Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0003
R. Cuttler, Áurea Izquierdo Zamora
This chapter examines tomb construction and its use from the Neolithic through the late Pre-Islamic period on the Gulf Peninsula of Qatar. Geomorphological and environmental factors that may have influenced mortuary practices are considered. The authors present evidence that suggests that the density of cairns was influenced by landscape, geomorphology, and hydrology. Further, the authors understand that more information is necessary before other researches make comparisons of similar tombs from other regions of the Arabian Peninsula.
{"title":"Burial Archaeology in Qatar","authors":"R. Cuttler, Áurea Izquierdo Zamora","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines tomb construction and its use from the Neolithic through the late Pre-Islamic period on the Gulf Peninsula of Qatar. Geomorphological and environmental factors that may have influenced mortuary practices are considered. The authors present evidence that suggests that the density of cairns was influenced by landscape, geomorphology, and hydrology. Further, the authors understand that more information is necessary before other researches make comparisons of similar tombs from other regions of the Arabian Peninsula.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123364293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0011
Alexis T. Boutin, Benjamin W. Porter
This chapter draws on bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology to investigate three adult men in a brief case study from Early Dilmun, a Bronze Age polity that spanned the western edge of the Arabian/Persian Gulf at the end of the third and the beginning of the second millennium BCE. We draw our evidence from the Peter B. Cornwall Collection at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Cornwall (1913–1972) excavated this evidence from Bahrain during his expedition to the region in 1940 and 1941. Cornwall later analyzed these mortuary contexts in several works—including his doctoral dissertation and a handful of articles—and then eventually deposited the skeletal remains and objects in the Hearst Museum. Since 2008, we have been analyzing and publishing materials from this collection under the auspices of the Dilmun Bioarchaeology Project. Using this evidence, we demonstrate both the possibilities and limitations of investigating masculinity in one specific ancient Near Eastern society.
{"title":"The Elders of Early Dilmun","authors":"Alexis T. Boutin, Benjamin W. Porter","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0011","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter draws on bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology to investigate three adult men in a brief case study from Early Dilmun, a Bronze Age polity that spanned the western edge of the Arabian/Persian Gulf at the end of the third and the beginning of the second millennium BCE. We draw our evidence from the Peter B. Cornwall Collection at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Cornwall (1913–1972) excavated this evidence from Bahrain during his expedition to the region in 1940 and 1941. Cornwall later analyzed these mortuary contexts in several works—including his doctoral dissertation and a handful of articles—and then eventually deposited the skeletal remains and objects in the Hearst Museum. Since 2008, we have been analyzing and publishing materials from this collection under the auspices of the Dilmun Bioarchaeology Project. Using this evidence, we demonstrate both the possibilities and limitations of investigating masculinity in one specific ancient Near Eastern society.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134455359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0004
K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka
The shift between Hafit (ca. 3100–2700 BC) and Umm an-Nar (ca. 2700–2000 BC) mortuary traditions on the Oman Peninsula is poorly understood, primarily because the semi-nomadic communities of this liminal period left little to the archaeological record, with the exception of monumental tombs. Because of the ambiguity surrounding this transition, tombs from this time are typically classified as either ‘Hafit’ or ‘Umm an-Nar’ without regard for the considerable geographic and temporal variation in tomb structure and membership throughout southeastern Arabia. Recent survey and excavation of a Bronze Age necropolis at Al Khubayb in the Sultanate of Oman have revealed Transitional tombs that—far from exhibiting a simplified dichotomy—represent a blurring of the traditionally discrete boundaries dividing the Hafit and Umm an-Nar periods. Bioarchaeological analyses of tombs at Al Khubayb further enable researchers to make a distinction between tomb types and elucidate the process by which mortuary treatments changed. Over the late fourth and into the early third millennium BC, these entombment practices changed from (a) relatively small, roughly-hewn limestone tombs known as Hafit-type cairns to (b) Transitional tombs displaying features intermediary to both Hafit and Umm an-Nar period mortuary structures to (c) large, expertly-constructed Umm an-Nar communal tombs.
