Evidence of Sundried Fish at Mleiha (S.E. Arabia) in Antiquity

Evidence of sun-dried ﬁsh at Mleiha (S.-E. Arabia) in antiquity

A concentration of fish remains found in a single room of a fortified building at Wim Van Neer1,2,Wim Mleiha (United Arab Emirates) is presented here. Part of it was probably the filling of Wouters1, Michel Mouton3 a bag or an organic container that fell from a bench onto the floor of the room. The 1Royal Belgian Institute of various species recovered from these contexts, dating to the second to mid-third cen- Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat turies AD, are briefly described. Particular attention is paid to the skeletal elements by 29, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium which the fish are represented and to the corresponding lengths of the animals, as e-mail: [email protected]; these allow the proposition that the fish had been dried on the seashore before being [email protected] carried to the site inland. The data from building H will be compared to those from 2Laboratory of Biodiversity and previously studied contexts at Mleiha (Gautier & Van Neer 1999; Mashkour & Van Evolutionary Genomics, Centre Neer 1999). In addition the ichthyofauna from ed-Dur (Van Neer & Gautier 1993), a for Archaeological Sciences, KU coastal site that is partially contemporaneous with the contexts from building H, will Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32, be considered. B-3000, Leuven, Belgium 3CNRS/APHOR, Maison de Keywords: archaeozoology, fish curing, food provisioning, storage, trade l’Archeologie et de l’Ethnologie, 21 allee de l’Universite, F-92023, Nanterre cedex, France e-mail: [email protected]

Introduction related to the final desertion of the site. The faunal remains The site at Mleiha (Fig. 1) has been excavated since 1986 presented here were found on the floor level (UF.5036) of a by the French archaeological mission in Sharjah (UAE). Its single room (P.1540; Fig. 2), which has been interpreted as occupation started in the late third century BC and contin- a sort of kitchen, or at least a space related to cooking activi- ued until the middle of the third century AD (Mouton ties, as shown by the numerous faunal remains, concentra- 2008). In order to understand the process of abandonment tions of cereals, fireplaces, benches, wooden boarding fixed of the site, the remains preserved in area H, identified as on the floor and ceramics for cooking. Two faunal samples belonging to the final phase of the site (period PIR.D, sec- were collected during the excavation. Sample 10148 corre- ond–mid-third century AD), were explored during the 2010 sponds to a very dense concentration of fish bones (Fig. 3) and 2011 seasons. A mud-brick defensive wall, squarish in that was found in the south-east corner of the room. The fish shape and reinforced by eight towers, encloses a large space may have been stored on top of a bench, perhaps in a bag or of about 65 to 70 m on each side, in the centre of which wooden container that overturned onto the floor before the stands the excavated residence (Mouton et al. 2012). This roof fell on top of them, as shown by the regular layer of residence, which is also built of mud brick, measures burnt wooden branches and pieces of beams. Sample 32 9 30 m and comprises fifteen rooms arranged in a row 10144 contains all the bones that were collected from the along the four sides of a central courtyard of about 20 m remainder of the room. per side. The thick charcoal deposits, including roof material and wooden objects, which cover all the occupation floors, the abundance of luxury objects left on the floors Description of the fish taxa and some indications of violence show that the building Identifications were carried out with the aid of the modern was suddenly abandoned and destroyed by an intense fire skeletal collections housed at the Royal Belgian Institute 224 EVIDENCE OF SUN-DRIED FISH AT MLEIHA

Fig. 1. The Oman peninsula in the ﬁrst centuries AD, and the position of the areas occupied in period D (second–third century AD) at Mleiha (R. Douaud/S. Elies).

