First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Oman Peninsula 2026

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Kia ora,

رَمَضَان كَرِيم (Wishing a generous Ramadan to all those observing!)

I am part of the way through a two-month stay in Muscat, Oman, where I am collecting data for my PhD.

At the start of this month I attended the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Oman Peninsula and presented some of the recent work of the 'La Trobe University Archaeological Research in Oman' (LARiO) project. The conference, which was hosted at the Sultan Qaboos University campus in Muscat, marked the golden jubilee (50th anniversary) of the Journal of Oman Studies, the peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. 


Presenting at the First International Conference of the Archaeology of the Oman Peninsula, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, 1 February 2026. Photo: Roman Garba.


In a great move for the profile of research in Oman, it was announced during the conference that the Journal of Oman Studies was becoming a Gold Open Access journal - follow the link above to visit the website (further back issues will be added in time).

A short English language local news report on the conference can be found here. An English language version of the conference programme (including abstracts for all the paper presentations) can be viewed here.  

As a newcomer to Omani and Arabian archaeology, the conference proved to be a great opportunity to meet other researchers working in the region and hear about their research. Sadly (from the point of view of the individual conference delegate) it was not possible to attend all of the presentations that I would have liked to, as there were two parallel sessions running throughout the three days of the conference. While there was a lack of research presented on my period of research interest - the Palaeolithic (I was one of only three researchers presenting research on this period), I definitely learnt a lot about later periods, particularly the Omani Bronze Age (ca. 3200 - 1300 BCE), the focus of the majority of presentations during the conference. It is perhaps not surprising that this period is such a strong focus of the archaeological research missions that are presently working in Oman, as this is when we start to see some major changes in the archaeological record - including the rise of international trade connections, a shift towards more highly socially stratified urbanized societies, intensified agricultural practices, and the appearance of monumental architecture. The Oman Peninsula (the northern part of the present day Sultanate of Oman) was referred to as Makkan/Magan in ancient Mesopotamian texts from this period - the region became an important source of copper for Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley regions.

   
One of the Bronze age monumental "beehive" tombs from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bat in Oman. Image sourced from the UNESCO website.


Most of the presentations were given in English, but it was great to see a few presentations given in Arabic, by local researchers. My Arabic is, shall we say, a work in progress (I'm back on the Duolingo Arabic lessons!), so thankfully there were headsets available that allowed everyone attending the conference to listen to all of the presentations by tuning into a local radio frequency.

A quick shout out here to the unsung heroes of the conference - the translators - for their great job. Special mention goes to the poor guy who got hit with the double whammy of some unavoidable stone artefact-related jargon and a New Zealand accent!


Listening to the translation of a presentation being given in Arabic during the conference.


Overall it was a great conference and start to my stay in Muscat. Thanks to the conference organising team, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, and Sultan Qaboos University for making it possible. The intention is to make this conference a regular event in the future, and perhaps - إن شاء الله (Allah willing) - I will be able to attend again to present some of the results of my PhD research.

And, as always, thanks for reading,

Nick.







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