Bronze Age funerary practices in the Khaybar oasis, Northwest Arabia

This study presents the results of a comprehensive archaeological investigation of sixty funerary structures excavated in the Khaybar oasis as part of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, conducted between 2020 and 2024, in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Adopting a multidisciplinary methodology that integrates architectural analysis, stratigraphic sequencing, biological anthropology and archaeothanatological approaches, the research aims to reconstruct burial practices and generate new insights into the population interred within these monuments. Although the preservation of human skeletal remains was generally poor, the excavations identified a number of individual primary burials. Radiocarbon dating of associated materials has made it possible to establish a refined chronological framework, placing the use of these funerary structures between the late 4th and early 2nd millennia BCE. This temporal span covers a period of considerable social and cultural changes in Northwest Arabia. The analysis reveals substantial transformations in tomb architecture, mortuary gestures, and the deposition of grave goods, particularly evident during the transition from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BCE. Patterns of reuse were observed in several monuments, suggesting sustained engagement with burial sites over extended periods of time. Notably, the marked underrepresentation of immature individuals raises important questions about age-based social selection in funerary treatment. Beyond documenting these patterns, the study contributes to broader discussions of social organization, commemorative practices, and shifting attitudes toward death and the afterlife in Bronze Age Arabia. By situating the Khaybar data within a wider regional context, it offers a valuable comparative framework for understanding mortuary traditions in arid-zone oasis societies.