ORIGINAL ARTICLE Socio-cultural innovations of the Final Umm an-Nar period (c.2100–2000 BCE) in the Oman peninsula: new insights from Ra’s al-Jinz RJ-2 Valentina M. Azzar a | Alexandre P. De Rorre UMR 7041, ArScAn – VEPMO, Maison de l’Arch eologie et de l’Ethnologie, 21 All  ee de l’Universit  e, 92000, Nanterre, France Correspondence Valentina M. Azzar a Email: valentina.azzara@gmail.com Abstract The Early Bronze Age site of RJ-2, located close to the coastal village of Ra’s al- Jinz on the eastern Omani coast (Niyabat Ra’s al-Hadd), was the focus of archaeo- logical investigations for over two decades. The latest campaigns of excavation unearthed an architectural complex (Building XII) dated to the very end of the Umm an-Nar period (Final UaN, c.2100–2000 BCE), previously attested on site by poorly preserved remains. This paper presents the remains explored during the most recent fieldwork, focusing on the stratigraphic-structural sequence and the spatial layout. It also considers the transformations affecting structural evidence and material culture during this period, at both local and regional level, highlighting their significance for a comprehensive assessment of the last occupations related to the Early Bronze Age in south-eastern Arabia. The paper concludes by showing how the Final Umm an-Nar phase represents an age of substantial socio-cultural innovations, which most likely shaped the transition towards the following Wadi Suq period. KEYWORDS Early Bronze Age, household, Oman peninsula, socio-cultural innovations, socio-economic organisation, spatial layout, Umm an-Nar period 1 | INTRODUCTION The very last phase of the Umm an-Nar period in the Oman peninsula has seldom been thoroughly examined as a phenomenon per se; yet, a series of substantial transformations are perceivable in the material culture and in funerary architecture towards the end of the Early Bronze Age (EBA), as emphasised by the rare works focusing on this period (esp. McSweeney, M ery, & Mac- chiarelli, 2008; see also M ery & Marquis, 1998; M ery et al., 2001; 2004; M ery, 2010; see below). The signifi- cance of these transformations and the dynamics of their occurrence must not be overlooked, since they not only represent the final evolution of the Early Bronze Age in south-eastern Arabia, but also constitute a key factor for the understanding of the Umm an-Nar—Wadi Suq transi- tion, and the alleged collapse of the EBA way of life at the dawn of the second millennium BCE (see e.g. Cleu- ziou, 2007: 222–230; see below). This phase, that we propose to broadly identify as the Final Umm an-Nar phase, corresponds to Phase 4 of the chronological sequence of Umm an-Nar tombs at Hili (c.2200/2100–2000 BCE; McSweeney et al., 2008: 10). In inland Oman, the area of Bat presents what seems to be a transitional phase between the Late Umm an-Nar (2300– 2000 BCE) and the Wadi Suq period (2000–1600 BCE), matching the passage between Phases 4 and 5 of Tower 1156 (Mortimer, 2016a: 142, 146, 152), although outlining the last EBA occupations at Bat is awaiting a sounder defi- nition of contexts and of the associated material culture (Thornton & Ghazal, 2016: 200). Other sites, such as May- sar 1 (Weisgerber, 1981: 191–196), attest to Late Umm an- Nar phases, but occupations that would match the Final UaN phase as proposed here are not clearly identified. The DOI: 10.1111/aae.12095 10 | © 2017 John Wiley & Sons wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aae Arab Arch Epig. 2018;29:10–26.