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Evidence for Neolithic settlement in the foothills of the Western al-Hajar Mountains

Bretzke, K.; Parton, A.; Lindauer, S.; Kennet, D.

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Authors

K. Bretzke

A. Parton

S. Lindauer



Abstract

Systematic prospection and excavations in the Rustaq region of northern Oman, approximately 45 km from the coast in the foothills of the Western Hajar Mountains, have revealed an unexpectedly dense record of Neolithic sites. Besides surface scatters of lithic artefacts, excavation at the site of Hayy al‐Sarh recovered two stratified archaeological horizons (AHs). The upper horizon, AH I, contained pierced marine shells that provided an age of the archaeological material of about 6800 to 7500 years cal BP. Typologically the AH I lithic assemblage compares to the Suwayh facies defined at the coast 300 km to the east. Whether the marine shells and cultural affinities point towards exchange with coastal communities or possibly seasonal movement remains an open question at this state of research, but this new evidence for inland Neolithic settlement near Rustaq provides important new data that will help improve our understanding of spatial patterns of Neolithic demographic variability.

Citation

Bretzke, K., Parton, A., Lindauer, S., & Kennet, D. (2018). Evidence for Neolithic settlement in the foothills of the Western al-Hajar Mountains. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 29(2), 103-114. https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12118

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 27, 2018
Online Publication Date Nov 16, 2018
Publication Date Nov 16, 2018
Deposit Date Oct 22, 2018
Publicly Available Date Nov 16, 2020
Journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
Print ISSN 0905-7196
Electronic ISSN 1600-0471
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 2
Pages 103-114
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12118

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Bretzke, K., Parton, A., Lindauer, S. and Kennet, D. (2018). Evidence for Neolithic settlement in the foothills of the Western al-Hajar Mountains. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 29(2): 103-114, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12118. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.





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