INTERCULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN THE “MIDDLE ASIAN INTERACTION SPHERE”: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF PETROGRAPHIC AND INAA ANALYSIS OF EARLY BRONZE (CA. 3100-2000 BC) AGE POTTERY FROM BAT, OMAN

This presentation provides preliminary results of recent petrographic and geochemical analysis of Early Bronze Age (ca. 3100-2000 BC) ceramics from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bat and other locales in the desert interior of northern Oman. The ceramic analysis from the region had four principal aims: (1) typological identification of fabric groups; (2) the determination of methods of manufacture (forming practices, application of slips, etc.); (3) treatment of the ceramic paste (use of raw clay, levigation, and temper usage); and (4) the geochemical and mineralogical approximation of their point of origin. The resulting distribution map of fabric groups informs our understanding of local and foreign networks of pottery production and exchange in the larger “Middle Asian Interaction Sphere”(MAIS). This diverse network incorporated peoples and materials, from Harappan-Indus (Meluhha), the Iranian Makran (Marhashi), the island of Bahrain (Dilmun), the city-states of Mesopotamia (esp. Agade/Akkad), and northern Oman/UAE (Kingdom of Magan) among others.