Neolithic Mobility and Persistence in the Arabian Interior: Results from the KHS-A Site, Al-Khashbah, Oman.

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This poster presents the results of recent fieldwork at the Neolithic site of KHS-A, located north of the modern Al-Khashbah oasis in central Oman. The KHS-A site was identified in 2022 and consists of a cluster of stone structures, prepared fireplaces and lithic artifact scatters covering an area of over 3600 sq. meters on top of a relict Pleistocene terrace adjacent to the Wadi Samad. Our results have identified multiple phases of intact fireplaces with charcoal, bone fragments, shell beads, and lithic production debris. Radiocarbon dates suggest repeated occupations dating to the middle–late sixth and early fourth millennia BC. Early lithic results suggest several unique characteristics that differ from coastal sites, while malacological and anthracological data from the site confirm long-distance connections with the coast. From these initial test excavations, we argue that the site, and potentially other contemporary sites in the region, represent “persistent places” where mobile Neolithic peoples returned to repeatedly over centennial timescales to camp, exploit local lithic resources, graze domestic animals, and/or hunt. Future work at the site will investigate the scale of these inhabitations, their periodicity, and their relationship with local environmental conditions and resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Innovation and Population Dynamics in Drylands

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52993