Climate change and human occupation in the Southern Arabian lowlands during the last deglaciation and the Holocene.

TLDR: Paleohydrological and archaeological evidence from the Southern and South Eastern Arabian Peninsula reveal strong relations between phases of human settlements and climate change linked to the Indian monsoon system as mentioned in this paper.

Abstract: Paleohydrological and archaeological evidence from the Southern and SouthEastern Arabian Peninsula reveal strong relations between phases of human settlements and climate change linked to the Indian monsoon system. During the early to mid-Holocene, large freshwater lakes extended in the lowland deserts of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Yemen) and Wahiba Sands (Oman), which were very similar to those occurring in the North, in the Rub' al-Khali (Saudi Arabia), at that time. Many archaeological sites, characterized by scattered stone artefacts, ostrich-eggshells and bones around hearths, are related to this lacustrine phase, which culminated around 10 000–8000 cal yr B.P. in the lowland deserts before the lakes progressively dried up. The last record of freshwater bodies' extensions date back 7300 cal yr B.P. at Shabwa (Yemen) and 7500 cal yr B.P. at al-Haid (Oman). Then, freshwater was probably available only from seasonal runoff from adjacent highlands, where paleolakes persisted into the late Holocene. Dry climate conditions in the inland desert of Yemen during the late Holocene coincide with a phase of intensive human inhabitation as testified by development of irrigation in the piedmontane areas, numerous necropolises of built collective burials and houses.

Figures

Table 2 Radiocarbon measurements on late Quaternary lacustrine sediments from Southern Arabia studied by the authors.

Fig. 8. Synthetic pollen diagram for Mundafan (Saudi Arabia), redrawn from El-Moslimany (1983).

Fig. 7. Synthetic pollen diagram for al-Hawa (Yémen) showing, according to depth the percentages of the main lowland pollen types.

Fig. 12. Synthesis diagram relating geological and archaeological radiocarbon dates to the 74KLmarine record of environment and climate changes over Arabia from 25 000 cal yr B.P. (Sirocko et al., 1993) to the present. Chronology is given in calendar years B.P. with zero equal to 1950 AD. The summer insolation curve at 60°N comes from Berger and Loutre (1991). Paleolake extensions are deduced from 42 14C measurements: from left to right: from the Yemen highlands (Rada and Saada); from the lowland deserts of Yemen (al-Hawa, Shabwa) and Oman (al-Haid); from the Rub' al-Khali (McClure, 1976); and from Ras al Khaima (Parker et al., 2004). Types of human settlements are deduced from 140 14C measurements from archaeological sites recovered from the littoral of the Indian Ocean to the South to the Persian Gulf to the North. Four main types are recognized: from left to right temporary camps made in light material (wood, etc.); “built” (stone based) camp sites (restricted to the Persian Gulf littoral area); and agricultural settlements built of stones and mud bricks, then cemeteries of stone tower graves with single or multiple chambers and collective rituals. Seasonal campsites are still used in South Arabian lowlands, whereas the disappearance of the built collective burials marks the end of the Early Bronze Age (as understood in this paper) and the raise of new forms of social complexity (Cleuziou, 2007) when aridity became well established regionally.

Fig. 4. Sedimentology and clay mineralogy for al-Haid swamp (Oman), synthetic diagrams.

Fig. 3. Sedimentology and clay mineralogy for al-Hawa Palolake (Yemen), synthetic diagrams. Only the main characteristics of the environmental evolution are presented. Data are presented versus depth (in cm) with indication of calendar ages (B.P.) on the left. The phases of lacustrine extensions deduced from variations in calcite composition of the bulk sediment are presented on the right.

Full text

HAL Id: hal-01828516
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01828516
Submitted on 4 Jul 2018
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entic research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.
L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diusion de documents
scientiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.
Climate change and human occupation in the Southern
Arabian lowlands during the last deglaciation and the
Holocene
Anne-Marie Lézine, Christian Robert, Serge Cleuziou, Marie-Louise Inizan,
Frank Braemer, Jean-François Saliège, Florence Sylvestre, Jean-Jacques
Tiercelin, Rémy Crassard, Sophie Méry, et al.
To cite this version:
Anne-Marie Lézine, Christian Robert, Serge Cleuziou, Marie-Louise Inizan, Frank Braemer, et al..
Climate change and human occupation in the Southern Arabian lowlands during the last deglacia-
tion and the Holocene. Global and Planetary Change, Elsevier, 2010, 72 (4), pp.412 - 428.
�10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.01.016�. �hal-01828516�

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached
copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research
and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution
and sharing with colleagues.
Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or
licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party
websites are prohibited.
In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the
article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or
institutional repository. Authors requiring further information
regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are
encouraged to visit:
http://www.elsevier.com/copyright

