Rare 4,000-year-old musical instrument 'buried in the ground' puzzles archaeologists
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Archaeologists in Dahwa, Oman, found two strange discs that turned out to be a rare 4,000-year-old musical instrument, according to a recently published study.
Archaeologists were perplexed by a strange pair of discs found in Oman – only to discover these items were actually a single 4,000-year-old instrument. The cymbals date to the third millennium B.C. They were unearthed at a site in modern-day Dahwa, Oman, located on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia. The scientists released their findings in an article entitled "Bronze Age cymbals from Dahwa: Indus musical traditions in Oman," in the journal Antiquity on April 8. ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: 'PRESERVED QUITE WELL' Historians uncovered the cymbals during an excavation of an ancient building in 2018, according to the article. The cymbals date back to somewhere between 2200 B.C. and 2000 B.C. Pictures show the cymbals as identical in size. Neither appear to have surface damage, which the study's authors said "support[ed] the idea of a deliberate and careful deposition." "Both are circular, with an outer diameter of 138mm and an embossed middle (17mm deep and 76mm in diameter) that is perforated by a 4.2mm-diameter hole," the journal article says. "The walls of the cymbals are thin, with a thickness of 1.5–2mm that increases slightly at the edges where it reaches 3mm." ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LONG-LOST TOMB OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH IN EGYPT Though well-preserved, the…