Ground stone tools from the copper production site Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3082Palabras clave:
Al-Khashbah; copper production; ground stone tools; Early Bronze Age; Oman; Eastern ArabiaResumen
Archaeological research at Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman, conducted by the University of Tübingen, revealed a large Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BCE) site. During the intensive surface survey and excavations, several ground stone tools were found. Most of them came from the vicinity of monumental stone and mud-brick structures, so-called towers, and are clearly connected to copper-processing waste such as slag, furnace fragments and prills, i.e., droplets of molten copper. Therefore, it is assumed that these ground stone tools were used within the operational procedures of copper-processing. Interestingly, only the monumental towers from the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Hafit period, feature larger quantities of ground stone tools as well as copper processing waste. Towers from the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE, i.e., the Umm an-Nar period, have none. Within the scope of this paper, the distribution of the different types of ground stone tools in Al-Khashbah as well as their find context will be presented. They are illustrated with drawings generated from 3D models created using digital photography processed with the software Agisoft Photoscan. Comparisons with other 3rd millennium BCE sites in Eastern Arabia show that there as well, copper-processing remains are often associated with ground stone tools. The overall variety of types seems to be rather homogeneous in the region.
Referencias
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Potts, D.T. 1991, Further Excavations at Tell Abraq. The 1990 Season, Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 154 p.
Reade, J. 2000, Sacred Places in Ancient Oman. Journal of Oman Studies, 11: 133–138.
Rosenberg, D. 2013, Not ‘Just Another Brick in the Wall?’ The Symbolism of Groundstone Tools in Natufian and Early Neolithic Southern Levantine Constructions. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23: 185–201. doi:10.1017/S095977431300022X
Rosenberg, D. & Nadel, D. 2014, The Sounds of Pounding: Boulder Mortars and their Significance to Natufian Burial Customs. Current Anthropology, 55(6): 784–812. doi:10.1086/679287
Schmidt, C. & Döpper, S. 2017a, The Development of Complexity at Third-Millennium BC Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman: Results of the First Two Seasons, 2015 and 2016. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 47: 215–226.
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Vardi, J., Shilstein, S., Shalev, S. & Yekutieli, Y. 2008, The Early Bronze Age IV Chipped and Ground Stone Assemblage of ‘En Yahav and its Relation to Copper Smelting Activities. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 38: 1–20.
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Weisgerber, G. 1980, "...und Kupfer in Oman" – Das Oman-Projekt des Deutschen Bergbau-Museums. Der Anschnitt. Mitteilungsblatt der Vereinigung der Freunde von Kunst und Kultur im Bergbau 32(2–3): 62–110. (in German) (“"... and Copper in Oman" - The Oman-Project of the German Mining Museum”)
Weisgerber, G. 1981, Mehr als Kupfer in Oman. Ergebnisse der Expedition 1981. Der Anschnitt. Mitteilungsblatt der Vereinigung der Freunde von Kunst und Kultur im Bergbau 33(5–6): 174–263. (in German) ("More than Copper in Oman. Results of the 1981 Expedition")
Weisgerber, G. 1987, Archaeological Evidence of Copper Exploitation at 'Arja. Journal of Oman Studies, 9: 145–172.
Wright, K.I. 1992, Ground Stone Assemblage Variations and Subsistence Strategies in the Levant, 22,000 to 5,500 b.p., PhD thesis at Yale University, 696 p.
Wright, K.I. 2013, The Ground Stone Technologies of Çatalhöyük, 1993–2008. In: Substantive Technologies from Çatalhöyük: reports from the 2000–2008 seasons (Hodder, I., Ed.), Çatalhöyük Research Project Series Vol. 9, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles: p. 365–416.
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Al-Jahwari, N.S. 2013, The Early Bronze Age Funerary Archaeological Landscape of Western Ja’alan: Results of Three Seasons of Investigation. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 24(2): 151–173. doi:10.1111/aae.12014
Al-Jahwari, N.S. & Kennet, D. 2010, Umm an-Nar Settlement in the Wādī Andam (Sultanate of Oman). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 40: 201–212.
