Project: The role of copper mining in shaping Bronze Age settlements in northern Oman

The role of copper mining in shaping Bronze Age settlements in northern Oman. Archaeological and geological research in the mountain region of Qumayrah

keywords: Oman,  Magan, metallurgy, Bronze Age

The project addresses the problem of the development and organization of settlement patterns in Oman during the Bronze Age, a period of significant socio-economic, cultural, and settlement changes. Mastering metallurgical skills allowing the region’s inhabitants to identify, extract and process copper must have played a key role in that process. At that time, Oman, or the ancient land of Magan, as it was known in external written sources, was a major exporter of this valuable raw material to Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and Iran. The cuneiform inscriptions of Mesopotamian rulers and numerous administrative documents provide insight into the scale of this trade and the strategic importance of this land to the entire Gulf region. However, the picture that emerges from Mesopotamian written sources is one-sided and shows  Magan from the perspective of distant neighbors and trading partners, or rivals in the struggle for valuable resources. Therefore, it does not shed light on the question of processes shaping the settlement network in the new economic conditions.

The project aims to study this issue based on a comprehensive analysis of small settlements that had been the basis of the efficient economic system for several hundred years. The research will be conducted in close cooperation between archaeologists and geologists in the mountain micro-region of Qumayrah in northern Oman, located at the confluence of important trade routes of the time, in an area where copper outcrops have been identified in previous research.

Links

PCMA UW Research in micro-region Qumayrah Valley