Fig. 2. Room P.1540 of building H with an indication of the provenance of the fish-bone sample 10148. Concentrations of charred organic material can Fig. 3. be seen (French archaeological expedition in the UAE). Portions of burned vertebral columns of scombrids in situ (French archaeological expedition in the UAE). (Scale bar 5 cm.) of Natural Sciences, Brussels. Fish lengths were reconstructed by direct comparison with modern specimens of known size, and are expressed in centimetres SL (standard The latter family is represented by two skull bones that length, i.e. the length measured from the tip of the snout to could not be identified to species, but which belonged to the base of the tail). The results are given in tabular form fish that must have measured 30–40 cm SL. The caran- and include the list of identified fish taxa (Table 1), the gid family is rich in species, the majority of which are size reconstructions of the encountered species and genera schooling fish. (Table 2) and the skeletal element distribution for each With the exception of a single preopercular, the barra- taxon (Tables 3 and 4). Line drawings of the identified cuda remains consist exclusively of vertebrae and can only species are given in Figure 4. be identified to the genus level (Sphyraena). About 98% The assemblages from building H are remarkably of the remains that allow a size reconstruction fall in the poor in number of taxa. Although there are almost 3700 range of 30–40 cm SL, the rest being from fish measuring identified specimens, only three fish families are repre- between 40 and 50 cm SL. Eight species of barracuda are sented, namely barracudas, scombrids and carangids. reported for the Arabo-Persian Gulf of which only two, 225 W. VAN NEER, W. WOUTERS AND M. MOUTON

Table 1. Fish remains identified from the floor level (UF.5036) of build- Table 3. Skeletal element distribution of the barracuda (Sphyraena sp.) ing H. in the two contexts of building H. Absolute number of 10144 10148 fragments Percentages Head preopercular – 1 10144 10148 Total 10144 10148 Total Vertebral column Barracuda 289 939 1228 13.2 62.9 33.4 1st precaudal vertebra 4 15 (Sphyraena sp.) 2nd precaudal vertebra 19 38 Bullet tuna 569 142 711 26.0 9.5 19.3 other precaudal vertebra 136 443 (Auxis rochei) caudal vertebra 116 372 Kawakawa 880 263 1143 40.2 17.6 31.1 urostyle 1 10 (Euthynnus affinis) precaudal or caudal vertebra 13 60 Narrow-barred 10 15 25 0.5 1.0 0.7 Total 289 939 Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) Mackerels, tunas, bonitos 438 133 571 20.0 8.9 15.5 the remains are attributed to the narrow-barred Spanish (Scombridae indet.) mackerel. This is another pelagic fish that inhabits coastal Jacks and pompanos 2 0 2 0.1 0.0 0.1 waters and can be found in small schools. (Carangidae indet.) fi fi 2188 1492 3680 The unidenti ed scombrid remains, nally, also consist mainly of vertebrae (89.5%), the other bones are fin rays (3.8%), head and pectoral girdle elements (4.2%), and pel- Sphyraena barracuda and S. jello, attain sizes over 1 m.1 vic bones (2.5%). These ratios hence show that the The smaller species, and the juveniles of the larger absence of head bones among the scombrids identified to barracuda species, often show schooling and gregarious species or to genus is no artefact due to the lack of diag- behaviour. nostic criteria. The reconstructed sizes of the unidentified The scombrid family, finally, is the best-represented scombrids, however, are not in complete agreement with taxon in building H. Although 77% of the 2450 remains those of the identified species: it appears that scombrids were identifiable, only three taxa appear to occur. The larger than 50 cm SL occur more frequently than is indi- kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis) is the most common spe- cated by the remains recognisable as Auxis and Euthynnus cies, represented exclusively by vertebrae of fish that fall (Table 2). The possible meaning of this observation will mainly in the size class of 40–50 cm SL (97.3%). A few be discussed further. remains are from individuals measuring between 50 and 60 cm SL. The kawakawa is a coastal species that lives in schools with similar-sized scombrids. The bullet tuna Inferences from the skeletal element distribution (Auxis rochei) is represented by more than 700 remains A first general observation is that the barracudas and and, again, all of them are vertebrae. Sizes are also much scombrids are almost exclusively represented by skeletal standardised, with all the remains being derived from fish elements of the body and that heads are virtually missing of between 30 and 40 cm SL. The third scombrid taxon (Tables 3 and 4). This can be taken as evidence that the that could be identified is the genus Scomberomorus, rep- fish were brought in from elsewhere in a decapitated state. resented only by caudal vertebrae of fish measuring In order to trace possible further indications for processing between 90 and 100 cm SL. Two species occur in the area, methods, it has been verified whether additional trends namely the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberom- appear in the intraskeletal distributions. The distinction of orus commerson) and the Indo-Pacific king mackerel different types of vertebrae was attempted and, where pos- (Scomberomorus guttatus). The maximum total length that sible, their rank in the vertebral column, sometimes in was ever reported for the latter species is 76 cm, whereas combination with the reconstructed fish lengths. the other commonly reaches total lengths of 120 cm with In barracudas there are generally 24 vertebrae, namely a maximum of 240 cm. Because the Mleiha specimens are 12 precaudals, 11 caudals and a urostyle. The ratio of pre- far above the maximum of the Indo-Pacific king mackerel, caudals versus other vertebrae (caudals and urostyle) in the Mleiha assemblages (Table 3) is 57%, which is close 1 Unless otherwise stated data on the biology of the fish species to the expected 50% ratio, suggesting that complete, head- are taken from Froese & Pauly 2012. less bodies arrived at the site with their vertebral spine still 226 EVIDENCE OF SUN-DRIED FISH AT MLEIHA

