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The ArWHO project’s 2023 season focused on the Iron Age and early Islamic Periods, specifically concentrating on mapping settlement architecture and exploring trade in softstone and copper resources in Yanqul Wilayat. The ArWHO team mapped architecture at four Iron Age sites, discovered an ancient softstone (chlorite) quarry, and tested an autonomous Ground Penetrating Radar system. Additionally, the project engaged local residents by organising a Yanqul Community Archaeology Day to share findings and promote awareness of archaeology. Our work clarifies the histories of ancient societies, their environment, architecture, and trade activities contributing to deeper understanding of the ancient past.
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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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In 2023, a primary goal of the Archaeological Water Histories of Oman (ArWHO) Project fieldwork involved intensive mapping of architecture at sites near Yanqul, Oman to gain a better understanding of social relations during the Iron Age (1300–300 BC) in south-east Arabia. Small settlements (less than 2 ha) proliferated in remote mountainous areas during the Iron Age, reflecting broader changes in social organization. How were mountain communities organized, and what was their larger role in Iron Age societies that were engaged in wide-reaching networks producing and trading copper and softstone? Through mapping of architecture, surface collections, and test excavation, our ongoing research examines how small communities in the mountains and piedmonts were socially configured. Here we report on three of the four sites studied in early 2023: ʿAqīr al‑Shamūs, Ḥayy Ukur, and al-ʿAqar. Mapping of the fourth site, Raki 2, relies on alternative methods that are still being processed and will be reported in detail elsewhere. Our work has begun evaluating differences in the size, shape, abundance, and construction of architecture and surrounding water management and field systems. Preliminary results reveal a dense architectural plan with a possible public building at al-ʿAqar and broad similarities in architectural plans between ʿAqīr al-Shamūs, a specialized softstone production site, and Ḥayy Ukur, which lacks evidence of specialized production, suggesting autonomy as a likely social driver of the Iron Age settlement pattern.