A proposed function for Late Prehistoric incised arrowheads in Southeastern Arabia

Abstract

In this paper I will elucidate a potentially important aspect of symbolic and ritual life for the inhabitants of ancient southeastern Arabia. Incised bronze arrowheads are commonly recovered on sites between 1500 and c. 600 BC. To date, well over fifty of these have been found at sites stretching from Oman to the eastern province of Saudi Arabia (Figs 1-2). In a paper published in 1998 I drew attention to the distribution and chronology of these artefacts. Their function, however, has remained unaddressed. Here I detail a possible link between these artefacts and a series of historically-attested divination rituals which were practised in pre-Islamic southern Arabia.