High places in Oman

The book presents the results of two field seasons that the Italian Mission To Oman spent excavating a few tombs located on top of Jabal Salut, in Central Oman. A cluster of these tombs was later razed and replaced by a small, rectangular pillared shrine built in stone and mortar that represents so far a unicum for the whole South East Arabia. The funerary monuments can be dated to the third and second millennium BC (Early to Middle Bronze Age), with evidence for reuse during the first millennium BC (local Iron Age). The small shrine is also datable to the Iron Age. In addition to architectural details, the excavations produced an abundance of pottery and soft stone vessels, which provide important dating information and enable the use of the tombs to be considered alongside evidence obtained from the excavation of nearby Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements. As well as showing the results from the excavations and placing them in a local context it will be discussed how typical the results obtained from Jabal Salut might be for the rest of South East Arabia. In particular, it is tempting to consider what importance the region's ancient inhabitants gave to high places.