Tools and weapons dug up in Oman proof of Stone Age settlements

Excavation work at Al Mazyoonah archaeological site in southern Oman has led to the discovery of ancient fossils and arrowheads dating back to the Stone Age.

Credit: Times of Oman

The excavation started after several local residents reported finding old stone tools in the Mitan area of Al Mazyoonah.

In an online statement, Ministry of Heritage and Culture said: “A team of geologists and specialists from the ministry carried out surveys and archaeological excavations in the north of Mitan in Al Mazyoonah to study the geological and climatic changes and to know the history of human settlement in the region. This came after several reports from local residents about finding old stone tools in the area.”

It added: “The results of the survey revealed the finding of many stone tools indicating settlement in various periods of the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. These tools included pickaxes, hitches for animals, arrowheads and stone axes.”

The ministry explained that the items were found alongside animal fossils that humans have hunted in ancient times.

The area is dominated by wide sand dunes that cover the limestone plateau at a height of 280 meters to 300 meters above sea level.

The discovery of this new archaeological area provides new information about the communities that settled in the southern Arabian Peninsula during the Stone Age, according to the statement.

“Comparisons with known sites in the desert of the Empty Quarter along the southern chain through Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia show a dense presence of people who lived and moved in this region thousands of years ago in rainy climates, during which the Empty Quarter became attractive for settlement and migration due to the abundance of water,” it pointed out.

Matan is characterised by the presence of high sand dunes, salt marshes that were deposited thousands of years ago in water lakes that seemed to be full of life in a savannah-like environment.

“It seems that this area was previously a very attractive environment for life and civilisation before the entry of drought and high temperature,” the report stated.

Source: Times of Oman [June 26, 2019]

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