{"title":"The Hafit/Umm an-Nar Transition of the Third Millennium BC","authors":"K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"The shift between Hafit (ca. 3100–2700 BC) and Umm an-Nar (ca. 2700–2000 BC) mortuary traditions on the Oman Peninsula is poorly understood, primarily because the semi-nomadic communities of this liminal period left little to the archaeological record, with the exception of monumental tombs. Because of the ambiguity surrounding this transition, tombs from this time are typically classified as either ‘Hafit’ or ‘Umm an-Nar’ without regard for the considerable geographic and temporal variation in tomb structure and membership throughout southeastern Arabia. Recent survey and excavation of a Bronze Age necropolis at Al Khubayb in the Sultanate of Oman have revealed Transitional tombs that—far from exhibiting a simplified dichotomy—represent a blurring of the traditionally discrete boundaries dividing the Hafit and Umm an-Nar periods. Bioarchaeological analyses of tombs at Al Khubayb further enable researchers to make a distinction between tomb types and elucidate the process by which mortuary treatments changed. Over the late fourth and into the early third millennium BC, these entombment practices changed from (a) relatively small, roughly-hewn limestone tombs known as Hafit-type cairns to (b) Transitional tombs displaying features intermediary to both Hafit and Umm an-Nar period mortuary structures to (c) large, expertly-constructed Umm an-Nar communal tombs.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115405705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0008
Jill A. Weber, K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka
Animal bones form large components of Early Bronze Age burials in Syro-Mesopotamia, and they reflect concepts of death, vestiges of funerary ceremony, and artifacts of life. However, in the contemporary burials of third millennium BC Bronze Age cairns from the north-central Oman Peninsula, finds of faunal remains are scarce. At the Al Khubayb Necropolis, near Dhank in the Sultanate of Oman, transitional tomb forms (dated to the later Hafit and early Umm an-Nar periods) have yielded new information about rare instances of animal bones deliberately interred with human remains. Despite their scarcity, the context of these bones—particularly their associations with individuals of a certain age and sex—offers insights into a transitional mortuary landscape and its relationship with the living. The authors assess the data in relation to both regional examples of faunal inclusion elsewhere in southeastern Arabia and their significance with regard to the practice and ritual meaning of faunal interments.
{"title":"Animals and the Changing Landscape of Death on the Oman Peninsula in the Third Millennium BC","authors":"Jill A. Weber, K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"Animal bones form large components of Early Bronze Age burials in Syro-Mesopotamia, and they reflect concepts of death, vestiges of funerary ceremony, and artifacts of life. However, in the contemporary burials of third millennium BC Bronze Age cairns from the north-central Oman Peninsula, finds of faunal remains are scarce. At the Al Khubayb Necropolis, near Dhank in the Sultanate of Oman, transitional tomb forms (dated to the later Hafit and early Umm an-Nar periods) have yielded new information about rare instances of animal bones deliberately interred with human remains. Despite their scarcity, the context of these bones—particularly their associations with individuals of a certain age and sex—offers insights into a transitional mortuary landscape and its relationship with the living. The authors assess the data in relation to both regional examples of faunal inclusion elsewhere in southeastern Arabia and their significance with regard to the practice and ritual meaning of faunal interments.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"335 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116446579","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0012
P. Magee
This concluding chapter focuses on the major themes resulting from this volume and the future of this discipline. For too long, Arabia has remained on the margins of the study of the ancient world. Up until that point, previous research thought that this region contained little to no prehistoric archaeology. One of the first and most important results of this volume is to disprove that notion. This work is important, not just in terms of funerary ritual and tomb architecture but also as a reminder that the perspective that homogenizes human behavior on the basis of apparent material culture uniformity runs the risk of erasing individual and group agency. In short, these chapters offer new insights. Arabian archaeology is a young discipline that embraces new conceptualizations of ancient societies and new methodologies modes of practice. Its researchers challenge the strict and often calcified concept of material cultures that compartmentalized southeast Arabian prehistory. As the discipline of Near Eastern Archaeology collapses, an opportunity arises to bring more nuance to our knowledge of how past people lived in Asia.