Table 2. Percentage contribution of the various 10 cm size-classes (in cm standard length) for the different taxa. n = number of specimens. 30–40 cm SL 40–50 cm SL 50–60 cm SL 60–70 cm SL 70–80 cm SL 80–90 cm SL 90–100 cm SL

Sphyraena sp. (n = 1126) 97.9 2.1 –– – – – Auxis rochei (n = 711) 100 ––––– – Euthynnus afﬁnis (n = 1143) – 97.3 2.7 ––– – Scomberomorus commerson (n = 25) –– –– – – 100 Scombridae indet. (n = 509) – 68.6 29.7 1.8 –– – Carangidae indet. (n = 2) 100 ––––– –

Table 4. Skeletal element distribution of the identiﬁed and unidentiﬁed scombrids in the two contexts of building H. 10144 10148

Euthynnus Scomberomorus Scombridae Auxis Euthynnus Scomberomorus Scombridae Auxis rochei afﬁnis commerson indet. rochei afﬁnis commerson indet.

Head and pectoral girdle urohyal ––– 1 –– – – scapula ––– 15 –– – 4 radialia ––– 4 –– – – Pelvic girdle basipterygium ––– 5 –– – 9 Vertebral column 1st precaudal 9 –– – 9 –– – vertebra 2nd or 3rd precaudal – 10 –––1 –– vertebra other anterior 134 203 ––25 41 – precaudal vertebrae posterior precaudal 426 667 10 397 108 221 15 114 and caudal vertebrae Others lepidotrichia ––– 16 –– – 6 Total 569 880 10 438 142 263 15 133

(a) (b) have resulted in the differential loss of the smaller first vertebra. The same phenomenon could explain the slight under-representation of the caudal vertebrae, of which the last two are smaller than the rest. In the case of sample 10148, the second precaudal vertebra indicates an MNI of (c) (d) 38, but an even higher number is obtained when the category ‘other precaudal vertebrae’ is considered. In one fish ten such vertebrae are present, hence the 443 specimens Fig. 4. correspond to an MNI of 45. In both sample 10144 and Line drawings of the fish taxa identified (A. Reygel, RMCA). a. Euthyn- 10148 all the fish belong to the size class of 30–40 cm, nus affinis; b. Scomberomorus commerson; c. Auxis rochei; d. Sphyrae- with the exception of one individual of 40–50 cm SL. na sp. In scombrids there is generally a more or less equal number of precaudals and caudals (Godsil 1954). In in place. In sample 10144, the second precaudal vertebra archaeological material (Table 4), however, it is not is relatively speaking the most common skeletal element, always easy to make a straightforward distinction between with a total MNE (minimum number of elements) of 19, the two categories. The first nine precaudals can easily be which is also the MNI (minimum number of individuals). recognised as such but it is usually difficult to distinguish It is striking that the first precaudal vertebrae are under- the eleven other, more posteriorly located, precaudals from represented, as is also the case in sample 10148 (see the caudal vertebrae because their apophyses are usually Table 3). The material was hand-collected and this may broken off (Fig. 5). During the sorting and quantification 227 W. VAN NEER, W. WOUTERS AND M. MOUTON

