The 2004 campaigns at Khor Rori, Oman - Università degli Studi di Pisa

The first campaign of 2004 (SUM04A) was concentrated inside and outside the city wall. Outside, the excavation of the temple extra muros was finished and the cleansing of three structures, placed east from the city and maybe connected with agricultural activities of ancient settlers, was performed.
Inside the city the goals were to finish the excavation of BA6 and BA5, to complete the digging of the temple intra muros (BF3) and to start the excavations of the new building BF5 (so called Monumental Building 2).
BA6 was partly excavated by AFSM and during this campaign an external structure connected with the main entrance was unearthed. It's still unclear when BA6 was built, but certainly it was in use during the construction and the functioning of US22 floor and later during the construction and the functioning of US29 floor (last phase of existence of Sumhuram). BA5 was instead destroyed during the construction of floor US22 but this excavation did not give indications about the time of construction of the building.
In the templar complex the last room, A42, was excavated. The filling of the room was very soft dark brown loam mixed with ashes, charcoal, pottery fragments and enormous amount of animal bones. It's very probable the room was used as a garbage pit at the final phase of its existence. In the same time excavations were performed in the vast square A20.
Here the probably remains of a blacksmith workshop were discovered. A round furnace made of pottery and with a nozzle made from the neck of a Dressel 2-4 amphora was found against the wall M86.
A new structure, BF5, was started to excavate during this campaign. It's constituted by wide walls surrounded an inner courtyard rectangular in layout. The foundations were not reached and no shards or bones or shell were found in the filling.
A new area was opened 300 m north-eastern of Sumhuram were the ruins of three structures were found. It's hard to make any conclusion about the function of these structures, but it's probable they were connected with agricultural activities of the settlers of Sumhuram.
According to the pottery assemblage, they are contemporary to the first period of the ancient town (3rd cent. BC).

In the second campaign (SUM04B) the efforts were concentrated above all in clearing the external façade of the defence wall of the town. Around tower A62 we found a significant enlargement of the tower which doubled its space. The wall, made of huge limestone blocks, was set on the bedrock.