{"title":"Conclusions, Challenges, and the Future of Mortuary Archaeology and Bioarchaeology in Arabia","authors":"P. Magee","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"This concluding chapter focuses on the major themes resulting from this volume and the future of this discipline. For too long, Arabia has remained on the margins of the study of the ancient world. Up until that point, previous research thought that this region contained little to no prehistoric archaeology. One of the first and most important results of this volume is to disprove that notion. This work is important, not just in terms of funerary ritual and tomb architecture but also as a reminder that the perspective that homogenizes human behavior on the basis of apparent material culture uniformity runs the risk of erasing individual and group agency. In short, these chapters offer new insights. Arabian archaeology is a young discipline that embraces new conceptualizations of ancient societies and new methodologies modes of practice. Its researchers challenge the strict and often calcified concept of material cultures that compartmentalized southeast Arabian prehistory. As the discipline of Near Eastern Archaeology collapses, an opportunity arises to bring more nuance to our knowledge of how past people lived in Asia.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"84 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124965082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0010
Lesley A. Gregoricka
With the earliest recorded Umm an-Nar (2700–2000 BC) tombs, Umm an-Nar Island (UAE) offers insight into early strategies of human social organization in southeastern Arabia. The author used strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope ratios from the enamel of those interred within three tombs to test the hypothesis that, over time, these populations became increasingly sedentary and more reliant on coastal resources. Variable strontium isotope ratios allude to either a more mobile lifestyle or a more diverse diet. Corresponding oxygen and carbon isotope values suggest that residents did not become more mobile in the latter period; instead, dietary variability became more pronounced. This shift in subsistence economy may be explained by differential resource access, which is possibly a result of either dissimilar regional geographic origins or growing social hierarchies and disparate access to power.
{"title":"Temporal Trends in Mobility and Subsistence Economy among the Tomb Builders of Umm an-Nar Island","authors":"Lesley A. Gregoricka","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"With the earliest recorded Umm an-Nar (2700–2000 BC) tombs, Umm an-Nar Island (UAE) offers insight into early strategies of human social organization in southeastern Arabia. The author used strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope ratios from the enamel of those interred within three tombs to test the hypothesis that, over time, these populations became increasingly sedentary and more reliant on coastal resources. Variable strontium isotope ratios allude to either a more mobile lifestyle or a more diverse diet. Corresponding oxygen and carbon isotope values suggest that residents did not become more mobile in the latter period; instead, dietary variability became more pronounced. This shift in subsistence economy may be explained by differential resource access, which is possibly a result of either dissimilar regional geographic origins or growing social hierarchies and disparate access to power.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121179401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0007
E. Bortolini
This work analyses change in prehistoric funerary structures and related material culture of Early Bronze Age eastern Arabia (Northern Oman and UAE, 3100-2000 BC) from the perspective of cultural evolutionary theory. By observing decorative and structural elements in monumental tombs and pottery, new hypotheses about the underlying mechanisms of cultural transmission can be explored. The main objective is to transcend the traditional dichotomy between early and late tomb types by creating an explanatory framework that looks at diachronic variation for inferring cultural processes. The research develops a new systematic description of burials and ceramics. Diversity measures are used to investigate the role played by human interaction/isolation and demography in determining adoption, replication, and systematic preference and persistence of the examined cultural variants. Results confirm that, for both tombs and ceramics, specific mechanisms are at work in different moments of time. Starting to research the processes underlying structural change allows for a reassessment of the current interpretation of prehistoric funerary practices and generates new hypotheses on the movement of people and ideas in a still largely unexplored context.
{"title":"A Trait-Based Analysis of Structural Evolution in Prehistoric Monumental Burials of Southeastern Arabia","authors":"E. Bortolini","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"This work analyses change in prehistoric funerary structures and related material culture of Early Bronze Age eastern Arabia (Northern Oman and UAE, 3100-2000 BC) from the perspective of cultural evolutionary theory. By observing decorative and structural elements in monumental tombs and pottery, new hypotheses about the underlying mechanisms of cultural transmission can be explored. The main objective is to transcend the traditional dichotomy between early and late tomb types by creating an explanatory framework that looks at diachronic variation for inferring cultural processes. The research develops a new systematic description of burials and ceramics. Diversity measures are used to investigate the role played by human interaction/isolation and demography in determining adoption, replication, and systematic preference and persistence of the examined cultural variants. Results confirm that, for both tombs and ceramics, specific mechanisms are at work in different moments of time. Starting to research the processes underlying structural change allows for a reassessment of the current interpretation of prehistoric funerary practices and generates new hypotheses on the movement of people and ideas in a still largely unexplored context.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125202669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0002
O. Munoz
In current explanations of third millennium BC Oman, there is simultaneously a recognition of the Hafit period as part of the Umm an-Nar culture and a sense that it is somehow distinct from the Umm an-Nar period that followed. This chapter explores the notion that the developments of the Umm an-Nar period rest solidly on Hafit creations of social, political, and economic solidarity and heterogeneity—but that the Umm an-Nar culture eventually extended beyond its foundation. Referencing Hafit practices that consolidated group identity while maintaining local autonomy was critical during the Umm an-Nar period, when communities concentrated on local resource acquisition as a strategy for access to broader resources. In spite of this, the construction and maintenance of Umm an-Nar “towers,” in oases such as Bat and ad-Dariz South, and the increasingly complex mortuary tradition suggests that local groups in the Umm an-Nar period may have experienced difficulty in maintaining a worldview of regional solidarity.