of suture, resulting in a firm joint (Fig. 6). When decapi- tating Euthynnus, it is therefore conceivable that the vertebral column was severed somewhat more posteriorly, between the first and second vertebrae. The material from Scomberomorus, finally, differs from that of the other scombrids by the fact that not a single precaudal vertebra was recognised. Fig. 5. fi fi Besides the material identi ed as Auxis rochei, Euthyn- A lateral view of the vertebral column of a modern Euthynnus af nis fi (65 cm SL), with an indication of the vertebral categories mentioned in nus af nis and Scomberomorus commerson, there is the the text (W. Van Neer, RBINS). (Scale bar 10 cm.) category of unidentified scombrids which evidently con- sists mainly of the less diagnostic pieces of the aforementioned three species. The scombrid remains include a relatively small number of fin rays and some incomplete vertebrae, of which the corresponding fish lengths cannot be established accurately. The scapula remains fall mainly in the expected range of 30–50 cm SL but one-third of the bones are from fish measuring between 60 and 70 cm SL. None of the specifically identified specimens reached this size, showing that possibly another fish product was also present at the site. This hypothesis seems to be further sup- ported by the reconstructed fish lengths from the unidentified scombrid vertebrae. Of the 511 vertebrae, there are 499 specimens sufficiently well preserved to attempt a body length reconstruction. These vertebrae are all from the caudal-most end of the column and the majority from Fig. 6. the caudal peduncle (Table 5). The last three caudals are A lateral view of the basioccipital and the first vertebra of a modern Eu- very small (Fig. 7) and their low numbers at Mleiha are thynnus affinis (65 cm SL) (W. Van Neer, RBINS). (Scale bar 1 cm.) no doubt a result of the recovery methods. The great majority of the caudals are centra with the typical laterally of the material, vertebral centra that show traces of ven- protruding wings; the other vertebrae are all from the trally projecting parapophyses have been considered as region just cranial of the peduncle. It is striking that one- one category, although in reality they include not only cau- third of the reconstructed fish lengths obtained on these dals but also the last eleven precaudals. The last eight vertebrae falls in the class 50–60 cm SL, whereas this caudal vertebrae that form part of the caudal peduncle, size-class only represents 3% of all Euthynnus.InAuxis however, are clearly distinguishable but unfortunately it is there is not even a single specimen of that size. All this difficult to identify them exactly. They have been classi- suggests the presence of scombrids of a slightly larger fied as ‘Scombridae indet.’ (see below). size, mainly of 50–60 cm SL but also some 60–70 cm SL, The ratio of the easily recognisable anterior precaudals as shown by the scapulae and radialia. This was, again, in the Auxis material from Mleiha is 25%, which is in beheaded fish but this time with most of the vertebral col- agreement with the actual proportion in the vertebral column removed. This is reminiscent of the pattern seen in umn. Similarly, the proportion of anterior precaudals is medieval dried cod where, in smaller specimens, the entire 22% in the Euthynnus from Mleiha. There is only one vertebral column is left in place but in larger fish the ante- striking trend in the distribution of the scombrid vertebrae rior part of the spine is removed during the processing, and that is the total absence of first precaudal vertebrae in prior to the drying or salting (Brinkhuizen 1994). We sup- Euthynnus. This absence cannot be explained by the retrie- pose that these somewhat larger scombrids at Mleiha are val method during excavation, because the size of this ver- also Euthynnus affinis because the Auxis rochei do not tebra is more or less comparable to that of the following attain such sizes, and because the Scomberomorus are precaudals. It appears that the articular facets for the basi- much larger. Figure 8 shows a modern example of dried occipitals have serrated edges, reminiscent of some kind Euthynnus affinis. 228 EVIDENCE OF SUN-DRIED FISH AT MLEIHA

Table 5. The unidentified scombrid vertebrae and their corresponding their fish length (Table 6). Summarising, besides the head- reconstructed standard lengths. less barracudas and headless bullet tuna, both with their 40–50 cm SL 50–60 cm SL vertebral column still present, there are kawakawa pre- Caudal vertebrae close to caudal peduncle 34 – pared in a similar way, as well as larger individuals of the Caudal vertebrae with lateral apophyses 299 147 same species but with most of their spine removed. Last 3 short vertebrae 15 4 Although the skeletal distributions clearly indicate that fish 348 151 processing occurred, involving decapitation and, in the case of the larger scombrids, removal of most of the vertebral column, not a single cut mark has been observed. The majority of the bones have a blue-white colour (Fig. 3), but these indications of burning are not related to contact with fire during, for instance, the production of the dried fish, food preparation or disposal of food waste in a hearth. It is clear that these traces must be related to the burning Fig. 7. Dorso-lateral view of the last ten caudal vertebrae of a modern Euthyn- of the house. nus affinis (65 cm SL) (W. Van Neer, RBINS). (Scale bar 1 cm.)

