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List of Archaeological Sites in the Sultanate of Oman. Beta Version 3

The following list arose in order to keep track of and tally the activities of the native and foreign archaeological missions. For this reason, when a site has been worked on by different missions, it is listed more than once. It is ordered alphabetically by site name. Certain small sites are not strictly listed according to the expedition. After the date, a " > " means that the site was worked on more than one season. In certain cases the coordinates cited differ from those of the surveyer. Depending on where one measures, a degree in the Sultanate lies between 190 and 210 km in width, a minute from about 3. 1 to 3.5 km width. Mistakes in the 1 minute range are easily possible, depending on the kind of data which is available. After the coordinates and map reference, follow the dates of the sites: "A" =aceramic, "H" =Hafit, "U" =Umm an Nar, "W" = Wadi Suq, "Fe" =Early Iron Age, "PH" =Parthian/Hellenistic, "Sa" =Sasanian, "S" =Samad, "I" =Islamic, and "?" =unknown. Problematic for the classification and dating are "cairns" and "beehive tombs". The first is not clearly defined or dated, and the second can date to the Hafit and/or Umm an Nar Period. Certain sites (for example Amla, al Fueda [lst century AD]) have no date because they do not fall into a major category. Triliths have been assigned to the Samad Period for purely chronological reasons. They are identified with a "t". For reasons of form shell middens are dated as "aceramic" which they need not be. They also are classified as a context with finds ("/"). The biography usually, but not always gives the first mention. Further to the right the next two columns give whether the site is known from survey ("Surv") or excavation ("Exca"). "*" indicates finds and "+" contexts which are not graves. "/" means that both were encountered. "-" indicates graves. "-/" means that graves with settlement contexts were encountered. The final column indicates the country of origin for the discovery, survey, excavation and/or publication. This list is preliminary in character so that it can appear now. The author would be thankful for an corrections and additions (email Paul.Yule@t-online.de). A later version will include further data from the database.

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