{"title":"Promoting Group Identity and Equality by Merging the Dead","authors":"O. Munoz","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"In current explanations of third millennium BC Oman, there is simultaneously a recognition of the Hafit period as part of the Umm an-Nar culture and a sense that it is somehow distinct from the Umm an-Nar period that followed. This chapter explores the notion that the developments of the Umm an-Nar period rest solidly on Hafit creations of social, political, and economic solidarity and heterogeneity—but that the Umm an-Nar culture eventually extended beyond its foundation. Referencing Hafit practices that consolidated group identity while maintaining local autonomy was critical during the Umm an-Nar period, when communities concentrated on local resource acquisition as a strategy for access to broader resources. In spite of this, the construction and maintenance of Umm an-Nar “towers,” in oases such as Bat and ad-Dariz South, and the increasingly complex mortuary tradition suggests that local groups in the Umm an-Nar period may have experienced difficulty in maintaining a worldview of regional solidarity.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131791163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0001
K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka
This chapter provides an introduction and brief overview on major themes in mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology in southeastern Arabia. This context sets the stage for the subsequent chapters, which focus on identification of transitions in mortuary practice and bioarchaeological inquiry in this region.
{"title":"A Path Forward to an Integrated Study of Bioarchaeology in Southeastern Arabia","authors":"K. Williams, Lesley A. Gregoricka","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter provides an introduction and brief overview on major themes in mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology in southeastern Arabia. This context sets the stage for the subsequent chapters, which focus on identification of transitions in mortuary practice and bioarchaeological inquiry in this region.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115249741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0009
Debra L Martin, K. Baustian, Anna J. Osterholtz
The tomb at Tell Abraq (c. 2200–2000 BC) was the repository for over 400 individuals of all ages and sexes. Situated on the Arabian Gulf near Sharjah and Um al-Quwain in the United Arab Emirates, the tomb contained the commingled remains of at least 276 adults and 127 subadults. Of the subadults, there was a relatively high frequency of premature (28%) and newborn (9%) infants in the tomb. This overview provides the demographic structure of the tomb population based on a detailed MNI study and the complex nature of the mortuary program. Based on the overall MNI determined by the talus bone, observed versus expected ratios show that many long bones and hands and feet bones are underrepresented. We propose that these can be accounted for by other excavation and retrieval strategies. The mortuary program appears to be what Boz and Hager have described as being “primary disturbed.” Grossly underrepresented elements, such as the cranium, could have been removed and used in other contexts. This late Bronze Age tomb is unusual in many ways and does not fit any Umm an Nar patterns.
{"title":"The Tomb at Tell Abraq (ca. 2100–2000 BC)","authors":"Debra L Martin, K. Baustian, Anna J. Osterholtz","doi":"10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5744/florida/9781683400790.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"The tomb at Tell Abraq (c. 2200–2000 BC) was the repository for over 400 individuals of all ages and sexes. Situated on the Arabian Gulf near Sharjah and Um al-Quwain in the United Arab Emirates, the tomb contained the commingled remains of at least 276 adults and 127 subadults. Of the subadults, there was a relatively high frequency of premature (28%) and newborn (9%) infants in the tomb. This overview provides the demographic structure of the tomb population based on a detailed MNI study and the complex nature of the mortuary program. Based on the overall MNI determined by the talus bone, observed versus expected ratios show that many long bones and hands and feet bones are underrepresented. We propose that these can be accounted for by other excavation and retrieval strategies. The mortuary program appears to be what Boz and Hager have described as being “primary disturbed.” Grossly underrepresented elements, such as the cranium, could have been removed and used in other contexts. This late Bronze Age tomb is unusual in many ways and does not fit any Umm an Nar patterns.","PeriodicalId":174445,"journal":{"name":"Mortuary and Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Bronze Age Arabia","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123585684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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