Located downstream of the deltaic plain of Delphi and close to the present-day coastline, the tell of Kirrha is the largest Bronze Age site (Middle to Late Helladic I) in Phocis (Greece), covering an area of around 6 ha. The deepest, and therefore oldest, archaeological levels of the tell have never been reached. A multidisciplinary investigation combining geophysics (ARP and ERT surveys), coring, sedimentological and geochemical analysis (grain-size, CaCO3 content, magnetic susceptibility), observation of the microfaunal remains and radiocarbon dating provided for the first-time capital information about the internal structure of the tell of Kirrha as well as the date of the earliest occupation phase. The results indicate a thickness of occupation layers ranging from 7 to 9 m (until 2 m b.s.l.). While some archaeological indicators found in the cores (such as very isolated pottery fragments) suggest a probable Neolithic occupation, the radiocarbon dating results presented here indicate a first occupation at the very beginning of the Bronze Age (Early Helladic II). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction reveals that the first inhabitants of Kirrha settled in a coastal-marsh-type environment that was being filled in by fine-grained alluvial deposits from the Pleistos and Hylaithos rivers. Geophysical surveys also revealed that parts of the tell have been eroded by a palaeochannel or buried under alluvial sediments.
À Oman, les fluctuations climatiques sont caractérisées par une alternance entre périodes humides et périodes arides. Les périodes humides sont des moments clés dans l’histoire des interactions ...hommes-milieux car elles occasionnent une augmentation significative de la pluviométrie. Pour étudier les réponses locales des hydrosystèmes aux fluctuations climatiques régionales, les archives fluviales sont des enregistrements appropriés. Cependant, les formations alluviales du Pléistocène supérieur et de l’Holocène sont encore peu étudiées, en particulier au Nord du Sultanat d’Oman où l’extrême rareté des données locales ne permet pas de comparer la chronologie climatique avec la distribution des sites archéologiques par périodes ou avec l’évolution des stratégies de subsistance. Dans cet article, nous présentons une étude inédite sur les formations alluviales héritées d’un petit wadi secondaire du piémont sud du Jebel Hajar : le Wadi Dishshah. A partir de la cartographie géomorphologique d’un tronçon, de l’étude morphostratigraphique de six coupes, de leurs datations par OSL et par radiocarbone et d’une étude malacologique effectuée sur une coupe, trois générations de dépôts alluviaux sont identifiées. La première génération de dépôts est datée entre 26 500 cal. BP et 11 300 cal. BP, la deuxième génération entre 6 200 cal. BP et 5 500 cal. BP et une dernière phase d’accumulation est datée à environ 2 800 cal. BP. Leur signification hydro-climatique est discutée et comparée avec la distribution des sites archéologiques préhistoriques et protohistoriques préalablement découverts dans ce secteur.
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