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Since 2008, the Arabian Human Social Dynamics (AHSD) and Ancient Socioecological systems in Oman (ASOM) projects have been investigating the relationship between the construction of small-scale stone monuments, evidence of human settlement, and the long-term socio-ecological dynamics of past pastoral ecosystems in Southern Arabia. These are archaeological cultures with few material remains, strongly suggestive of sustained mobility and organic, perishable toolkits and crafts. A spectacular find, such as the accessories of Ötzi the Iceman or the Urumqi mummies of the Tarim basin, can draw public attention and archaeological focus to such communities, but for the most part, the lifestyles, identities, and beliefs of Bedouin cultures of Arabia and the Sahara leave few permanent traces. It has been easy to think theirs a timeless lifestyle, what Eric Wolf famously pilloried as “People without History.” Leaving aside for the moment the new discovery that the alphabetic Dhofar script can now be read and may indeed offer history in emic terms, our paper offers a second avenue to history for the Dhofar pastoralists. Recent archaeological work has established that settlements in the Dhofar escarpment and coastal plain are the encampments of mobile pastoralists without dependence on crop agriculture and products. What has been less clear is the chronology of this settlement pattern, recently tied to the Late Iron Age (300 BCE-300 CE). Our paper reports new radiocarbon assays from archaeological survey and test excavations that complement published radiocarbon dates from highland Dhofar sites, Halqoot and Shakeel. We offer a Bayesian analysis to provide chronological refinement of the crude “history” provided by unconstrained calibrations, and link settlement histories to other published datasets from Dhofar.
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The early Islamic period was marked by a resurgence in large-scale copper production in south-east Arabia. This is in contrast to the preceding era (early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE) and its notable lack of evidence of copper production. Various external and internal factors, including a flourishing Indian Ocean trade and environmental limitations, have been suggested as factors in this renewal and in its subsequent decline. However, the socio-political and economic factors that formed the framework for industrial growth during this transformative period are rarely considered. This paper delves deeper into the socio-political background of the early Islamic period in relation to industrial growth in south-east Arabia. To bridge the gap between historical and archaeological evidence, we also present new data from surveys and excavations conducted at early Islamic industrial sites in Wadī al‑Rākī, Oman. These findings offer new insights into the history of large-scale copper processing in the region.
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