Dahwa 1 (DH1): Umm an-Nar settlement in al-Batinah Plain, northeast Oman

This paper presents the results of three seasons of excavations (2014, 2016 and 2017) at the site of Dahwa (DH1) in the Batinah plain in the northeastern part of the Sultanate of Oman. The site dates to the Umm an-Nar period (c. 2500–2000 BC). Five buildings (S.10, S.20, S.14, S.16 and S.6) were excavated in DH1. The paper will give a description of four of these buildings (S.10, S.14, S.16 and S.6) and the results of their excavation. Surface collections and excavated material from DH1 proved strong connections with the Indus region. Based on these finds it becomes clear that the region of north al-Batinah witnessed the first contact with the Indus sailors, merchants, and potters in the second half of the third millennium BC. Based on the quantity of the Indus pottery found at DH1, the peak of exchange between DH1 and the Indus region occurred in the first half of the Umm an-Nar period (2450–2200 BC). The site seems to have served as a station or an inland port and as a redistribution centre for goods coming across the sea and those coming from the interior.