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Constructions humaines reposant sur des ressources en eau disponibles dans des milieux secs voire arides, les oasis ont permis aux sociétés humaines de s’affranchir – au moins partiellement – des contraintes climatiques dans des environnements réputés hostiles. Espaces de développement agricole dans des déserts ou sur des routes marchandes, les oasis ont aussi permis la fixation des populations, amenant parfois au développement d’importantes cités qui ont vu l’émergence et la diffusion des techniques hydrauliques mais ont aussi pu servir de points de relai dans l’expansion des religions (islam, zoroastrisme etc.). Les oasis reposent sur la combinaison de trois éléments indispensables : une ressource en eau, des cultures irriguées et un habitat humain concentré autour ou à proximité de ces cultures. On retrouve ces agrosystèmes dans toute la diagonale aride, du Sahara à la Chine en passant par la Péninsule Arabique, et jusqu’en Amérique latine (Pérou, Chili). Tous reposent sur la nécessité d’une organisation socio-politique et parfois même religieuse permettant le partage de l’eau, et d’un savoir-faire technique garantissant l’accès à la ressource. En effet, sans maîtrise ni contrôle de l’eau, l’oasis risque de décliner. Les types d’oasis diffèrent en fonction de la source d’eau qui est mise en valeur, qu’il s’agisse de sources captées dont l’eau est acheminée aux jardins par des canaux à ciel ouvert ; de la dérivation des eaux de rivières ou de cours d’eau temporaires ou pérennes, parfois en gorge ; de la captation et dérivation d’eaux de sources artésiennes (remontant sous pression) ; ou d’eau acheminée sous la surface du sol par des galeries drainantes, qu’on trouve en Iran et au Levant, au Maghreb, au Sahara, dans la Péninsule arabique ou même en Asie centrale. Ces systèmes hydro-agricoles reposent sur une complémentarité horizontale des cultures, l’eau d’irrigation alimentant à la fois une strate basse, généralement céréalière, fourragère ou maraîchère ; une strate intermédiaire arbustive (fruitière, notamment) et une strate haute qui est celle des palmiers-dattiers, dont la valeur commerciale est aujourd’hui bien connue. La Péninsule Arabique abrite parmi les plus anciennes oasis au monde. Ainsi, l’oasis d’Al Ahsa, dans l’est de la Péninsule, concentre des témoins d’une occupation sédentaire depuis le Néolithique jusqu’à nos jours et est actuellement la plus grande oasis au monde . L’Arabie Saoudite abrite aussi des oasis fortifiées de la fin du Néolithique, attestant l’importance stratégique de ces cultures dans l’organisation socio-économique de sociétés en cours de sédentarisation dans un contexte climatique d’aridification. Celui-ci touche aussi le reste de la Péninsule Arabique, en particulier dans sa partie méridionale (Émirats Arabes Unis, Oman). Dans le Sultanat, la présence oasienne remonte à l’Âge du Bronze mais la particularité de ces agro-hydrosystèmes tient à leur gestion collective actuelle liée à la tendance de l’islam suivie en Oman, l’ibadisme, fondée sur la consultation. Établies dans un contexte de sédentarisation, pour répondre à une demande en production agricole en période de réduction de la pluviométrie et de raréfaction de la ressource en eau, les oasis ont traversé les temps et permis la subsistance des sociétés grâce à une gestion parcimonieuse et régulée de l’eau. Aujourd’hui confrontés au changement climatique et à des transformations rapides dues au pétrole et à la mondialisation (sédentarisations forcées au 20e siècle, passage d’une économie agro-pastorale à une économie tertiaire, progrès des pompages dans des nappes profondes, développement de l’économie de marché), ces agro-hydrosystèmes sont bouleversés, parfois surexploités, parfois délaissés. Quelques exemples sont patrimonialisés et mis en tourisme, mais la plupart des systèmes traditionnels sont abandonnés et remplacés par une culture « moderne » (irrigation par aspersion, pivots, mécanisation) et productiviste. La conférence propose de brosser un tableau diachronique et régional de ces agrosystèmes particuliers, en évoquant leurs types, leurs fonctionnements, leurs conditions d’émergence, leurs évolutions depuis l’Âge du Bronze et leurs transformations modernes, ainsi que les défis actuels auxquels ils sont confrontés. Elle s’appuiera sur des exemples tirés de la littérature mais aussi de l’expérience de l’autrice, en particulier en Arabie Saoudite et en Oman.

