On Thursday, October 24, Charlotte Marie Cable, a researcher in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University, will speak in the Whitney Auditorium (Room 1315, School of Education Building) at noon as part of the UMMAA Brown Bag Lecture Series.

Cable will discuss the site of Bat, which has one of the longest records of archaeological research in Oman or the United Arab Emirates. In spite of this there is a great deal that is unknown, both about Bat itself and about ancient Oman in general. The Bat Archaeological Project (BAP) has conducted research at Bat and its environs since 2007. Ongoing surveys and excavations, focusing primarily on the Bronze Age monuments and settlements, continue to refine basic functional and chronological interpretations while engaging with fundamental questions facing our understanding of southeastern Arabia: To what extent did Hafit period (ca. 3200–2800 BCE) communities interact, and how were those relations maintained? How should we understand the apparent changes to settlements, mortuary patterns, and local and regional economies during the subsequent Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2800–2000 BCE)? How complete was the break between the Umm an-Nar period and the Wadi Suq period (2000–1300 BCE) that followed? The site of Bat, and the satellite communities that surround it, continues to yield data that add to the overall picture while providing ample opportunity for new questions and debates.    

The Museum’s Brown Bag Lecture Series is free and open to the public.