Provenance of the fish products The provenance of the fish cannot be established on zoo- geographical grounds since all encountered taxa occur in the Arabo-Persian Gulf as well as in the Sea of Oman, and it also appears that Mleiha had ties with settlements on both shores. The site of ed-Dur, located on the shore of the Arabo-Persian Gulf at two days’ distance by mounted dromedary, was still inhabited during the final phase of occupation of Mleiha (Lecomte 1993). On the eastern shore, Dibba was the main harbour related with Mleiha, also at two days’ travel and an open gate to the Indian Fig. 8. Ocean trade (80% of the ceramics found in building H fi A modern example of dried Euthynnus af nis from the Indian Ocean were imported from the Levant, Mesopotamia, Iran and (from http://www.ddbhagat.in/uploads/7/3/8/0/7380993/2361781_orig. jpg). India). The activity at that time of the well-known Islamic harbour of Suhar is more controversial (Cuny & Mouton 2009). Its shoreline, to the east of Mleiha, can be reached fi Table 6. Summary of the sh MNI and their sizes in the two contexts in one day across the mountains. from building H. Given the climatic conditions and the distance of 10144 10148 Mleiha to the coast, be it on the Arabo-Persian or the 30–40 40–50 50–60 30–40 40–50 50–60 Omani side, it is clear that transport of fresh fish must have cm SL cm SL cm SL cm SL cm SL cm SL been hampered and that cured fish would have been a bet- Sphyraena sp. 18 1 – 44 1 – ter alternative. Unlike the western Mediterranean area, for Auxis rochei – 20 ––5 – example, where ample architectural and other evidence is Euthynnus – 30 2 – 10 – fi affinis available for the processing of sh, there is no such data cf. Euthynnus ––16 ––11 for our study region. Thus far no structures have been affinis found along the coast that could be seen as possible installations for the curing of fish. Ethnoarchaeological observations in Pakistan, however, reveal interesting practices that Using all the aforementioned information on skeletal may have a long tradition (Desse & Besenval 1995; Desse element distribution and reconstructed sizes, it has been & Desse-Berset 2000a) and may be of relevance here. possible to establish for both samples a minimum number Depending on the type of fish and their size, two major of individuals for the different fish taxa and to document preparations are currently used in arid areas such as the 229 W. VAN NEER, W. WOUTERS AND M. MOUTON

