The Early Iron Age Metal Hoard from the Al Khawd Area (Sultan Qaboos University), Sultanate of Oman

On the campus of Sultan Qaboos University in Al Khawd, Oman, a hoard of metallic artifacts, mostly fashioned from copper, dating to the Early Iron Age (1200-300 BCE) was discovered. The hoard includes arrowheads, axes/adzes, bangles, daggers, knives, socketed lance/spearheads, metal vessels, razors, rings, swords, and tweezers. The discovery suggests that the 1st millennium BCE Qadē was a significant player in the copper trade volume, surpassing Bronze Age Makan. The Early Iron Age is now seen as an innovative and successful adaptive period characterized by population growth rather than a dark age.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 334 pages
Publication date: 23 December 2021
Publisher: Archaeopress

Numerous metallic artifacts, which anciently were deposited in a hoard, came to light per chance on the campus of the Sultan Qaboos University in Al Khawd, Sultanate of Oman. Mostly fashioned from copper, these arrowheads, axes/adzes, bangles, daggers, knives, socketed lance/spearheads, metal vessels, razors, rings, swords, and tweezers compare well with numerous documented artifact classes from south-eastern Arabia assigned to the Early Iron Age (1200–300 BCE). Discussion of the international trade between ancient Makan, Dilmun, and Mesopotamia during the 3rd millennium BCE dominates the archaeological literature about Arabia archaeology. The Al Khawd hoard and its contemporaries lend weight to the suggestion that 1st millennium BCE Qadē (the name of south-eastern Arabia at that time) was even more important than Bronze Age Makan in terms of the copper trade volume. A reassessment shows the Early Iron Age by no means to be a dark age, but rather an innovative, successful adaptive period characterized by evident population growth.

Numerous metallic artifacts, which anciently were deposited in a hoard, came to light per chance on the campus of the Sultan Qaboos University in Al Khawd, Sultanate of Oman. Mostly fashioned from copper, these arrowheads, axes/adzes, bangles, daggers, knives, socketed lance/spearheads, metal vessels, razors, rings, swords, and tweezers compare well with numerous documented artifact classes from south-eastern Arabia assigned to the Early Iron Age (1200–300 BCE). Discussion of the international trade between ancient Makan, Dilmun, and Mesopotamia during the 3rd millennium BCE dominates the archaeological literature about Arabia archaeology. The Al Khawd hoard and its contemporaries lend weight to the suggestion that 1st millennium BCE Qadē (the name of south-eastern Arabia at that time) was even more important than Bronze Age Makan in terms of the copper trade volume. A reassessment shows the Early Iron Age by no means to be a dark age, but rather an innovative, successful adaptive period characterized by evident population growth.

Weight: 1252g
Dimension: 209 x 297 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803270821