Oman: 5,000-year-old settlement unearthed
An exploratory team has unearthed a 5,000-year-old settlement in a second season of antiquary excavations in the archaeological site of Al Gharyein in Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi in Oman.
This discovery was the outcome of cooperation between Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism.
The excavation team was headed by SQU Archaeology Department Professor Dr. Nasser Said Al Jahwari. and comprised Dr. Khalid Douglas and Dr. Mohammad Hussein.
Al Gharyein site’s settlement boasts a unique organization and planning and features a tower structure, surrounded by multi-room dwellings, a cemetery with mass burial graves and the remains of other buildings. It is distinguished for its large buildings as large as 600 sqm each.
Al Gharyein settlement played a major role in the region, with manifestations of human activities that included early farming, herding, copper smelting and trade exchange, notably among coastal communities and Sindh.
