Page 222 - DILMUN NO 20

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outhast Arabia as th origin of Msopotaia an Diun's coppr. hr

is in fact itt or no vinc for arg-sca coppr ining an sting in

outhast Arabia uring th arly 2n inniu (83). n, thr is

currnty no vinc for prannt sttlnts in th inan coppr­

proucing aras of th pninsua foowing th turn of th inniu (84),

such as wou unrpin an xport tra in coppr of th sca inicat by

th Msopotaian txts. hr is a corrsponing ack of vinc for buk

tra btwn outhast Arabia an any othr at this ti, th Wai uq

prio atria cutur bing singuary isoat an poor in iport

atria. h outstaning xcption is Abraq, with its abunant Barbar

pottry an sar quantity of Lat Harappan atria. hr is taurgica

vinc, howvr, that Abraq shou b rgar as an xcptionla sit,

cosy w to th Guf traing ntwork, but not w intgrat with th

conoy of th outhast Araiban hintran. Coppr fro Abraq fro

vs prior to th i 2n inniu cannot yt b ircty ink to th ors

in th ountains of Oan, an th sit is rich in tin bronz, which rar

swhr in th pninsua bfor th Iron Ag (85). h paucity of Wai uq

pottry in Bahrain, an of Early Diun fins in outhast Arabia outsi

Abraq, ay thrfor b an accurat rfction of th ow intnsity of

outhast Arabia's rationship with Diun uring th arly 2n inniu.

t is prhaps bst to rgar Abraq as an iportant staging post btwn

Bahrain an aurashtra, an prhaps as a port sving th or nsy

popuat northrn an coasta part of outhast Arabia, rathr than a

rgiona ntrpot for th who pninsua.

Rao suggsts that coppr was purifi at Lotha, an xport as bun­

shap ingots (86), but aurashtra's ro in th transhipnt of coppr

rains spcuativ at this stag, hr is xtnsiv vinc for ancint

coppr working narby in Rajasthan, but it is uniky that this sourc

contribut graty to th intr-rgionla coppr tra at this ti. Athough

Chakrabarti an Lahiri biv th ins in Northast Rajasthan to hav

bn in us at ast uring th Early an Matur Harappan prios (87), an

Dhavaikar spcuats that th Rajasthani ins xport coppr through th

aurashtran ports (88), th arist Carbon-14 at avaiab for ths

ancint ins fas in th atr part of th 2n inniu BC (89).

Furthror, La sotop Anaysis of coppr fro th Aravai His in

Rajasthan, aar an Abraq inicats that th coppr fro th attr wto

sits is incopatib with a Rajasthani origin (90).