Unique megalithic grave in Nafūn (al-Wusṭā Governorate, south-central Oman) as a reflection of the collective identities in the Neolithic period

0583859 - ARÚ 2024 eng A - Abstract
Danielisová, Alžběta - Šneberger, Jiří - Daněček, David - Maiorano, M. P. - Garba, Roman
Unique megalithic grave in Nafūn (al-Wusṭā Governorate, south-central Oman) as a reflection of the collective identities in the Neolithic period.
[Seminar for Arabian studies /56./. Aarhus, 04.08.2023-06.08.2023]
Method of presentation: Přednáška
Event organizer: International Association for the Study of Arabia
URL events: https://iasarabia.org/the-seminar/ 
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) AP2203
Program: Akademická prémie - Praemium Academiae
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : megalithic grave * Neolithic * 14C dating * isotopes * central Oman
OECD category: Archaeology
https://iasarabia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IASA-Seminar-Abstracts-2023-rev.pdf

During the archaeological campaigns in the coastal alluvial plain of Wadi Nafūn a unique burial structure was excavated that contained evidence of long-term burial activities of a large local community. The human remains were deposited after initial decomposition outside the grave within the individual bone clusters containing always multiple individuals. The clusters were distinguished from each other by their personal ornaments, the only finds discovered within the grave. The construction of the grave is identical to the construction of megalithic structures; it is made up of vertical thin stone slabs that delimit the space of the burial chamber and also form internal divisions in which the bone clusters were placed. Radiocarbon dating places the period of collective burials between 5000 and 4600 cal. BCE with possible two phases recognised in the construction of the whole monument. During the Late Iron Age, the monument was disturbed by later burial activities of the Samad culture. The paper aims to present this unique structure in a complex manner discussing the succession of burial activities, dating and socio-economic and environmental settings based on radiocarbon and isotopic analysis. The discussion will also be aimed at the question of the area's Neolithic settlement and the local communities' subsistence economy.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351857