Beyond the Oasis: The Ancient Cultural Landscape of Bat and the Sharsah Valley

FAIN: RFW-279340-21

New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)
Martin A. Klimke (Project Director: September 2020 to June 2021)
Eli Dollarhide (Project Director: June 2021 to present)

Survey and excavation to study the cultural processes and socio-ecological strategies practiced by the Umm an-Nar Civilization of Oman, c. 2800-2000 BCE.

This project seeks funding for a two-year investigation into the Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2800-2000 BCE) cultural landscape of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat and its surroundings in the Sharsah Valley of northwestern Oman. During this period, Bat was home to a series of resilient communities located in a hyper-arid environment. By conducting archaeological excavations and surveys, the project will study the cultural processes and socio-ecological strategies practiced by the Umm an-Nar. The resulting reconstruction of an ancient cultural landscape will resituate the critically understudied Omani interior in ongoing debates on connectivity and human-environment interaction in prehistoric societies and build a case study for a persistent, thriving cultural landscape in an arid environment.

Media Coverage

Discovery in Oman could show what ancient people ate more than 2,000 years ago (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Taylor Heyman
Publication: The National News
Date: 2/19/2022
URL: https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/oman/2022/02/19/discovery-in-oman-could-show-what-ancient-people-ate-more-than-2000-years-ago/