Bat Archaeological Project Preliminary Report of the 2019-2020 Season

The Bat Archaeological Project conducted its 2020 season of excavations and survey from 4December 2019 - 27 January 2020. Our research concentrated on three specific areas: 1)archaeological survey between the Bat towers and surrounding the proposed visitor’s center site;2) excavations of Umm an-Nar period houses at the Settlement Slope and at Rakhat al-Madrh.Bat South); and 3) artifact and landscape analyses / رخة المدره(The area surveyed specifically to alert the MHC of any cultural resources within a proposedlocation for the Visitors Center yielded few results, as an active farm and wellhead were situatedwithin the proposed footprint. The MHC immediately took these findings under advisement andtheir plans have proceeded.Intensive archaeological survey was conducted on the Settlement Slope, around the Bronze Agetower “al-Qa’a” and at Rakhat al-Madrh before beginning excavations. Together, the surveyresulted in the documentation of almost 200 previously unrecorded sites. Excavations at theSettlement Slope uncovered an Umm an-Nar period house rich in ceramic artifacts that date thestructure’s occupation to the ca. 2200 BCE. Several samples of carbon were collected and will betested to date the house.Another structure was excavated at Rakhat al-Madrh, located approximately 8 km southeast ofBat. There are at least four houses all placed around an ancient water catchment area. Onestructure at the site was excavated, revealing an Umm an-Nar period house built with mudbrickwalls atop a stone foundation. Ceramics and shell beads were found within the house which iscomprised of long, narrow rooms and a central courtyard. The house excavations at both theSettlement Slope and Rakhat al-Madrh are helping us understand the diversity of places andecologies in which people lived in Bronze Age Oman.Several artifact and landscape analyses were also conducted at Bat this year. We are developing anew ceramic chronology for the Umm an-Nar period. A study of the lithics excavated andcollected at Bat since 2007 was also conducted by Dr. Petranka Nedelcheva, a stone toolspecialist, to better understand the development of lithic technology in northern Oman. Thiswinter’s rains also allowed for a survey of plants growing around Bat’s archaeology to help usbetter envision what the site might have looked like 5,000 years ago. Finally, a survey of thestatus of many of the northern towers was conducted. We deeply appreciate the Ministry ofHeritage and Culture’s continued support of our research.