The softstone vessels assemblage from the long collective grave 1 (LCG-1) at Dibba al-Bayah (Sultanate of Oman). A preliminary assessment

The present contribution aims to provide an overview of the large collection of soft stone vessels and lids coming from the collective tomb Long Collective Grave 1 in the Dibba al-Bayah funerary complex, along with a brief description and evaluation of the tomb itself. The corpus of material here discussed has been recovered during the 2012 season, and it mainly encompasses the chronological span between the second and first millennium BC. The findings are classified and organised in tables according to their chronological phase, and successively on the basis of their morphology and decorative patterns to which a major focus is addressed. Given the outstanding manufacturing of the materials, the finely incised and even plastic decorations, and their state of preservation, an assessment of such remarkable corpus, although partial, contributes significantly to the study of the diffusion and production of stone vessels in South-East Arabia.