MOBILITY, EXCHANGE, AND TOMB MEMBERSHIP IN BRONZE AGE ARABIA: A BIOGEOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Lesley Ann Gregoricka, B.A., M.A. Graduate Program in Anthropology The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Clark Spencer Larsen, Advisor Joy McCorriston Samuel D. Stout Paul W. Sciulli Copyright by Lesley Ann Gregoricka 2011 ABSTRACT Major transitions in subsistence, settlement organization, and funerary architecture accompanied the rise and fall of extensive trade complexes between southeastern Arabia and major centers in Mesopotamia, Dilmun, Elam, Central Asia, and the Indus Valley throughout the third and second millennia BC. I address the nature of these transformations, particularly the movements of people accompanying traded goods across this landscape, by analyzing human and faunal skeletal material using stable strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes. Stable isotope analysis is a biogeochemical technique utilized to assess patterns of residential mobility and paleodiet in archaeological populations. Individuals interred in monumental communal tombs from the Umm an-Nar (2500-2000 BC) and subsequent Wadi Suq (2000-1300 BC) periods from across the Oman Peninsula were selected, and the enamel of their respective tomb members analyzed to detect (a) how the involvement of this region in burgeoning pan- Gulf exchange networks may have influenced mobility, and (b) how its inhabitants reacted during the succeeding economic collapse of the early second millennium BC. Due to the commingled and fragmentary nature of these remains, the majority of enamel samples came from a single tooth type for each tomb (e.g., LM1) to prevent ii repetitive analysis of the same individual. However, in a few instances, multiple in situ teeth were present and permitted inter-tooth sampling as a means of evaluating temporal shifts in mobility and diet within the lifetime of single individuals. Stable strontium and oxygen ratios indicate that the Umm an-Nar inhabitants of southeastern Arabia were not highly mobile despite their increasing involvement in regional and interregional trade. However, such patterns do fit with archaeological evidence for an increasingly sedentary lifestyle associated with intensified oasis agriculture and the construction of large, permanent settlements and fortification towers. Non-local immigrants were interred in small numbers within Umm an-Nar tombs alongside local peoples, perhaps suggestive of some form of fictive kinship, a potential by-product of growing interregional commerce. By relaxing the restraints of tomb membership, a more flexible and complex funerary ideology was adopted and reflects the broader appropriation of kinship in the formation of a multi-ethnic society. In addition, stable carbon isotope ratios suggest the consumption of a broad, mixed C3-C4 diet fitting with the employment of a variety of subsistence strategies, although preference was given to C3-based sources of food. The dramatic changes in the archaeological record associated with the transition to the Wadi Suq period are not mirrored in isotopic indicators of paleomobility. As in the Umm an-Nar, the Wadi Suq population does not appear to have been highly mobile despite a decrease in the number, size, and permanence of settlements. Oxygen isotope values do not differ from the preceding period, and while strontium ratios are significantly different, this is likely a reflection of the exploitation of different geographic areas with correspondingly disparate isotope signatures. Stable carbon isotope values iii indicate a considerable change in subsistence practices involving a greater reliance on C3- based foodstuffs and a more restricted dietary intake, with an emphasis not on marine resources but on oasis agriculture. These data corroborate the strontium and oxygen isotope results and portray a society that was still relatively sedentary and continued to practice cultivation. Moreover, the continued presence of non-local immigrants interred in local tombs suggests that interregional economic relations did not completely break down during this “Dark Age” of purported cultural isolation. The findings of this study illustrate continuity between the Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq periods and call into question how substantial the so-called “collapse” of the early second millennium BC actually was. Furthermore, the presence of non-locals in both Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq tombs, with no outward expression of foreign identity, reinforces the idea that these immigrants may have readily adopted the practices of their local host community, even in death. It appears that, rather than being subjugated by a hegemonic system controlled by more complex centers like the Indus Valley or Mesopotamia, the inhabitants of southeastern Arabia lived in relative autonomy. Finally, while local communities were undoubtedly affected by a disintegration of external economic relationships with the larger Gulf, this collapse may have also been partially influenced by internal social dynamics; however, isotopic evidence challenges the validity of an ideological conflict between traditional, kinship-based factions and a growing social elite. iv Dedicated to my wonderful parents, Larry and Susan, and to my sisters and best friends, Lindsay and Lauren v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the support and assistance of many individuals. Funding for this research was provided by a number of institutions. International travel to the United Arab Emirates was made possible by The Ohio State University Office of International Affairs’ International Affairs Grant as well as the Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship from the OSU Graduate School. Equipment and supplies were partially funded by a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research. Finally, the Ruggles-Gates Fund for Biological Anthropology, the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (BCS-0961932), and the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) Scholar Award supplied financial support for domestic travel to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory as well as laboratory costs associated with stable isotope analysis. I wish to thank the many museums and people who made my work in the United Arab Emirates possible. Dr. Daniel Potts of the University of Sydney was unwaveringly generous in helping me to make initial connections with museum directors, curators, and archaeologists across the Emirates, including the patient and ever-helpful Emma vi Thompson and Michele Ziolkowski. At the Sharjah Archaeological Museum in the Emirate of Sharjah, finds supervisor Johanna Olafsdotter, Director of Archaeological Excavations Dr. Sabah Jasim, and conservationist Asma Al Hrmoodi all took time from their busy schedules to assist me in sorting through the Tell Abraq human skeletal collection and in making valuable contacts with local Emirati government and museum officials. Thanks also go to archaeologists Dan Potts and Carl Phillips for permission to sample the Sharjah teeth and to Peter Magee for sharing his in-depth knowledge of the archaeology of Sharjah and the UAE and for his useful suggestions/information relating to this project. At the Ajman Museum in the Emirate of Ajman, Director Ali Mohammed Al Matroushi graciously allowed me to study the Mowaihat skeletons, while archaeologist Ernie Haerinck permitted the sampling of human teeth. At the National Museum of Ras al-Khaimah in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, resident archaeologist Christian Velde and archaeologist Imke Moellering of the Department of Antiquities and Museums consented to an analysis of the human and faunal teeth from the Bronze Age sites of Unar 1, Shimal 103, and Shimal 95. Christian, Imke, and Ahmed Hilal made RAK a home away from home and did not hesitate to provide me with anything that I needed during my multiple stays there. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, bioarchaeologist Deb Martin offered me the Tell Abraq human remains for analysis and welcomed me into her home. Her efforts to get me this material, along with bioarchaeologist Jennifer Thompson, were very much appreciated. vii At the University of Tübingen, Germany, anthropologists Margarethe and Hans- Peter Uerpmann were kind enough to ship the Tell Abraq faunal teeth to me, with permission to sample these teeth granted from excavator Dan Potts. At the Moesgård Museum in Højbjerg, Denmark, Dr. Flemming Højlund was eager to assist this project and enthusiastically offered the skeletal collection of Umm an- Nar Island as well as comparative material from the Bahrain burial mounds. His hospitality, along with archaeologists Dr. Bo Madsen and Dr. Mohammed Bander, made me feel most welcome there. In addition, at the Zoological Museum at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, curator Dr. Kim Aaris-Sørensen and conservator Kristian Gregersen graciously permitted the sampling of three faunal collections from the Gulf region, including Umm an-Nar Island, Barbar Temple, and Failaka. At the Peabody Museum at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Richard Meadow opened his laboratory to me and permitted the sampling of comparative faunal material from the Indus Valley sites of Allahdino and Balakot. Dr. Drew Coleman in the Department of Geology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provided unwavering support of