Muscat: The University of Warsaw’s archeological mission unearthed remnants of a Bronze Age metal mine in Qumaira, in the Wilayat of Dhank, according to a recent report published by the Archaeology website.
The site functioned actively with tremendous metal exports to Mesopotamia and India during the Early Bronze Age, between about 2600 and 2000 B.C
Agnieszka Pienkowska, a participant in the mission, said, “On the ground surface, we found dozens of stone tools used for crushing ore and numerous fragments of furnace walls used for smelting copper”.
“The remains of buildings that most likely served as workshops have also been well-preserved,” she added.
They also discovered remnants of an Iron Age settlement on a hill in the region. The settlement, inhabited between 1300 and 300 B.C., was made up of adjoining houses situated on both sides of a narrow street.
The fact that copper from this region was exported to both India and Mesopotamia underscores the significance of Oman as a pivotal node in ancient trade networks and enriches the understanding of the economic and cultural exchanges that characterized the Bronze Age era.
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