Geographic origins and dietary transitions during the bronze age in the oman peninsula

Abstract

The nature of the Bronze Age transition from the Umm an-Nar (ca. 2700-2000 BC) to the Wadi Suq (ca. 2000-1300 BC) period in the Oman Peninsula has been highly debated by archaeologists, with some characterizing the latter as a time of cultural isolation, social collapse, and/or population replacement following the successful involvement of the area in widespread interregional exchange networks across Arabia and South Asia. The hypothesis that a substantial change in residential mobility, immigration, and diet took place in response to considerable societal changes as reflected by the archaeological record was tested using stable oxygen and carbon isotope analysis. Archaeological human dental enamel from individuals interred in six Umm an-Nar (n = 100) and seven Wadi Suq (n = 16) communal tombs in the United Arab Emirates was used. Oxygen isotope data reveal largely homogeneous ratios indicative of a predominantly local population that acquired water from isotopically similar sources, although the presence of immigrants during both periods suggests that the region was not as isolated as previously held. Carbon isotope data exhibit a substantial temporal shift from an extremely varied to a more restricted diet, demonstrating that while considerable changes in subsistence strategies and social organization took place in the early second millennium BC, population continuity and sustained (although lessened) participation in pan-Gulf trade systems best characterizes this regional transformation.

Human Response to Climate Change during the Umm an‐Nar/Wadi Suq Transition in the United Arab Emirates

“…Correspondingly, little evidence for date palm garden cultivation exists during the Wadi Suq, although an overall dearth of well-preserved plant material may be more indicative of environmental conditions that do not favour plant visibility in the archaeological record and not absence from human diet. This is corroborated by a recent examination of stable carbon isotope data from after 2000 BC, suggestive of a diet reliant on C 3 -based terrestrial resources and not on marine life, as had been popularly assumed based on undated shell middens (Gregoricka, 2013b).…”

“…Bronze Age faunal samples from Shimal (n = 10), and more broadly, from across the western portion of the UAE (n = 25), were considered alongside human values (see Gregoricka, 2013aGregoricka, , 2013b for previously published faunal datasets). Samples included a single ovicaprid tooth from the Umm an-Nar tomb of Unar 1 as well as nine faunal molars recovered from the Wadi Suq settlement at Shimal.…”

“…C ap values vary from À9.0‰ to +5.6‰, suggestive of a mixed diet dominated by C 4 resources (Gregoricka, 2013b). Human isotope values from Shimal are shown in Table 1 À2.6 ± 0.5‰ (1σ) and range from À3.0‰ to À2.2‰.…”

“…Strontium signatures over this transition approach but do not display statistical significance (p = 0.07; Umm an-Nar M = 0.70879; Wadi Suq M = 0.70883), and the tight clustering of all strontium values likely suggests a relatively sedentary form of social organization. A corresponding lack of isotopic variability in δ 13 C ap values between these periods (p = 0.85; Umm an-Nar M = À11.1‰; Wadi Suq M = À11.0‰) points to a reliance on C 3 -based plants or plant-consuming animals in both the late third and early second millennium and, subsequently, to relative stability in food resources at Shimal (but see Gregoricka, 2013b for a discussion of broader societal changes in subsistence between these periods). Subsequently, while cultural changes in food preparation or water storage can impact δ 18 O values (Brettell et al, 2012), the stability demonstrated by δ 13 C ap values indicates that a subsistence shift cannot completely account for the difference in δ 18 O ratios seen here.…”

Fruits of Their Labour: Urbanisation, Orchard Crops, and Dental Health in Early Bronze Age Jordan

“…The lower rates of caries and AMTL at Bab edh‐Dhra' are more similar to the Umm an‐Nar pattern, suggesting that fruits were not primary crops. Recent isotopic investigation corroborates that the people of Umm an‐Nar ate a widely varied diet (Gregoricka, ), which is consistent with the current interpretation of Bab edh‐Dhra'.…”