Makran coast in Pakistan. Smaller fish, e.g. the herring Iron Age Rafaq, located about 25 km from the eastern family (Clupeidae), are simply sun-dried, whereas for Gulf of Oman (Beech 2004). Here there is also a prepon- other species a combination of pickling and sun-drying is derance of caudal vertebrae. carried out. Prior to pickling the fish can be butchered, the At the coastal site of ed-Dur about forty fish taxa were heads either separated or left in place. Generally the fish identified (Van Neer & Gautier 1993), the majority of are opened up and split longitudinally, in order to maxi- which may in principle have been captured in the nearby mise exposure to salt and air. Depending on the fish spe- lagoon. Scombrids, however, which are numerically the cies and on the size of the fish, skeletal parts of the animal most abundant taxon at the site, do not live in such an can be discarded, which results in deposits with typical environment and must have come from the open sea. At signatures (see Belcher 1998 for modern analogues, or the the time the ed-Dur publication was prepared the possibil- archaeological surface finds mentioned in Desse & Besen- ity of cured fish being present was not considered. The val 1995 and Desse & Desse-Berset 2000a). Observations personal notes that were made by the first author at the on modern butchery practices (Desse & Desse-Berset time, however, show trends among the scombrids (Euthyn- 2000a) revealed that very few traces are left on the bones: nus and Thunnus) that are reminiscent of what is observed almost none occur on the vertebrae as a result of the at Mleiha, namely a considerable under-representation of lengthwise splitting of the fish body. Sometimes cut marks head elements and precaudal vertebrae as well as an over- are seen at the cranio-vertebral junction. As mentioned representation of larger caudal vertebrae (from the pedun- above, not a single cut mark was observed on the material cle area). The reconstructed sizes of these scombrids are from Mleiha. also broadly similar to those from Mleiha. This suggests The salting can take place along the beach in simple that at ed-Dur stored fish products also played a role in holes dug in the ground that are filled with salt collected at food provisioning, although it is unclear who was the surface. After a few days of pickling, the fish are involved in the production or where the actual drying took spread out on the surface for sun-drying between two and place. In previous studies on the fish fauna from Mleiha four days, after which the product obtained can be kept for (Gautier & Van Neer 1999; Mashkour & Van Neer 1999) at least a year (Desse & Desse-Berset 2000a). It is obvious the near absence of head elements and precaudal vertebrae that the archaeological visibility of such possible modest was also noted, although at that time there was a tendency salting installations is low. to see this distribution as a possible effect of differential The finds from building H at Mleiha made it possible to preservation in arid environments, rather than a result of document in detail the type of fish products that were fish processing. Several observations made in the mean- stored here, and how these can be recognised archaeologi- time on other sites, however, show that the previous tapho- cally. This allows reviewing the other archaeo-ichthyologi- nomic interpretation should be revised. The scombrid cal data that are available from other contexts at Mleiha remains described from Julfar (Desse & Desse-Berset and other sites in the Arabian Peninsula. In the sequence 2000b) comprise all cranial as well as postcranial skeletal at Mleiha (third century BC–mid-third century AD), it parts, indicating their good preservation chances as well as appears that Euthynnus and Thunnus are the major fish the local consumption of these fish at this Islamic period group in each period for which a large sample size is avail- coastal site. The observations made along the Makran able (Gautier & Van Neer 1999: fig. 2). In the final period coast (Desse & Desse-Berset 2000a) at the surface of fish the contribution of the scombrids (indicated in that publi- processing sites dating to the Chalcolithic, Partho-Sassa- cation as Thunninae), expressed in number of remains, nid and Islamic periods are also relevant: they yielded con- even reaches 90%. The reconstructed sizes of the Euthyn- centrations of articulated vertebrae and cranial elements, nus affinis from that period fall mainly in the range 40– again showing that these skeletal parts have good preser- 60 cm SL (Mashkour & Van Neer 1999: fig. 8) as was the vation chances. case in building H. For the older periods (PIR.A to PIR.C) the reconstructed sizes were lumped together but it is clear that the Euthynnus are again mainly 40–60 cm SL, Conclusion whereas the Thunnus remains are from fish that are some- It can be said that the fish fauna from building H is charac- what larger on average (Gautier & Van Neer 1999: fig. 1). terised by a small species diversity compared to other con- Another inland site where scombrids predominate and texts at Mleiha and elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula. where these fish may have been imported in dried form is The encountered taxa are barracuda and three types of 230 EVIDENCE OF SUN-DRIED FISH AT MLEIHA scombrids, among which the bullet tuna and the kawaka- such fish products in other contexts at Mleiha and suggest- wa are the most frequent. All the fish are decapitated and ing that dried fish was also consumed at ed-Dur. it appears that the vertebral column was partially removed from the larger of the kawakawa. This shows that the remains represent processed fish that were probably salted Acknowledgements and then sun-dried. These products, which may have been The contributions by Wim Van Neer and Wim Wouters to this paper kept for a year or longer, were also characterised by stan- present research results of the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Pro- — dardised lengths. This illustrates a systematic selection by gramme Belgian Science Policy. The excavations at Mleiha are car- fi ried out in the frame of the French Archaeological Expedition in the shermen who were involved in the production of dried United Arab Emirates, funded by the French Ministry of Foreign fish and who assured a supply to the communities living Affairs, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of the Emir- in the inland oasis of the Peninsula. The characteristic sig- ate of Sharjah. We thank Sheila Hamilton-Dyer (Southampton) for the nature of the finds from building H allowed documenting linguistic corrections to the manuscript.

