Sultanate of Oman
Khor al Jarāma – 2019

The second excavation campaign, conducted during the winter of 2019, uncovered a complex monument combining a circular tomb measuring 4,20 m of diameter with a rectangular building divided by internal walls (fig.4).
Three individuals were found in cells located in the center of the tomb (fig.5) : two adults and a 16-month-old baby, associated with goat deposits and funeral artefacts (beads and shell ring).
Two bioapatite datings, one on human bone and the other on goat bone, has given a chronology for this tomb during the beginning of Hafit period (3081-2906 cal. BC). At the end of its use, this tomb was most certainly condemned by fire : traces of a very important fire are visible throughout the southern part of the tomb. The limestone presents here a blue / red color and has been completely destroyed by the intense heat.

According to a radiocarbon dating on charcoal, the large rectangular monument is posterior of the tomb, belonging to the Umm an-Nar period (2575-2347 cal. BC). Thus, this posterior dwelling was built by merging with the previous tomb and probably recovering the stones which constituted its facing.
Considering the architectural elements like absence in the chaining of the facings or the gaps in the walls, that testify of free-standing buildings, it is possible to propose at least two or three distinct architectural phases corresponding to different occupations and remodelings.