BMH2 and the Iron Age northern coastal Oman in light of 2014-2015 excavation season

Between 2014-2016 the University of Naples archaeological mission to Oman is carrying on archaeological activities along the sea coastline between Dibab and Tiwi, in northern Oman, in the land known after the classical sources as the land of the ichtyophagoi (fish-eaters). This paper summarizes the results of the first three excavation seasons and highlights the high technical skills and social complexity developed by this Early Iron Age II community (IX-VI cent. BCE), despite the "barbarian" view of the Greek and Roman authors. Moreover, apart from the historical fish-eaters issue, this paper introduces for the first time evidence of the Iron Age settled and semi-nomad communities in northern coastal Oman, an area up to now investigated only from a prehistorical point of view.