Nothing but Towers? The Early Bronze Age Landscape of Central Oman

• Applicant: Dr. Stephanie Döpper
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 406621686

The 3rd millennium BC in Oman was a period of fundamental change in social complexity, the use of new resources and modes of life. Little is known about the settlement patterns of this period. Scholarship views sites with monumental buildings as centres at the top of a settlement hierarchy, which have received the bulk of researchers’ attention in recent decades. However, there is a lack of data to substantiate this hypothesis, as the presence of small sites in their hinterland is largely unexplored. My DFG project in the Al-Mudhaybi region, which runs from 2018 to 2021 (and is in the process of being renewed until 2022), therefore aims to use a combination of different survey methods and small-scale excavations to gain detailed and comprehensive insights into the settlement pattern of the 3rd millennium BC in Central Oman as well as into the causes of the significant social changes of this period. So far, this project has found that (1) small non-monumental settlements are rare and thus common theories of settlement hierarchy need to be reconsidered, (2) monumental buildings were already built at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC and (3) activity declined in the study area during the Umm an-Nar period, contrary to the assumption that it represents a cultural peak. This challenges the narrative of a predominantly agrarian and sedentary society with a hierarchically structured settlement system in Central Oman during the Early Bronze Age and instead emphasises the role of mobile communities.Due to the unexpectedly large number of surface finds in the newly discovered settlements of Mukhtru and Sinaw, as well as the premature termination of the fieldwork in spring 2020, not all work can be completed as planned by the scheduled end of the project in October 2021. This means that data for statistically reliable statements on the settlement system and its development in the course of the Early Bronze Age are missing. Completing the systematic survey is particularly crucial to achieving the project’s aims. The systematic survey differs from traditional surveys in that it is not limited to surface collection of artefacts at sites previously identified or anticipated in the remote sensing or otherwise, but explicitly focusses on supposedly empty areas between sites. It is the only way to find smaller sites, such as nomadic groups’ campsites, and thus to produce a representative overall picture of the study area. For this reason, I am applying for an 8-month continuation of the project. This data will make it possible to comprehensively assess the settlement system and the related significance of socio-economic changes of the 3rd millennium BC in Central Oman for the first time.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants