A Multi-Proxy Investigation of the Anthropogenic Landscape Near the Early Bronze Age Building VII at Al-Khashbah, Oman

The Early Bronze Age in southeastern Arabia is characterized by a significant shift in the archaeological record that coincides with the regional deterioration of climatic conditions associated with the end of the Holocene Humid Period. This study presents evidence for human modification of the local landscape around Building VII, a large circular structure at Al-Khashbah, Oman dating to the late third millennium BC. Through multiproxy analyses combining archaeological, geophysical, geomorphological, pedological and malacological, geochemical, palynological, and archaeobotanical datasets, we found evidence for the excavation of sediments at the foot of Building VII during the Umm an-Nar period. This excavation was subsequently filled by sediment presenting evidence for soil development, increased organic carbon, salt enrichment, microcharcoal, and snails. We suggest that both the excavation and subsequent aggradation may be related to gardening activities, though archaeobotanical and palynological analyses did not yield sufficient preserved material for local vegetation reconstruction. Nevertheless, our results contribute valuable insights into local human-environmental interactions and show that investigations beyond the visible archaeology of the monumental buildings of Early Bronze Age Oman can record a wide range of human activities and land modification near these important sites. These results have the potential to provide information on the resilience and adaptation to climate aridification by Umm an-Nar period peoples in central Oman and landscape modification during this period of economic transformation, increasing sedentarization, and growing social differentiation.