Author's personal copy
Climate change and human occupation in the Southern Arabian lowlands during the
last deglaciation and the Holocene
Anne-Marie Lézine
a,
⁎
, Christian Robert
b
, Serge Cleuziou
c
, Marie-Louise Inizan
d
, Frank Braemer
e
,
Jean-François Saliège
f
, Florence Sylvestre
b
, Jean-Jacques Tiercelin
g
, Rémy Crassard
c
, Sophie Méry
c
,
Vincent Charpentier
c
, Tara Steimer-Herbet
h
a
UMR 1572, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE), Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
b
UMR6635, Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement de géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE) Europôle méditerranéen de l'Arbois, BP 80 13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 4, France
c
UMR7041, Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn) Université Paris X, Maison René Ginouvès, 21 allée de l'université F-92023 Nanterre cedex, France
d
UMR7055, Préhistoire et Technologie Université Paris X, Maison René Ginouvès, 21, allée de l'université F-92023 Nanterre cedex, France
e
UMR6130, Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM) Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Sophia Antipolis, 250 Rue Albert Einstein, F-06560 Valbonne, France
f
UMR7159, Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN) Université Pierre et Marie Curie, case 100, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France
g
UMR6118, Géosciences Rennes, bat. 15, campus de Beaulieu, 263 Av du général Leclerc, BP 74205 35042 Rennes cedex, France
h
Institut Français du Proche Orient (IFPO), Jisr al-Abiad, BP 3694, Damas, Syria
abstractarticle info
Article history:
Accepted 13 December 2009
Available online 18 January 2010
Keywords:
paleohydrology
palynology
clay mineralogy
human settlements
Yemen
Oman
Arabian lowlands
Holocene
Paleohydrological and archaeological evidence from the Southern and South-Eastern Arabian Peninsula
reveal strong relations between phases of human settlements and climate change linked to the Indian
monsoon system. During the early to mid-Holocene, large fresh-water lakes extended in the lowland deserts
of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Yemen) and Wahiba Sands (Oman), which were very similar to those occurring in
the North, in the Rub' al-Khali (Saudi Arabia), at that time. Many archaeological sites, characterized by
scattered stone artefacts, ostrich-eggshells and bones around hearths, are related to this lacustrine phase,
which culminated around 10 000–8000 cal yr B.P. in the lowland deserts before the lakes progressively dried
up. The last record of fresh-water bodies' extensions date back 7300 cal yr B.P. at Shabwa (Yemen) and
7500 cal yr B.P. at al-Haid (Oman). Then, fresh-water was probably available only from seasonal run-off from
adjacent highlands, where paleolakes persisted into the late Holocene. Dry climate conditions in the inland
desert of Yemen during the late Holocene coincide with a phase of intensive human inhabitation as testified
by development of irrigation in the piedmontane areas, numerous necropolises of built collective burials and
houses.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
During the Holocene, tropical deserts of Africa and Arabia experienced
strong climate variations leading to the development of fresh-water lakes
and the setting of Neolithic populations in are as which are now very arid
and inhospitable. Although relations between man and environ ment are
now well documented in northern Africa at both regional (e.g.,
Hoelzmann et al., 2001) and continental scales (Petit-Maire et al.,
1993), the tropical desert of Arabia is still poorly investigated. There,
archaeological data older than the 6th millennium B.P. are scarce, but
excavations and archaeological surveys have demonstrated an early
Holocene human occupation at the foot of the Omani highlands
(Uerpmann et al., 2000), near the littoral of the Indian ocean (Charpentier
et al., 2000), or in the inland desert of Yemen, the Ramalt as-Sab'atayn
(Cleuziou et al., 1992; Inizan et al., 1998). Widespread development of
complex cultures after the Early Bronze Age when agriculture, metallurgy,
pottery and economic exchanges develop in Yemen (e.g. Braemer et al.,
2001)andOman(inCleuziou, 2005) deserts as climate conditions
become drier (e.g., Fleitman et al., 2003) le ad to several questions: Do the
occupation phases and cul tures correlate with climate variations and
how? How did the environmental resources (fresh-water and plants)
change with climate?
The aim of this article is to review our current knowledge of man–
climate relations in the lowlands of Southern and Eastern Arabia
(Yemen, Oman) during the Holocene using recent studies carried out
in the frame of the French Research Programme, ECLIPSE. Data
comprise mineralogy, pollen, isotope and diatoms according to the
sites and archaeological findings with the objective to place the
history of human occupation in a reliable climatic and environmental
context. Palaeoenvironmental data from two selected paleolakes in
the Yemen highlands are also discussed.
Global and Planetary Change 72 (2010) 412–428
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: anne-marie.lezine@lsce.ipsl.fr (A.-M. Lézine).
0921-8181/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.01.016
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Global and Planetary Change
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gloplacha

