ancient colonial power. Central Oman's main importance seems to have been a strategic one for foreign powers interested in securing their own sea trade and interdicting that of competitors. By means of the use of linguistics it is possible to get past the limits of the archaeological record and learn something about who the people are who used the artefacts. The Samad sites lie outside the sphere of Arabic language subsequently at the time of the Prophet, but inside the areas where so-called Modern South Arabian languages are spoken. Recently, however, several Hasaitic inscriptions of north Arabian type have come to light in the United Arab Emirates and at other sites further north. The Samad graves and grave goods do not relate to those from contemporary central or south-western Arabia, from whence this population usually is considered to derive. To explain this, we must assume a change from the original material culture of the immigrants to the Samad assemblage as we know it, which perhaps took a couple of generations. The graves and grave goods relate poorly with those of the PIR, with the exception of the shared balsamaria vessels. The burial custom shows weak evidence in the graves for a monogamous core family structure, perhaps like that of the Mahra tribes. In one grave an older couple are buried. There are no burials with one male and more than one female. See also Archaeology of Oman Oman Pre-Islamic recent period List of archaeological sites by country Sources Paul Yule, Die Gräberfelder in Samad al-Shan (Sultanat Oman): Materialien zu einer Kulturgeschichte, Rahden, 2001, .. Paul Yule, Late Pre-Islamic Oman: The Inner Evidence – The Outside View, Hoffmann-Ruf, M.–al-Salami, A. (eds.), Studies on Ibadism and Oman, Oman and Overseas, vol. 2, Hildesheim, 2013, 13–33, . Paul Yule, Cross-roads – Early and Late Iron Age South-eastern Arabia, Abhandlungen Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, vol. 30, Wiesbaden, 2014, ; E-Book: . Paul Yule, Valorising the Samad Late Iron Age, Arabian Archaeol. Epigraphy 27, 2016, 31–71, . Paul Yule & Christine Pariselle, Silver phiale said to be from al-Juba (al-Wusṭa governorate) ‒ an archaeological puzzle, Arabian Archaeol. Epigraphy 27, 2016, 153‒65, Paul Yule, Toward an identity of the Samad period population (Sultanate of Oman), Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 11, 2018, 438–86, , . References History of Oman Archaeological sites in Oman