Central Oman palaeolithic survey, report of the 2007 season

During late spring 2007 the first stage of the Central Oman Palaeolithic Survey (COPS) organised by the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS) of the University of Basel (Switzerland) was carried out in the Huqf area. The principal objective of the COPS programme, designed to run for several years, is the exploration of the earliest human occupation in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. This project is complementary to the ongoing research of the IPAS in Syria since more than 20 years. During the five weeks in the field a tremendous amount of information has been collected shedding new light on the Omani prehistory. 623 sites have been surveyed for prehistoric remains and geologic information. In total a surprising 369 archaeological sites were recorded, a number far beyond initial expectations. Even though the main goal, the discovery of Early Palaeolithic sites (i.e. from the period 1.5 million to about 50’000 years ago) is still pending, the preliminary results of the COPS survey are astonishing. The 2007 discoveries produced ample evidence for a significant and diversified prehistoric legacy in Central Oman reflecting a proliferate population unexpected in such arid areas. As the project is still ongoing we refrain from conclusive interpretations. However, we can already state a number of observations: Cultural entities well known in the Bilad Ash Sham left no trace up to date in southern Arabia. Furthermore, the end of hunter-gatherer societies in this realm during the Holocene (about 10’000 to 5’000 years ago) shows strong features indicating distinct regional groups in the southern part of the Arabian subcontinent. Evidence of subsequent periods has been recorded at numerous places permitting the edition of a preliminary archaeological map of the Huqf area, one of the principal goals of the COPS project.