Prehistoric Fisherfolk of Oman: The Neolithic Village of Ras Al-Hamra RH-5 (The Archaeological Heritage of Oman)

Prehistoric Fisherfolk of Oman reports on excavations at the prehistoric site Ras Al-Hamra RH-5, located on a large promontory in the Qurum area of Muscat, conducted by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Oman with support from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. The site dates from the late fifth to the end of the fourth millennia BC and comprises an accumulation of superimposed food discards deriving from continuous and repeated subsistence activities such as fishing, collecting shells, hunting and herding. Dwellings and household installations, including objects of daily use and ornaments, have also been found throughout the occupation sequence. Excavations at RH-5 yielded unprecedented data on the economic and social dynamics of Neolithic societies in eastern Arabia. The exploitation of different ecological niches supplied all the necessary requirements for year-round sedentary human occupation. The lifestyle of fisher-gatherer communities during the Middle Holocene represents a fundamental step of the neolithisation process in Oman.

Lapo Gianni Marcucci obtained his Ph.D in partnership between the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and the University of Bologna. Working in Oman since 1998 on the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, he has directed various excavations including Ras Al-Hamra RH-5 and RH-6. Emilie Badel is Associated Researcher at the Vepmo laboratory of French CNRS. She obtained her Ph.D from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon- Sorbonne. Badel specializes in the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods of the Near East and researches on technological revolution that has coincided with the emergence of complex societies, in particular for what concerns man-shaped bitumen assemblages. Francesco Genchi is a Research Fellow at the Sapienza-University of Rome. He is a professional archaeologist specializing in stratigraphic excavation and 3D digital documentation, as well as in archaeological survey and landscape mapping.