Archaeobotanical analysis of food and fuel procurement from Fulayj fort (Oman, 5th-8th c. CE) including the earliest secure evidence for sorghum in Eastern Arabia

Abstract The recent study of botanical macro-remains from the Late Sasanian and Early Islamic (5th to 8th century) fort of Fulayj (Batinah, Sultanate of Oman) provides a unique opportunity to discuss food and fuel acquisition strategies in an arid environment and to document periods that are little known from an archaeobotanical perspective in Eastern Arabia. Seed assemblages include the first well-identified and directly radiocarbon dated evidence of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor ssp. bicolor (L.) Moench.) in Eastern Arabia, which raises the question of whether the grain was imported from distant sources (for example Yemen, East Africa or India) or locally cultivated. In addition to sorghum, the food plant assemblage includes hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare), date (Phoenix dactylifera) and jujube (Ziziphus cf. spina-christi). Date palm gardens may have existed near to the site as they do today or food products may have been brought from date palm gardens on the Batinah coast where conditions for agricultural production are particularly favourable. Charcoal analysis reveals that the main taxa used for fuel (acacia, prosopis, jujube tree, tamarisk) were collected from local plant communities, occasionally supplemented with firewood gathered in the foothills and mountainous areas.