References Beech, M.J. 2004. In the Land of the du monde greco-romain. Melanges de Babylonien und im Golfgebiet (Tübingen, Ichthyophagi: Modelling fish exploitation l’Ecole Francßaise de Rome, Antiquite 112: Ernst Wasmuth Verlag). in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman 119–134. Mashkour, M. & Van Neer, W. 1999. Analyse from the 5th millennium BC to the Late Desse, J. & Desse-Berset, N. 2000b. Julfar des vestiges fauniques du fort et de la zone Islamic period. (British Archaeological (Ras al Khaimah, Emirats Arabes Unis), d’habitat de Mleiha (3e/4e siecles de notre Reports, International Series S1217). ville portuaire du arabo-persique (VIIIe– ere). Pages 121–144 in Mouton, M. (ed.), Oxford: Archaeopress. XVIIe siecles): exploitation des Mleiha I: Environnement, Strategies de Belcher, W.R. 1998. Fish exploitation of the mammiferes et des poissons. Pages 79–93 Subsistance et Artisanats (Lyon, Travaux Baluchistan and Indus Valley traditions: in Mashkour, M., Choyke, A.M., de la Maison de l’Orient 29). an ethnoarchaeological approach to the Buitenhuis, H. & Poplin, F. (eds.), Mouton, M. 2008. La peninsule d’Oman de la study of fish remains. Unpublished PhD Archaeozoology of the Near East. findel’Âge du fer au debut de la periode thesis, University of Wisconsin — Proceedings of the fourth international sassanide (250 av.–350 ap. J.-C.). (Society Madison. symposium on the archaeozoology of for Arabian Studies Monographs 6, BAR Brinkhuizen, D.C. 1994. Some notes on fish southwestern Asia and adjacent areas International Series 1776). Oxford: remains from the late 16th century (Groningen, ARC Publication). Archaeopress. merchant vessel Scheurrak SO1. Pages Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds.) 2012. FishBase. Mouton, M., Tengberg, M., Bernard, V., Le 197–205 in Van Neer, W. (ed.), Fish World Wide Web electronic publication. Maguer, S. et al. 2012. Building H at exploitation in the past. Proceedings of the www.fishbase.org; accessed 02/08/2012. Mleiha: new evidence on the late pre- 7th Meeting of the ICAZ Fish Remains Gautier, A. & Van Neer, W. 1999. Etude Islamic period D phase in the Oman Working Group (Tervuren, Annales du generale de restes vertebres de Mleiha. peninsula (second–mid-third century AD). Musee Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Pages 107–120 in Mouton, M. (ed.), Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Sciences Zoologiques 274). Mleiha I: Environnement, Strategies de Studies 42: 205–222. Cuny, J. & Mouton, M. 2009. La transition Subsistance et Artisanats (Lyon, Travaux Van Neer, W. & Gautier, A. 1993. Preliminary vers la periode sassanide dans la peninsule de la Maison de l’Orient 29). report on the faunal remains from the d’Oman: chronologie et modes de Godsil, H.C. 1954. A descriptive study of coastal site of ed-Dur, 1st–4th century peuplement. Pages 91–133 in certain tuna-like fishes. State of California A.D., Umm al-Quwain, United Arab Schiettecatte, J. & Robin, C. (eds.), Department of Fish and Game Marine Emirates. Pages 110–118 in Buitenhuis, H. L’Arabie a la veille de l’Islam. Bilan Fisheries Branch Fish Bulletin 97: 1–185. & Clason, A. (eds.), Archaeozoology of clinique (Paris, Orient et Mediterranee 3). Lecomte, O. 1993. Ed-Dur, les occupations the Near East. Proceedings of the first Desse, J. & Besenval, R. 1995. En rond ou en des 3e et 4e s. ap. J.-C.: Contexte des international symposium on the long? Aires de decoupes de poissons du trouvailles et matériel diagnostique. Pages archaeozoology of southwestern Asia and littoral balouche (Makran pakistanais). 195–217 in Finkbeiner, U. (ed.), adjacent areas (Leiden, Universal Book Anthropozoologica 21: 163–170. Materialien zur Archäologie der Services). Desse, J. & Desse-Berset, N. 2000a. Salaisons Seleukiden- und Partherzeit im südlichen de poissons marins aux marges orientales

231