The LCG2 complex at Dibbā (Musandam, Oman, II–I millennium BC): structural, material, and osteological elements

The Dibbā burial complex, represented by two ‘long collective graves’ (LCG1 and LCG2), a later Parthian grave, and several pits with ritual offerings, is located on the eastern coast of the Musandam peninsula, Sultanate of Oman. The paper mainly deals with LCG2. When all the external features are taken into account, LCG2 is a 23 m-long and 4.5 m-wide structure, which was built using different techniques and employing both local stones and mud brick. The whole area seems to have been continuously occupied from the Late Bronze Age (1600–1350 BC) until the Iron Age II/III period (c.600 BC). At present, twenty-eight individuals from primary burials and a minimum number of 202 individuals from secondary depositions were found, accompanied by thousands of valuable objects (stone vessels, pottery vessels, and a wide variety of ornaments). Many phases of use have been identified, as well as different phases of restoration and rearrangement. An analysis of faunal remains retrieved in association with bone clusters was also carried out. Excavation of LCG2 has yet to be completed. Preliminary results, however, suggest that the area could have been a monumental tribute to tribal alliance dating to the end of the second millennium BC.