Abstract
Archaeological research at Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman, conducted by the University of Tübingen, revealed a large Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BCE) site. During the intensive surface survey and excavations, several ground stone tools were found. Most of them came from the vicinity of monumental stone and mud-brick structures, so-called towers, and are clearly connected to copper-processing waste such as slag, furnace fragments and prills, i.e., droplets of molten copper. Therefore, it is assumed that these ground stone tools were used within the operational procedures of copper-processing. Interestingly, only the monumental towers from the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Hafit period, feature larger quantities of ground stone tools as well as copper processing waste. Towers from the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Umm an-Nar period, have none. Within the scope of this paper, the distribution of the different types of ground stone tools in Al-Khashbah as well as their find context will be presented. They are illustrated with drawings generated from 3D models created using digital photography processed with the software Agisoft Photoscan. Comparisons with other 3rd millennium BCE sites in Eastern Arabia show that there as well, copper-processing remains are often associated with ground stone tools. The overall variety of types seems to be rather homogeneous in the region.
Highlights
IntroductionAl-Khashbah (Figure 2) is long known as an important site of the 3rd millennium BCE in Oman because of its well preserved and unique rectangular building, Building IV (Figure 2), but has been only briefly surveyed (Al-Jahwari 2013; Al-Jahwari & Kennet 2010: 203–207; Weisgerber 1980: 99–100; Yule 2001: 384) prior to the beginning of the University of Tübingen’s project in 2015
The ground stone tool assemblages from the 3rd millennium BCE site of Al-Khashbah are associated with monumental stone or mud-brick buildings, the so-called towers of the early 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Hafit period
Plenty other evidence for copper processing is present in these towers, and nearly completely absent from the towers of the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE, the Umm an-Nar period
Summary
Al-Khashbah (Figure 2) is long known as an important site of the 3rd millennium BCE in Oman because of its well preserved and unique rectangular building, Building IV (Figure 2), but has been only briefly surveyed (Al-Jahwari 2013; Al-Jahwari & Kennet 2010: 203–207; Weisgerber 1980: 99–100; Yule 2001: 384) prior to the beginning of the University of Tübingen’s project in 2015. Besides some test investigations at Building II (Figure 2), excavations focussed on the oldest known remains at Al-Khasbhah: Building I and Building V, where five nine-week seasons have been carried out between 2015 and 2019. Other Hafit period monumental buildings in Al-Khashbah are Building VI, VIII, and IX.
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