This paper presents the newly identified Middle Palaeolithic site of Wadi Baw 4, in the Al Wusta Governate, close to Duqm. Middle Palaeolithic sites are very rare, especially in central Oman, where no sites had been identified prior to this, making this an important site not only for Oman, but the broader Arabian Peninsula. The site is a large (100m2) and relatively dense (>30 artefacts/m2) lithic scatter located on a slightly elevated limestone ridge with outcropping chert nodules at its base and flanks. The lithic assemblages produced from these chert nodules exhibit technological variability and weathering heterogeneity, indicating a likely palimpsest of Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic) and later Holocene occupation phases that targeted this raw material. By extending the Middle Palaeolithic record of hominin activity into the Huqf area of south-eastern Arabia with the first evidence of Levallois lithic technology, Wadi Baw 4 helps to diversify the picture of Arabian prehistory and promises to make an important contribution to wider debates surrounding the early peopling of the Arabian Peninsula. Work is in progress to establish a robust chronostratigraphic framework for the site through a multi-technique dating approach. In the meantime, this paper will present some preliminary results from the analysis of the Middle Palaeolithic lithic artefacts from the site and briefly consider where they might fit within the wider context of the Arabian Middle Palaeolithic.

Omani forts and castles represent a distinctive model of defensive architecture, constructed out of the need to ensure the security of coastal and inland regions. This architectural style transcended its purely military function to become an architectural text that generated cultural meanings and historical narratives. Thus, it may be examined through the integration of architectural studies with semiotics and hermeneutics, presenting Omani forts as symbolic productions connected to their historical and social contexts. The importance of this architecture becomes evident when recognized as a transboundary tradition extending to Bahrain, where Omani migrants contributed to the transfer of architectural characteristics through construction activities. This paper offers a historical reading of the transmission of Omani architecture and its relation to the artistic and cultural contexts of Bahrain. It inquiries into Omani influence within two historical contexts: the eighteenth century, when the Omanis built Arad Fort; and the mid-twentieth century, when they arrived as migrants and participated in residential construction. The study aims to understand their impact on the Bahraini architectural character, particularly given that they functioned as executing laborers under the supervision of Bahraini contractors. The study adopts historical and descriptive methods to examine Omani architectural influence, emphasizing the roles of design and execution as parallel authorities shaping the final form. The paper focuses on Omani craftsmen as cultural agents and intermediaries between Omani architecture and the new environment. Through comparative analysis, the study reveals two patterns of influence: direct and indirect, with Omani craftsmen remaining the principal common factor. This demonstrates how Omani architectural influence extended across time and space, highlighting its significance as a historical and transboundary phenomenon.

The rock art of Ẓufār, consisting of both engravings and paintings, was first documented through the pioneering work of Ali Ahmad Mahash al-Shahri in the early 1990s. He reported the presence of painted caves in the monsoon- affected coastal area and subsequently identified engraved rocks in the semi-desert region of the Nejd. Despite their significance, these paintings and engravings—including several rock inscriptions in the South Arabian alphabet (27- 29 letters) with a local variant that can be called ‘Omani script’, whose earliest traces date back to around the 4th-3rd century BCE —have not yet been the subject of systematic scientific study. The iconographic context includes animals (mainly ibex, camels, dogs, snakes), anthropomorphs, footprints, ships and inscriptions in Ancient Arabic alphabet. Two fieldwork campaigns, conducted in 2023 and 2024 by the CNRS–CEFREPA (Centre Français de Recherches de la péninsule Arabique) with the authorization of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of Oman, mark the beginning of such an effort. The project included the complete recording of a boulder from Wadi Lahjeej, now housed in the Oman Across Ages Museum, carried out with the support of the museum’s directorate. A multi-level documentation process has been initiated, comprising the inventory of engraved rocks with GPS coordinates, a photographic survey, plastic-sheet tracings of the engravings, the compilation of a figure catalogue, and the establishment of a relative chronology leading to preliminary interpretative hypotheses. Particular attention is devoted to identifying and characterizing the figurative styles represented in the rock art of Ẓufār—both in the cave paintings and in the Nejd rock carvings. In addition, a comparative study of the inscriptions is underway to determine whether the painted scripts found in the caves differ from those engraved on rocks in the Nejd. The language of the rock inscriptions will also be determined: Old South Arabian epigraphic as Hadramatic epigraphic, Old Shahri, or Old Arabic, or another unknown local language. Finally, the project seeks to investigate the possible connections between the rock art of Ẓufār and that of Central Oman (Al-Wusta Governorate) and the northern regions of the Sultanate of Oman.

The bay of Ras Al Jinz, at the easternmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, hosts one of the most significant Early Bronze Age settlement complexes of coastal Oman, offering a unique window onto the settlement patterns and socio- economic transformations that marked the region during the Bronze Age. Excavations conducted over the past three decades at RJ-2 and RJ-3 reveal a long sequence of occupation spanning from the Late Neolithic (ca. 4300–3200 BCE) through the Hafit period (ca. 3200–2600 BCE) to the Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2600–2000 BCE). During the Umm an-Nar period, these two neighbouring sites, located on opposite sides of the bay, formed a single, extensive settlement complex covering 3–4 hectares, continuously occupied throughout this phase. This integrated landscape reflects an evolving organization of space, work, and community life that illustrates the broader cultural and societal developments of the Early Bronze Age in Southern Sharqiyah. RJ-2, the main residential nucleus, presents a long stratigraphic sequence organized into successive architectural compounds that demonstrate evolving construction techniques and increasingly complex spatial planning. Evidence of domestic life, storage, and large-scale food processing, including smoking installations for fish curing, attests to intensive exploitation of marine resources and the production of surpluses. Across the bay, RJ-3 functioned as a specialised workshop quarter, where excavations revealed a series of ephemeral huts and working floors with abundant production debris related to the manufacture of shell and stone ornaments, supported by specialised toolkits. Together, RJ-2 and RJ-3 represent a coherent socio-economic system in which residential and productive dimensions were closely integrated. Their spatial and functional complementarity embodies a decisive step toward economic diversification and intra-site specialisation, key hallmarks of complexification during the third millennium BCE.

