Search

Two samples of bitumen were obtained, one from a torpedo jar (c. 3rd–8th C. AD) from Masirah island and one from a Tunisian jar (c. 18th C. AD) from Muhut island off the central coast of Oman. Steranes and terpanes, as well as isotope data on chromatographic fractions, were used as tools to characterize the bitumen. Comparison of data with those already acquired on bitumen from torpedo jars from Thailand, Iran, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, India, and oil seeps from Iran and Iraq allowed us to conclude that the bitumen originated from different areas of southwest Iran. Those of the Muhut jar were likely from Khuzistan, whereas those from Masirah island appear to have been sourced from Kermanshah. These findings are in keeping with other similar geochemical studies undertaken on bitumen lined vessels from across the region (see more below).

The recent study of botanical macro-remains from the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic (5th to 8th century) fort of Fulayj (Batinah, Sultanate of Oman) provides a unique opportunity to discuss food and fuel acquisition strategies in an arid environment and to document periods that are little known from an archaeobotanical perspective in Eastern Arabia. Seed assemblages include the first well-identified and directly radiocarbon dated evidence of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor ssp. bicolor (L.) Moench.) in Eastern Arabia, which raises the question of whether the grain was imported from distant sources (for example Yemen, East Africa or India) or locally cultivated. In addition to sorghum, the food plant assemblage includes hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare), date (Phoenix dactylifera) and jujube (Ziziphus cf. spina-christi). Date palm gardens may have existed near to the site as they do today or food products may have been brought from date palm gardens on the Batinah coast where conditions for agricultural production are particularly favourable. Charcoal analysis reveals that the main taxa used for fuel (acacia, prosopis, jujube tree, tamarisk) were collected from local plant communities, occasionally supplemented with firewood gathered in the foothills and mountainous areas.

Organic samples obtained from the interior of fragments of five different torpedo jar vessels found onboard the c. 8th century Phanom-Surin shipwreck (Thailand) were selected for geochemical analyses in order to identify the source of the bitumen lining. These samples were compared to bitumen analysed from torpedo jars excavated from various sites in the Persian Gulf and western Indian Ocean: Shaghab, Siniz, Mahroyan, Siraf, Rig Port along the coast of Iran, Sir Bani Yas in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. The geochemical data comprising biomarker and carbon isotopes on chromatographic fractions were compared to oil seep references from different areas in southern and southwest Iran. To complete the investigation, data on bitumen from several archaeological sites in Iran were used as proxies. Results show that there are two types of Iranian bitumen in the Phanom-Surin samples as well as two distinct varieties of torpedo jars. A potentially older category, represented in the assemblage by a single example, may have been kept in circulation for half a century or more beyond its period of regular use. Our results also indicate that there may be a direct correlation between the different categories of torpedo jar and the respective source of the bitumen. This study documents the links that exist between central Iraq/southwest Iran and Thailand during the 8th century AD.

The 2007 season yielded significant new insights into settlement expansion into the land north of the line of the Gorgan Wall and the later abandonment of these sites in the steppe, prior to the co...

The aim of the study is to use ceramic finds data to provide a quantitative analysis of long-term patterns of change in the nature, volume and scale of maritime exchange within the western Indian Ocean between AD c.400 – 1275. Ceramic finds data are unique in providing a consistent measurable index of a wider system of commodity exchange in an age where few other dependable sources of systematic economic history survive. By using the available ceramic evidence as a proxy, the aim is to assess the significance of maritime exchange to the broader operation of the major state systems of the Middle East, in particular the Sasanian Empire and the Abbasid caliphate. Two main factors hold back the use of ceramics as a staple evidence base: the legacy of the slow adoption of quantitative finds recording within the Indian Ocean region, and an inability to provide a standardised definition of the same varieties of pottery that occur repeatedly in different regions. This study attempts to redress these issues by applying a single integrated system of ceramic classification to assemblages from East Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Information has been collected from the largest possible range of sources by combining data from previously published reports, excavation archives, find databases, and through direct recording of archived finds collections. By presenting the largest ever compilation of quantitative ceramic evidence for the region, it is possible to revaluate a range of key assumptions regarding the operation and significance of Indian Ocean trade. The conclusions that emerge from the analysis are surprising. While the geographic range and overall number of sites engaged with long-distance exchange may have changed through time, there is no notable indication of a significant increase in the volume of ceramic imports in circulation. In addition the products of long-distance exchange continue to represent a small proportion of ceramics in regular use. This does not mean that long-distance exchange was not important. What the findings do point to is the need to develop a more sensitive understanding of how specific elements of the exchange network operated. Where alternative scales of ceramic exchange can be differentiated, it can be shown that regional exchange networks represent a major contributor to the ceramic supply system. In seeking to identify the main drivers of the maritime economy, local and regional exchange networks appear to have been significantly underemphasised and now require specific focus, and to some extent, new archaeological methodologies.