Presentations

イランの土器には8000 年以上の長い歴史があります。 農耕のはじまり、都市・文明・帝国の興隆といったイランの歴史の流れに合わせて、様々なかたちの土器がつくられてきました。この講座ではイランの歴史と並んで歩んできた各時代の土器を紹介します。

Fortresses are essential components in the Omani traditional settlement landscape. Therefore, to understand the formation process of oasis settlements, we need to clarify the origin of fortresses. However, fortification sites require further investigation to establish their chronology. This study aims to accurately document fortification features to clarify the chronology and function of fortresses in prehistoric landscapes. Several fortification sites have been found by the Japanese mission in the Tanuf district, Ad-Dakhiliyah Governorate, a piedmont area in the northern interior of the Sultanate of Oman, and we conducted three-dimensional documentation at two fortresses in As-Suwaihiriyah near Tanuf. As a result, a characteristic structure composed of a massively fortified hilltop and rectangular stone features surrounding the foot of the hill were documented. This result indicates that a considerable workforce was mobilised to build fortresses that do not show residential features, and they have common construction techniques in the Tanuf district. Although the function of those fortifications remains uncertain, they might have been built to defend the route from the mountains to the oasis.

In the course of the archaeological survey of prehistoric sites in the 2017/18 season, the authors’ team discovered a cave in Wādī Tanūf, located in the Ad-Dhākhiliyah Governorate in the interior of Oman. This poster presents the preliminary results of the ground surface surveys and trial excavations in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons. This cave is located on the cliff atop the right bank of Wādī Tanūf. The elevation from the wadi bed is ca. 200 metres. A total of 256 potsherds dated mainly to the Wādī Sūq period (2000–1600 BCE) was collected from the ground surface. In addition, two stone vessel fragments, which can be dated to the Umm an-Nār (2750–2000 BCE) and the Wādī Sūq periods were discovered. For more in-depth understandings of the cave, three test pits were excavated, and radiocarbon samples were collected. The test pits comprised aeolian sandy deposits with rock fragments that had collapsed from the ceiling. The virgin soil remains to be reached. The ceramic assemblage will be analysed for determining the cave use.