Böhme, M. & Ali Al-Sabri, B. 2011, Umm an-Nar burial 401 at Bat, Oman: architecture and finds. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 22: 113-154.
Cleuziou, S. 1989, Excavations at Hili 8: A Preliminary Report on the 4th to 7th Campaigns. Archaeology in the United Arab Emirates, 5: 61–87.
Cleuziou, S. 2009, Extracting Wealth from a Land of Starvation by Creating Social Complexity: A Dialogue between Archaeology and Climate? Comptes Rendus Geoscience, 341: 726–738. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2009.06.005
Cleuziou, S. & Tosi, M. 2007, In the Shadow of the Ancestors. The Prehistoric Foundations of the Early Arabian Civilization in Oman. Ministry of Heritage & Culture, Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, 334 p.
Costa, P.M. & Wilkinson, T.J. 1987, The Hinterland of Sohar. Archaeological Surveys and Excavations within the Region of an Omani Seafaring City. Journal of Oman Studies, 9: 1–238.
Costa, T. 2016, Preliminary Report on Ground Stone Artifacts from Bat. In: The Bronze Age Towers at Bat, Sultanate of Oman. Research by the Bat Archaeological Project, 2007–12 (Thornton, C., Cable, C. & Possehl, G.L., Eds.), University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia: p. 239–257.
Döpper, S. & Schmidt, C., 2017, Al-Khashbah 3D-Models Finds. Retrieved 13 January 2019. URL: https://www.archaeoman.de/en/al-khashbah-3d-modelle-funde/
Doumas, C.G. 2011, Searching for the Early Bronze Age Aegean Metallurgist’s Toolkit. In: Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why. Studies in Honor of James D. Muhly (Betancourt, P.P. & Ferrence, S., Eds.), INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia: p. 165–179.
Ebeling, J.R. 2002, Why are Ground Stone Tools Found in Middle and Late Bronze Age Burials? Near Eastern Archaeology, 65(2): 149–151. doi:10.2307/3210876
Fossati, A.E. 2015 (unpublished), Rock Art Mission Report. (Kasr al-Sleme) - Khadal, Safri 1, Khasbah, and Rock Art Sites in Adh Dhahirah Region (Ibri, Yanqul and Dank) (15 November - 9 December 2015). Catholic University Milan, Dept. of History, Archaeology and History of Art
Frifelt, K. 1976, Evidence of a Third Millennium BC Town in Oman. The Journal of Oman Studies, 2: 57-67.
Frifelt, K. 1989, Third Millennium Irrigation and Oasis Culture in Oman. In: Old Problems and New Perspectives in the Archaeology of South Asia: p. 105–113.
Frifelt, K. 1991, The Island of Umm An-Nar. Vol. 1: Third Millenium Graves. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 188 p.
Frifelt, K. 1995, The Island of Umm an-Nar 2: The Third Millennium Settlement. The Carlsberg Foundation's Gulf Project. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, 260 p.
Frifelt, K. 2002, Bat, a Center in Third Millennium Oman. In: Essays on the Late Prehistory of the Arabian Peninsula (Cleuziou, S., Tosi, M. & Zarins, J., Eds.), Serie orientale Roma Vol. XCIII, Roma: p. 101–110.
Greener, A. & Ben-Yosef, E. 2016, The Ground Stone Assemblage of a Metal Workers Community: An Unexplored Dimension of Iron Age Copper Production at Timna. Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3): 191–220. doi:10.2218/jls.v3i3.1678
Hastings, A., Humphries, J.H. & Meadow, R.H. 1976, Oman in the Third Millennium BCE. Journal of Oman Studies, 1: 9–55.
Levy, T.E., Bettilyon, M. & Burton, M.M. 2016, The Iron Age Copper Industrial Complex: A Preliminary Study of the Role of Ground Stone Tools at Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan. Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3): 313–335. doi:10.2218/jls.v3i3.1648
Levy, T.E., Levy, A., Radhakrishna Sthapathy, D., Srikanda Sthapathy, D. & Swaminatha Sthapathy, D. 2008, Masters of Fire: Hereditary Bronze Casters of South India. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum Vol. 162. Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, 144 p.
