Petrographic and geochemical analyses of pottery from Wadi Tanuf, Oman: Approaching pottery production in south-eastern Arabia during the second and first millennia BCE

Abstract

This study describes the petrographic and geochemical characteristics of pottery collected from Mugharat al-Kahf and WTN02 in Wadi Tanuf, north-central Oman, to clarify interregional similarities and differences in pottery production techniques and examine the existence of interregional trade in pottery with respect to changes in mobile communities. Potsherds from these sites were characterised using thin-section petrography and instrumental neutron activation analysis. Results revealed that several clay fabrics and tempers were used during the Wadi Suq period (2000–1600 BCE). A region-wide similarity exists in pottery-making techniques in terms of the tempering of specific minerals (Oman ophiolite) used in the Early Iron Age (1300–300 BCE). Geochemical results indicate differences in clay sources between the Wadi Suq period and the Early Iron Age in Wadi Tanuf and the unlikelihood of the interregional trade of domestic pottery.