Built heritage in Oman faces many natural and cultural risks. Socio-economic development has negatively affected the built heritage in Bawshar, one of Oman’s most developed cities. This study identifies and measures the current and potential risks to built heritage in Bawshar, focusing on vegetation, bulldozing, and urban change-related risks between 2000 and 2017. It also provides baseline data to help heritage managers protect the sites most vulnerable to risks. Satellite imagery and geographic information systems were used to classify change-related risks to built heritage. Risk maps were produced for the built heritage sites under threat over different periods in Bawshar. The results showed that 60%, 28%, and 11% of very high- and high-risk zones faced bulldozing, vegetation, and urban change-related risks, respectively. The methodology adopted in this study can help measure the type and magnitude of risks to built heritage in cities with characteristics similar to those of Bawshar.

The Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach is widely used as a curriculum and basic learning method. This type of learning has been explored in different contexts and at various stages ranging from early stagesof education to primary, preparatory and secondary schools as well as in higher education. PBL leads to transforming the acquisition of teacher-based theoretical knowledge to the efficiency of learning through practice. This approach emphasizes collaborative learning, as well as the tangible results achieved by students to represent and reflect what they have learned. PBL can be used to solve complex problems in all sciences, including teaching of archaeology. The authors of this study applied this approach to their students in the Department of Archaeology at Sultan Qaboos University through the course entitled "Special Topic in the Omani Heritage". This was achieved by creating and designing a project and applying it. Then, a questionnaire was used as a research tool. The results indicate that the goal of the PBL process has largely succeeded in achieving the objectives that the authors sought to achieve in this study. This approach has helped students to develop their own skills of good planning, organization and time management, evaluation and problems solving, in addition to establishing the importance of their cultural heritage. Thus, this approach has proven that it is effective in the field of teaching archaeology and heritage. Its application has established the students' concept of cultural heritage in a scientific and practical way. It also made them more interactive with their community, particularly in relation to the awareness of the importance of preserving their heritage.

The Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach is widely used as a curriculum and basic learning method. This type of learning has been explored in different contexts and at various stages ranging from early stagesof education to primary, preparatory and secondary schools as well as in higher education. PBL leads to transforming the acquisition of teacher-based theoretical knowledge to the efficiency of learning through practice. This approach emphasizes collaborative learning, as well as the tangible results achieved by students to represent and reflect what they have learned. PBL can be used to solve complex problems in all sciences, including teaching of archaeology. The authors of this study applied this approach to their students in the Department of Archaeology at Sultan Qaboos University through the course entitled "Special Topic in the Omani Heritage". This was achieved by creating and designing a project and applying it. Then, a questionnaire was used as a research tool. The results indicate that the goal of the PBL process has largely succeeded in achieving the objectives that the authors sought to achieve in this study. This approach has helped students to develop their own skills of good planning, organization and time management, evaluation and problems solving, in addition to establishing the importance of their cultural heritage. Thus, this approach has proven that it is effective in the field of teaching archaeology and heritage. Its application has established the students concept of cultural heritage in a scientific and practical way. It also made them more interactive with their community, particularly in relation to the awareness of the importance of preserving their heritage.

The present study discusses the results of geological and geoarchaeological research at Manaqi in Al-Rustaq, the new Iron Age (1300–300 BC) complex in north-central Oman. The regional relief attests to pronounced geo-environmental dynamics, largely linked to orogeny of the central Jabal Akhdar Range, as well as climate change. The investigated prehistoric site provides evidence of multiple phases of occupation, the earliest being represented by numerous stone tools, documenting a sequenced presence of Palaeolithic people in the vicinity of an ancient fluvial channel. The principal Iron Age site with residential buildings, tombs and other architectural elements (defensive, irrigation, stone-mining) bear witness to a well-organised settlement with distinct areas, suggesting specific functions. The size and layout of households and funerary structures built from local bedrock and alluvial boulders point to social complexity of a semi-sedentary society. The spatial organisation and internal arrangement of the Manaqi Site suggest that its economic significance was likely linked to an ancient trade route along the present Wadi Al-Fara, connecting the Al-Hajar Mountains with the coast of the Sea of Oman. The synthesized field and analytical data provide a geo-contextual background for the regional pre-Islamic settlements within the South Batinah Governorate. The Manaqi locality also represents a most interesting geo-site, illustrating a multi-facetted geological and palaeoenvironmental history of the present rocky desert subjected to active geomorphic modelling with an ancient anthropogenic imprint. Climate was a key factor in controlling the rise of pre-Islamic civilisation in the Oman Sultanate.