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Abstract The Nafūn rock art complex, located in al-Wusṭā Governorate in south-central Oman, was discovered in 2020 and has emerged as one of the most extensive rock art sites in southeast Arabia. The site features 59 flat limestone rock surfaces with over 200 South Arabian inscriptions and over 500 engraved figures. These figures include maritime animal depictions such as sea turtles, sperm whales, squid, jellyfish, ray fish, and mola mola, along with more common depictions of camels (sometimes ridden) and horsemen hunting oryx or wild canids. The rock art tradition in the Nafūn area is estimated to reach from the 5th millennium BCE to the 2nd millennium CE, offering a unique window into a way of life that endured for over 6,000 years.
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In March 2023, an international team of archaeologists, anthropologists and geologists led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague successfully completed the second season of the ARDUQ (Archaeological landscape and environmental dynamics of Duqm and Nejd) expedition. Researchers from ten countries took part in fieldwork in two regions of the Sultanate. The first team, based in Duqm (south-central Oman), carried out fieldwork at Nafūn, excavating a Neolithic collective burial and documenting extensive rock art sites, both unique in south-east Arabia. Small test trenches for lithic studies were also carried out. ARDUQ’s investigations reveal a rich archaeological landscape at Duqm with long-term occupation. The second team worked in Dhofar (southern Oman). The team discovered seven Lower Palaeolithic sites in the Rub’ Al Khālī desert, with a high concentration of handaxes. Test trenches on the Nejd plateau revealed stratified Middle Palaeolithic artefacts of Nubian Complex, and samples were taken for optical stimulated luminescence dating. A systematic study of the flint raw material was also initiated. Research at Dhofar will shed new light on the early hominin and anatomically modern human dispersal Out of Africa, a topic of global importance and interest.
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, A newly discovered grave in Wadi Nafūn, Oman, features a unique burial structure, combining monumental architecture and the collective deposition of human remains from multiple Neolithic groups. Detailed analysis of the burial community reveals new insights into Neolithic rituals and subsistence strategies during the Holocene Humid Period in southern Arabia.