Settlement and Chronology in the early Bronze Age of Southeastern Arabia

Abstract

The Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2700-2000 BC) of southeastern Arabia is a critical phase of social growth and cultural development in the region. Archaeological understandings of this key time period, however, have been limited by chronological ambiguity, especially in the interior of the Oman Peninsula. Settlements and domestic contexts, often understudied in Arabian prehistory, offer rich and temporally sensitive datasets that are well-suited to filling gaps in regional chronologies, which are commonly developed from excavations of mortuary and monumental contexts. This paper combines architectural and ceramic data from recent settlement excavations at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat, in the Sultanate of Oman, to build a refined chronology for the site’s Umm an-Nar period occupations. These results place Bat in temporal and material context with settlements in ancient Arabia and offer valuable comparanda for establishing chronological patterns across the region.