Umm an-Nar Culture (2600-2000 BC) in Wilayet Al-Rustaq: Al-Tikha Settlement Case Study.

The research focuses on studying an important culture in the history of the Sultanate of Oman, which is the Umm al-Nar culture (2600-2000 BC). It is is considered an extension and a local development of the Hafeet culture. Archaeologists agree that both cultures are considered the main component of the Early Bronze Age (3500-2000 BC) culture in the Sultanate of Oman. Umm al-Nar cultur will be studied in this research through two main methods: the first focuses on the practical side, in which excavations will be carried out in the Umm an-Nar settlement of al-Tikhah, located north of the city of Al-Rustaq. Number of distinctive buildings will be selected for excavation in order to reveal their stratigraphy and their architectural phases. As for the second method, it will depend on the analytical and theoretical study, in which the excavated material will be analyzed in order to identify the nature of settlement and the extent of cultural development reached by the inhabitants of the region during the Umm al-Nar period. The purpose of the occupation as well as caueses of the abandonment of the settlement. Organic samples will be collected from the excavated buildings with the aim of analyzing them using radioactive carbon 14 (C14) in order to obtain an accurate dating (Absolute Dating) for the occupation periods that the site went through and compare them with the results of the relative dating (Relative dating) that was done for the site by the researchers previous season. In general, Al-Tikha settlement is considered the first settlement to be discovered and excavated in the South Al-Batinah Governate.