French archaeological mission to central oman (2023): Explorations in bisya

The French Archaeological Mission in Central Oman (FAMCO) studies the diachronic settlement of Bisya, one of the Oman peninsula’s main archaeological zones, in the Hajar mountains foothills. This region, which benefits from a location at the confluence of several wadis and local mineral resources, has been populated since the Paleolithic. It experienced a particularly prosperous development in the Early Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The first aim of the mission is to identify the development of human communities through survey and excavation. The Palaeolithic program investigates the first settlements of the Arabian Peninsula, determining the presence or absence of Neanderthal populations and their relationship to the arrival of modern Homo sapiens between the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. The central part of the mission focuses on the Early Bronze Age to understand the beginnings of the oasis agrosystem, the domestication of the date palm, the first irrigation systems, the development of monumental domestic and funerary architecture, and the appearance of local crafts (pottery, copper metallurgy). Our research aims to provide new evidence on the role of Oman (Land of Magan in the Mesopotamian texts) within the Middle East during the Bronze Age, particularly its relations with Lower Mesopotamia (Sumerian country), Iran (the region of Fars and Makran) and the Indus Valley.