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This thesis focusses on Hafit tombs (3200-2500 BC) in the Wadi Suq and Wadi al-Jizzi regions of the Sultanate of Oman. The main research question proposed is whether existing theories on the Hafit period can explain the distribution pattern present in the study area. In order to answer this question, four sub-questions were created exploring: the general distribution of the tombs, the orientation of the tombs and the correlation between the tombs, visibility and the dry river beds also known as wadis. Each of the sub-questions was answered by applying different tools in ArcGis on the dataset provided by the Wadi al-Jizzi Archaeological Project. Regarding the overall distribution of the tombs, it can be concluded that significant sites with large numbers of Hafit tombs are primarily located around the Wadi Suq, instead of the larger Wadi al-Jizzi and that all the Hafit cemeteries seem to have been located more closely to the area known as the Lower Batinah than towards the mountains. The analysis also revealed that the tombs at Site 43 seem to be clustered like Late Prehistoric Tombs (LTPs), which are of a post-Hafit date. The orientation of the tombs seemed initially clearly focused towards the north-east/south-west and east-west. This coincides with the variation in the azimuth of the sunrise between the months of June and September for the Sohar region. However, a site-to-site comparison displayed a more nuanced picture. The orientation of the tombs at S6 and S58 are evenly distributed, suggesting that they might have been constructed in a later phase of the Hafit period. The analyses in the current thesis also displayed that at the threshold of 1500 meters all tombs in the study area correlate to a wadi system. Interestingly, all of the tombs are clearly visible from the wadi system, despite the different distances to a wadi. This thesis concludes that current theories are unsatisfactory to explain the distribution of Hafit tombs in the study area and that more research is needed in this regard. Not only to improve existing theories or add new ones, but also to determine whether the patterns discussed in this thesis are unique for the study area or are also visible in other parts of the Oman peninsula.
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The tower-fortress on the Oman Peninsula have always been a mystery to archeologists. A total of 15 tower-houses have been excavated or surveyed by archeologists in the past decades and yet their purpose inside the settlements is still poorly understood. This thesis analyzes and evaluates the existing theories about the tower-houses and offers an alternative theory by taking into account the locations, sizes and construction techniques of these buildings, using the survey and excavation rapports. The origins of the tower-fortresses can be found as early as the end of the fourth millennium B.C., when the settlement pattern on the Oman Peninsula shifts from the coast to the hinterland. The shift from the coast to the oasis brought a diversification of resources as well as a tighter appropriation of space. Combined with an increase in the copper trade at the beginning of the third millennium, this induced more complexity in the social system. The form of social organization which emerged on the Oman Peninsula due to these factors, was one which was in a liminal stage between a chiefdom and a state society, called a stratified non-state society. The tower-fortress of the Oman Peninsula functioned in such a society as dwellings and locus of regional power of a particular family or moiety. The few towers that have been excavated show many similarities, such as: he positioning of the towers within the settlements, the usage of a platform on which the towers rest, the interior of the platform consisting of two rows of chambers divided by a corridor or well, the ditches surrounding the towers and thus separating them from the rest of the settlement, the fact that all of the towers could only have been accessed by a ramp, etc. All of these similarities indicate specialization and one has to wonder if the possibility exists of a specialized class of tower-builders, travelling from settlement to settlement