Paleolithic research in the Sultanate of Oman, which is still in its formative stage compared to neighboring regions such as the Levant and the Iranian Plateau, requires extensive application of absolute dating methods on undisturbed cave and rock-shelter deposits to establish a reliable and detailed chronological framework for early human occupation and environmental change. In 2023, our field surveys across the governorates of Ad Dakhiliyah and Ad Dhahirah identified a wide range of rock shelters, each with distinct geomorphological and archaeological potential (Beshkani 2023). For the first time, we propose that several inselbergs surrounding the Wilayat of Manah- most notably Karsha Rock (Jabal Sarouj), located within the residential area of Karsha and previously known primarily for its Islamic- period villages and fortifications- were likely occupied during the Late Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. In the outskirts of Ibri, where the Umm er Radhuma Formation provides a favorable lithological context for speleogenesis, our preliminary studies attribute the dispersed lithic artifacts discovered at the entrances of rock shelters to the Late Paleolithic.This evidence corresponds with increased precipitation during the Early Holocene and suggests a demographic expansion and intensification of habitation along the foothills of the Al Hajar Mountains (Preston et al., 2015). We also registered three relatively large caves in Wadi Dhank. The characteristics and composition of the cemented deposits within these caves indicate the former presence of enclosed water basins prior to the collapse and subsequent exposure of their entrances. The occurrence of speleothems in Al Mihayniyah-2 Cave, located adjacent to the Dhank–Fida road, provides a valuable opportunity to reconstruct the paleoclimate of the western Al Hajar Mountains, a region that today exhibits a semi-arid to arid landscape.

Despite the significant scarcity of water resources, human groups in Oman developed long-term strategies enabling sustainable occupation of drylands. These adaptive capacities were shaped over millennia of settlement in challenging and fluctuating environments that, over the past 10,000 years, experienced major shifts from humid to arid conditions driven by monsoon variability. Such climatic fluctuations profoundly influenced the availability of water, plant, and animal resources. The long-standing interactions between environment and early Omani societies, situated at the intersection of natural processes, climatic trends, and resource management strategies, are traceable in both archaeological and environmental records. The UmWeltWandel joint project (2020–2024) investigates the local-scale environmental evolution of the Al-Khashbah area in Oman through a multidisciplinary approach integrating geochemistry, geomorphology, geophysics, soil science, archaeobotany, and palynology. The project aims to reconstruct the long-term evolution of landscapes and resources in Central Oman over the last 10,000 years. This paper presents an overview of the project’s results, focusing on how the Al-Khashbah sector in the Ash Sharqiyah North Governorate evolved from the humid conditions of the Holocene Humid Period to the present arid climate, and how Bronze Age societies began to transform the surrounding landscape to optimize local resources around Al- Khashbah. By intensively investigating a single area through a multidisciplinary framework, this study both extracts new and challenging datasets and highlights the potential of selected environmental proxies for reconstructing human–environment interactions in Oman and, more broadly, in drylands.

Research conducted along the Omani coastline of the Arabian Sea has revealed a new chapter in the history of early maritime communities. Globally, most coastal habitats from the early Holocene have been submerged by rising sea levels. The caves in the cliffs of Natif (Hasik, Dhofar) are an exception in Arabia: they are currently the only evidence of maritime communities from the Late Paleolithic period on the peninsula. Between the early 9th and 8th millennia BCE, these early Arabian fishermen focused on catching small pelagic species (anchovies and sardinella), as well as rays and sharks. Around 6000 BCE, the shores of the Arabian Peninsula were covered with Neolithic settlements, sometimes consisting of large shell middens. The mission discovered a large number of these along the Arabian Sea and explored several, notably at Suwayh, Ruwayz, Khuwaymah, Masirah Island, Sharbithat, Hasik, Ad Dahariz, Hallaniyah Island, etc. Among these, the Suwayh SWY-1 settlement is particularly noteworthy, as its inhabitants specialized in shark fishing between 5800 and 4400 BCE. This Neolithic period also saw the conquest of island environments, including the large island of Masirah and the Hallaniyat archipelago. While Masirah was occupied early on (5900-5600 BCE), Hallaniyah was settled much later (around 4400 BCE). By this time, the entire territory of Oman had been conquered by Neolithic communities. At the same time, the mission worked to establish a chronology for these periods. In Sharbithat Bay, as in Hasik, it is currently bringing to light a new facies from the very end of the Neolithic period, between 3700 and 3100 BCE.