Recent archaeological research at Saruq al‐Hadid, Dubai, UAE

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This article presents and discusses a corpus of worked and decorated shell discs from recently excavated archaeological sites in southern Arabia, including Dibba (northern Oman), Saruq al-Hadid (UAE) and Sumhuram/Khor Rori (southern Oman). The artefacts are compared to a wide range of shell discs from controlled excavations in Arabia and the broader Near East in order to better understand their date, manufacture and use. The comparative study highlights the wide distribution of decorated shell discs across the ancient Near East, particularly during the early Iron Age, and the complex economic and cultural connections that underpinned the collection, crafting, exchange and significance of such items.

Section: Chronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Weeks

David‐Cuny²,

Avanzini

et al. 2019

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“…). Programmes of survey and excavation undertaken at the site have identified persistent, temporary occupation from the Early Bronze Age, locally known as the Umm an‐Nar period, through to the early Iron Age ( c .2000–800 BCE), with evidence for periodic later activities through to the Islamic Period (Casana, Herrmann, & Qandil, ; Contreras et al, ; Herrmann, Casana, & Qandil, ; Karacic, ; Karacic, Boraik, & Qandil, ; Karacic et al, ; Nashef, ; Weeks et al, , , ). This activity is represented by a deep stratigraphy of interspersed cultural and natural layers in the central area of the site (Weeks et al, : 8, fig.…”

Section: Zooarchaeological Remains From Saruq Al‐hadid: Collection Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A limited number of shell fragments appeared to have been worked, suggesting that some of this shell would have been used for object manufacture. Furthermore, the presence of unfinished examples of a variety of shell artefact types in the assemblage suggests that shell objects were being manufactured at the site (Weeks et al, : fig. 24; ).…”

Section: The Marine Animal Remains At Saruq Al‐hadidmentioning

confidence: 99%

The exploitation of marine resources at Saruq al‐Hadid: Insights into the movement of people and resources in Bronze and Iron Age south‐eastern Arabia

Roberts

Weeks

Fillios

et al. 2019

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Marine resources were an integral and consistent component of subsistence strategies employed in south‐eastern Arabia throughout late prehistory. Of particular interest is the movement of these resources from the coast to interior sites and the implications of this movement for transhumance and trade in the region during this period. Marine species were frequently identified in the faunal assemblage from the inland site of Saruq al‐Hadid, dating from the Bronze Age to Early Iron Age (c.2000–c.800 BCE). This included marine fish species, along with two cormorant species (Phalacrocorax sp.) and several fragments of dugong (Dugong dugon). Twenty‐seven families of marine shell were also identified in the remains recovered from the site. The presence of these remains at this inland site demonstrates that resources were frequently moved from the coast to the interior throughout Saruq al‐Hadid’s occupation, indicative of their enduring significance in subsistence strategies employed at the site. This paper presents the results of zooarchaeological analysis of these remains and discusses the significance of their presence at Saruq al‐Hadid, with reference to subsistence, craft production and intra‐regional exchange during the Bronze and Iron Ages.

“…These are the iron objects, a fragment of a stone, and a fragment of a glass vessel. As iron appears in graves only from the second half of the first millennium BC onwards (Boucharlat & Lombard, : 60; ElMahi & Al‐Jahwari, : 65; Lombard, ; Magee, : 114–115; Weeks, : 184–185; but see Weeks et al., : 46–50 for the occurrence of large quantities of iron objects in the Iron Age levels of the industrial site Saruq al‐Hadid), all iron objects, which form the bulk of the grave‐goods, cannot be older than this. Indeed, iron arrowheads like the one found in the Khubayb tomb are generally seen as a hallmark of the late pre‐Islamic or Samad period (Mouton, : 88–89; Yule, : 102).…”

Section: Samad‐period Reusementioning

confidence: 99%

Rescue excavation of a third‐millennium BC tomb at Al‐Khubayb, Sultanate of Oman

Döpper

2017

A third-millennium BC tomb was subject to a rescue excavation in connection with the construction of a new road near the village of Al-Khubayb in the Sultanate of Oman. It yielded a small number of finds, especially small metal objects that belonged to a later reuse of the tomb in the Samad period. As all diagnostic finds from the tomb date to the reuse, its architectural elements were the only indicator for the construction date of the tomb. Besides its small size and large wall thickness, which might suggest that the tomb is a transitional type between the Hafit and the Umm an-Nar periods, its separation into two chambers and its facade made of white, dressed stones, can be seen as a clue for a construction date of the tomb in the Umm an-Nar period.