La missione archeologica nel Sultanato di Oman alla ricerca della formazione della civiltà araba nel III millennio a.C.

The Archaeological Mission of the University of Bologna, which has been engaged in research in the Sultanate of Oman for 40 years, has contributed to the understanding of the transformations of settlement pattern in the Arabian Peninsula between the 6th and 1st millennium BC. The research has made it possible to identify the forms of adaptation of hunter-gatherer communities, the early phases of the exploitation of marine resources on the coast or the first activities related to cultivation and animal husbandry inland, giving rise to complex social and economic formations that formed the basis of the later Arab civilisation. Known as the Land of Magan in Mesopotamian texts from the 3rd millennium B.C., the south-eastern Arabian Peninsula played an important role in the development of ancient civilisations (Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley), as evidenced by original forms of settlements and monumental tombs. The activities of the University of Bologna are now focused on the investigation of some key sites to understand the characteristics of the settlement pattern in 3rd mill. BC: Ras al-Hadd in the Sharqiya region and Khutm tower, near Bat in the Dhahirah region.