Overview

The end of the 3rd millennium was a time of significant transformation in south-east Arabia (the United Arab Emirates and northern Oman). The cultural homogeneity of the preceding Early Bronze Age, Umm an-Nar period (c. 2700–2000 BC) came to an end and gave way to the Middle Bronze Age, Wadi Suq period (2000–1600 BC). Settlements changed, and possibly began to decline in size and number, the economy changed for many and the important trade in copper ore seems to have declined. In addition, there was a marked change in funerary practices as new types of tombs appeared – both collective and individual burials. All of this took place within the context of a climatic shift that led to a decline in rainfall across many parts of the region. Much of the countryside of south-eastern Iran was abandoned and the urban period of the Indus Valley was weakening. In the midst of this turmoil, the limited agricultural plains of northern Ras al-Khaimah appear to have developed into an island where there was greater continuity than elsewhere. This book reports on the excavation of a number of monumental collective tombs that were built there and used through the early part of the 2nd millennium. The way that they were constructed and used as well as the burial goods that they contain throw light on the population of this area, and give some indication of how and why it was that life continued in this small pocket in a way that was different to surrounding regions.

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9781789257953

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Derek Kennet is a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. He has been conducting archaeological fieldwork in Arabia for over 30 years, having worked in Kuwait, the UAE and Oman. He completed a PhD on the archaeology of Ras al-Khaimah at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Alyson Caine is a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Merced. She has conducted osteological fieldwork for over eight years and worked in Arabia for the past decade. She completed her Master’s in Paleopathology at Durham University, UK. Anna Hilton has been conducting archaeological fieldwork in Arabia for 15 years, having worked in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt. She completed a Master’s on the soft stone vessels and archaeology of Failaka (Kuwait) at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lloyd Weeks is a professor in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and History at the University of New England, Australia. He completed a PhD on the archaeology of early metal production and exchange in the Persian Gulf region at Sydney University, Australia.

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