"Ethnoarchaeological Research in the Sultanate of Oman (Ras al- Hadd)"
Dr. Nikolaos Efstratiou
Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Thessaloniki

The ethnoarchaeological research which was carried out over the last few years in the region of Ras-alHadd in the Sultanate of Oman was part of the ‘Greek Mission in the Sultanate of Oman’, financed by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and private sources. The fieldwork included the recording and study of the material culture of the local groups in the area: the structures they built, the way these are used for various functions (houses, animal enclosures, fishing installations), how they were made (materials, construction techniques etc), the way these groups organize their economic and social life (permanent settlements, seasonal move- ments, agriculture, pastoralism, fishing etc). The aim of the study was to use the ethnographic present in order to facilitate the understanding of the archaeological past not only in the Arabic Peninsula but in the wider Mediterranean area as well.