This newly found Iron Age seal comes from an area to the north of the Salut hill whose investigation just began in November 2015. In all likelihood it has to be identified with part of the Iron Age settlement that was overlooked by "Husn" Salut - found at last!
During last field campaign (2015A), further evidence was collected at the site of the monumental stone tower ST1, dated to the second half of the third millennium.
A remarkable quantity of pottery was discovered from context related to a late occupation of the main ditch, once it had been backfilled by waterborne sediments.
In particular, new finds strongly corroborate the evidence for an intense interaction between the local community and the greater Indus Valley. This can be seen through the abundance of Harappan-inspired pottery, either imported or locally imitated, but also through the presence of less common objects. So far, the square stone stamp seal discovered a few seasons ago certainly was the most astonishing one. During this season, two other objects deserve mention, which are relevant to this issue. One is the fragment of what can be interpreted as a hollow clay toy figurine, representing a bird, which likely had applied wheels and could be pulled by means of a thread running through it, as shown by the presence of a small hole running through the object’s body, with one end in the bird’s beak.
The second one represents an extremely important unicum, in that it is the first of its kind ever found outside the greater Indus Valley. It is a small potsherd bearing the impression of an Harappan seal which shows two fighting bulls and a few Harappan signs, unfortunately fragmentary on one end.
This finds, together with other related to the Oman-Indus interaction, will be officially presented during the next Seminar for Arabian Studies, to be held in London next July.