Orchard, J. & Orchard, J. 2002, The Work of the Al Hajar Project in Oman. Journal of Oman Studies, 12: 227–234.
Potts, D.T. 1991, Further Excavations at Tell Abraq. The 1990 Season, Munksgaard, Copenhagen, 154 p.
Reade, J. 2000, Sacred Places in Ancient Oman. Journal of Oman Studies, 11: 133–138.
Rosenberg, D. 2013, Not ‘Just Another Brick in the Wall?’ The Symbolism of Groundstone Tools in Natufian and Early Neolithic Southern Levantine Constructions. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23: 185–201. doi:10.1017/S095977431300022X
Rosenberg, D. & Nadel, D. 2014, The Sounds of Pounding: Boulder Mortars and their Significance to Natufian Burial Customs. Current Anthropology, 55(6): 784–812. doi:10.1086/679287
Schmidt, C. & Döpper, S. 2017a, The Development of Complexity at Third-Millennium BC Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman: Results of the First Two Seasons, 2015 and 2016. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 47: 215–226.
Schmidt, C. & Döpper, S. 2017b, Die Entstehung komplexer Siedlungen im nördlichen Inner-Oman im 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.: Bericht über die Ausgrabungen 2015 und 2016 in Al-Khashbah. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, 149: 121–158. (in German) ("The Development of Complex Settlements in Northern Inner Oman in the 3rd Millennium BC: Report on the 2015 and 2016 Excavation Seasons in Al-Khashbah")
Vardi, J., Shilstein, S., Shalev, S. & Yekutieli, Y. 2008, The Early Bronze Age IV Chipped and Ground Stone Assemblage of ‘En Yahav and its Relation to Copper Smelting Activities. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 38: 1–20.
Webb, J.M. 2015, Identifying Stone Tools Used in Mining, Smelting, and Casting in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40(1): 22–36. doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000108
Weisgerber, G. 1980, "...und Kupfer in Oman" – Das Oman-Projekt des Deutschen Bergbau-Museums. Der Anschnitt. Mitteilungsblatt der Vereinigung der Freunde von Kunst und Kultur im Bergbau 32(2–3): 62–110. (in German) (“"... and Copper in Oman" - The Oman-Project of the German Mining Museum”)
Weisgerber, G. 1981, Mehr als Kupfer in Oman. Ergebnisse der Expedition 1981. Der Anschnitt. Mitteilungsblatt der Vereinigung der Freunde von Kunst und Kultur im Bergbau 33(5–6): 174–263. (in German) ("More than Copper in Oman. Results of the 1981 Expedition")
Weisgerber, G. 1987, Archaeological Evidence of Copper Exploitation at 'Arja. Journal of Oman Studies, 9: 145–172.
Wright, K.I. 1992, Ground Stone Assemblage Variations and Subsistence Strategies in the Levant, 22,000 to 5,500 b.p., PhD thesis at Yale University, 696 p.
Wright, K.I. 2013, The Ground Stone Technologies of Çatalhöyük, 1993–2008. In: Substantive Technologies from Çatalhöyük: reports from the 2000–2008 seasons (Hodder, I., Ed.), Çatalhöyük Research Project Series Vol. 9, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles: p. 365–416.
Yule, P. 2001, Die Gräberfelder in Samad al Shan (Sultanat Oman) - Materialien zu einer Kulturgeschichte. Orient-Archäologie Vol. 4. Marie Leidorf, Rahden, 514 p. (in German) ("The Grave-Field of Samad al-Shan (Sultante of Oman) - Materials of a Cultural History")
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15-Dec-2020
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Articles from the 2nd Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Tools Research
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Ground stone tools from the copper production site Al-Khashbah, Sultanate of Oman. (2020). Journal of Lithic Studies, 7(3), 24 p. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3082
