Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic Occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: Implications for Climate Change and Human Dispersals
Rémy Crassard
(1)
,
Michael D. Petraglia
(2)
,
Nick A Drake
(3)
,
Paul Breeze
(3)
,
Bernard Gratuze
(4)
,
Abdullah Alsharekh
(5)
,
Mounir Arbach
(6)
,
Huw S. Groucutt
(7)
,
Lamya Khalidi
(1)
,
Nils Michelsen
(8)
,
Christian Robin
(6)
,
Jérémie Schiettecatte
(6)
1
Archéorient -
ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
2 Human Origins Program
3 Department of geography [London]
4 IRAMAT-CEB - IRAMAT - Centre Ernest Babelon
5 Department of archaeology
6 OM - ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
7 School of Archaeology
8 TU Darmstadt - Technische Universität Darmstadt - Technical University of Darmstadt
2 Human Origins Program
3 Department of geography [London]
4 IRAMAT-CEB - IRAMAT - Centre Ernest Babelon
5 Department of archaeology
6 OM - ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
7 School of Archaeology
8 TU Darmstadt - Technische Universität Darmstadt - Technical University of Darmstadt
Rémy Crassard
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 20393
- IdHAL : remy-crassard
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2403-1894
- IdRef : 117605565
Bernard Gratuze
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 20429
- IdHAL : bernard-gratuze
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6136-8085
- IdRef : 033805776
Mounir Arbach
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 179970
- IdHAL : mounir-arbach
- IdRef : 060160470
Jérémie Schiettecatte
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 392
- IdHAL : jeremie-schiettecatte
- ORCID : 0000-0001-6691-5922
- IdRef : 111217776
Résumé
The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding climate change and human occupation history in a marginal environment. The Mundafan palaeolake is situated in southern Saudi Arabia, in the Rub' al-Khali (the 'Empty Quarter'), the world's largest sand desert. Here we report the first discoveries of Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in association with the palaeolake. We associate the human occupations with new geochronological data, and suggest the archaeological sites date to the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and the Early Holocene. The archaeological sites indicate that humans repeatedly penetrated the ameliorated environments of the Rub' al-Khali. The sites probably represent short-term occupations, with the Neolithic sites focused on hunting, as indicated by points and weaponry. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages at Mundafan support a lacustrine adaptive focus in Arabia. Provenancing of obsidian artifacts indicates that Neolithic groups at Mundafan had a wide wandering range, with transport of artifacts from distant sources.
Format du dépôt | Fichier |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Résumé |
en
The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding climate change and human occupation history in a marginal environment. The Mundafan palaeolake is situated in southern Saudi Arabia, in the Rub' al-Khali (the 'Empty Quarter'), the world's largest sand desert. Here we report the first discoveries of Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in association with the palaeolake. We associate the human occupations with new geochronological data, and suggest the archaeological sites date to the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and the Early Holocene. The archaeological sites indicate that humans repeatedly penetrated the ameliorated environments of the Rub' al-Khali. The sites probably represent short-term occupations, with the Neolithic sites focused on hunting, as indicated by points and weaponry. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages at Mundafan support a lacustrine adaptive focus in Arabia. Provenancing of obsidian artifacts indicates that Neolithic groups at Mundafan had a wide wandering range, with transport of artifacts from distant sources.
|
Titre |
en
Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic Occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: Implications for Climate Change and Human Dispersals
|
Auteur(s) |
Rémy Crassard
1
, Michael D. Petraglia
2
, Nick A Drake
3
, Paul Breeze
3
, Bernard Gratuze
4
, Abdullah Alsharekh
5
, Mounir Arbach
6
, Huw S. Groucutt
7
, Lamya Khalidi
1
, Nils Michelsen
8
, Christian Robin
6
, Jérémie Schiettecatte
6
1
Archéorient -
ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
( 619 )
- Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean-Pouilloux 7 rue Raulin 69365 LYON Cedex 07
- France
2
Human Origins Program
( 234570 )
- États-Unis
3
Department of geography [London]
( 442841 )
- Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS
- Royaume-Uni
4
IRAMAT-CEB -
IRAMAT - Centre Ernest Babelon
( 238248 )
- Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux IRAMAT - 3D, Rue de la Férollerie - 45071 Orléans cedex 2
- France
5
Department of archaeology
( 234571 )
- Arabie saoudite
6
OM -
ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire
( 542221 )
- 27 rue Paul Bert 94204 IVRY SUR SEINE CEDEX
- France
7
School of Archaeology
( 129912 )
- University of Oxford, OX1 2PG, UK
- Royaume-Uni
8
TU Darmstadt -
Technische Universität Darmstadt - Technical University of Darmstadt
( 300723 )
- Karolinenplatz 5, 64289 Darmstadt
- Allemagne
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Date de publication |
2013
|
Date de publication électronique |
2013-07-24
|
Volume |
8
|
Numéro |
7
|
Page/Identifiant |
e69665
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Mots-clés |
en
Saudi Arabia, Middle palaeolithic, Neolithic, Palaeolake
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0069665 |
Origine :
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