Muscat – A team of archaeologists unearthed a 5000-year-old settlement during a recent exploration at the Al Gharyein archeological site in the wilayat of Mudhaibi, North Sharqiyah governorate.

The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) in a statement said that the exploratory teams unearthed the ancient settlement during the second season of excavation at the archaeological site of Al Ghariyan.

The excavation – headed by Dr Nasser Said al Jahwari, professor in the Department of Archaeology at the SQU College of Arts and Social Sciences – was a joint mission of the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. The other members of the team are Dr Khalid Douglas and Dr Mohammad Hussein.

‘The Al Gharyein site boasts of a unique organisation and planning. It features a tower structure, surrounded by multi-room dwellings, a cemetery with mass burial graves and the remains of other buildings,’ stated SQU.

The settlement is distinguished for its large buildings – as large as 600sqm each.

‘Besides its exceptional characteristics in terms of construction, planning and concept, the archaeological finds show that the site’s inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, animal grazing, copper smelting and had relations with coastal communities; in addition to foreign trade, especially with the present day Sindh in Pakistan.