Early Bronze Age Society in Eastern Arabia: An Analysis of the Funerary Archaeology of the Hafit Period (3,200-2,500 BC) in the Northern Oman Peninsula with Special Reference to the Al-Batinah Region

Abstract

The main focus of this research is on the funerary archaeology of the Hafit period (3,200-2,500 BC) in Early Bronze Age eastern Arabia, particularly within the Al-Batinah region of Oman. Notwithstanding the period’s lengthy research history our understanding of Hafit society is still very limited, while despite its importance little archaeological research has been carried out in Al-Batinah. The aim of the thesis is to explore the Batinah's Hafit archaeological dataset within the context of the northern Oman Peninsula and the wider region in order to consolidate our understanding of Hafit society. Google Earth is used to map the relative density and ubiquity of Hafit tombs across the northern Oman Peninsula, and to estimate the number of surviving Hafit tombs and the average size of the Hafit population. The location of every visible Hafit tomb in the Batinah region is also mapped. GIS analysis is carried out on both of these datasets in order to model the distribution of Hafit tombs in the Batinah and more broadly across the northern Oman Peninsula. To complement this regional analysis, three Hafit cemeteries and a suspected Hafit settlement are surveyed and recorded in detail on the ground. All of this data is brought together along with the published evidence in an attempt to provide fresh insight into the nature of Hafit society. Subsistence, the wider economy, and politics and ideology are discussed in detail. The importance of nomadic pastoralism, water resources, copper, and local and international trade emerge as major themes, as does the development of the Hafit economy and social structures later in the period. The wider geographical context is also examined – the phenomenon of widespread stone tomb construction in the fourth and third millennia BC across southwest Asia, and what this may reveal about Hafit society.