Author's personal copy
2. Environmental setting
The climate of Southern Arabia is strongly influenced by the
summer migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and
the associated Indian monsoon rainfall belt (Fig. 1). In summer south-
westerly surface winds carry moisture from the Southern Indian
Ocean along the Arabian coast but do not penetrate far northwards
into Southern Arabia. The mean annual rainfall rapidly decreases from
the coast to the interior and from the mountains to the lowlands. The
maximum rainfall is recorded in the highlands of Yemen (about
1000 mm) and the minimum in the inland desert of the Ramlat as-
Sab'atayn (22 mm); the coastal stations of Aden and Salalah recording
about 57 and 83 mm of annual rainfall, respectively. SW monsoon
fluxes also decrease to the North-East and barely penetrate the Gulf of
Oman. This area is characterized by north-westerly winds throughout
the year. In winter, southward penetration of Mediterranean cyclonic
depressions through Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf corridor
between the Zagros Mountains in Iran and the Jebel al Akhdar range in
northern Oman, is responsible for noticeable precipitation: 350 mm
annual rainfall at Saiq at 1755 malt in the Jebel al Akhdar, and about
90 mm at Muscat, Sur and Ras al-Hadd near the coast. West of this
corridor strong, northeasterly winds in winter intensify dry condi-
tions and transport high quantities of dust to the ocean.
Mean temperature varies from about 26 °C in the coastal regions
under the monsoonal influence to 28 °C, with temperature falling
with altitude from about 0.6 °C per 100 m elevation in the mountains
of Yemen and Oman.
The vegetation of the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula,
which receives tropical summer rain is mainly composed of Acacia-
Commiphora xerophytic, “Somalia-Masai”, communities, which de-
velop mainly in the foothills or near seasonal river beds, whereas open
desert shrublands are characterized by Calligonum, Cyperus, Diptery-
gium and Tribulus growing on sand dunes (Ghazanfar and Fisher,
1998). An eastern community type with Prosopis cineraria of “Sudano-
Makranian” affinity is present on the eastern side of the Arabian
Peninsula, where precipitation occurs in winter. The montane
vegetation shows a distinct altitudinal distribution with Acacia
woodlands at lower elevation, semi-evergreen (sclerophyllous)
woodlands, and evergreen needle-leaved woodlands with Olea and
Juniperus at higher elevation of the highlands. In the inland and
littoral sebkhas, where saline conditions prevail, the vegetation
mostly consists of Chenopodiaceae herbaceous communities whereas
Avicennia marina occurs in mangroves.
3. Modern pollen data
Fifty-nine soil surface samples taken along a latitudinal transect
through the Rub' al-Khali sand sea, from the Ramlat as-Sab'atayn to the
South to the Iraq coastal areas to the North, and along an altitudinal
transect from the littoral to 2000 m alt in Oman illustrate the pollen
signature of major Arabian ecosystems (Fig. 2; Table 1). The latitudinal
transect, combining regional studies from Lézine et al. (1998),
Bonnefille and Riollet (1988) and El-Moslimany (1983) has been
detailed in Lézine et al. (1998) (Table 1) and is summarized here:
(1) Lowland areas from Yemen and Saudi Arabia under SW
monsoon infl
uence of summer precipitation are characterized
by high amount of pollen grains from herbaceous populations
with Tribulus (maximum=12%), Dipterygium-type glaucum
(17%), Calligonum (31%), Cyperaceae (79%) and Poaceae (25%).
(2) Cyperaceae and Calligonum domina te in the Rub' al-Khali sand sea
in association with Limeum-type (10%), whereas Aerva lanata-type
dominates in the Ramlat as-Sab'atayn with 19%.
(3) Tropical trees, mainly Acacia and Commiphora are locally present
in the southernmost samples from Yemen witha totalpercentage
reaching up to 15%.
(4) The northern limit of the monsoon influenc e closely correspond s to
the disappearance of the tropical plants from the pollen diagram
and their replacement by Plantago (38%), Asteraceae (16%) and
Cichorieae (28%). The dominance of Chenopodiaceae-Amarantha-
ceae (99%) pollen types indicates widespread dry, saline, soil
conditions.
The altitudinal transect shows continuous occurrence in significant
amounts of Prosopis-type cin eraria (9%),whichcharacterizethe lowlands
of Eastern Oman. This pollen-type is associated with Acacia (13%) and
abundant herbs, mainly Asteraceae (33%), Chenopodiaceae-Amarantha-
ceae (47%), Cyperaceae (37%) and Poaceae (64%). It disappears at higher
altitudes in the Jebel al Akhdar, where it is replaced by Acacia,associated
with Dodona ea viscosa (7%) then by Olea europea-type (31%) above
1100 m alt. Finally, the near sho re samp les from relict man groves of the
Oman Gulf (Sur, Quryat, Kwar al Jaramah) (Lézine et al., 2002)recordthe
presence of Avicennia with continuous low pollen values (6%).
4. The Holocene sedimentary sequences
Five lacustrine sedimentary sequences of Holocene age ranging
from 12 000 cal B.P. to 5000 cal. B.P. were detailed for mineralogical
Fig. 1. Surface wind trajectories in winter (on the left) and summer (on the right) over Arabia and surrounding areas. Paleohydrological/Palynological sites cited in the text are
located at 1: al-Hawa, 2: al-Haid, 3: Rada, 4: Saada, 5: Suwayh, 6: Mundafan, and 7: At Awafi.
413A.-M. Lézine et al. / Global and Planetary Change 72 (2010) 412–428

Author's personal copy
analyses and chronology. They were recovered from the lowland sand
seas of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn in central Yemen (al-Hawa) and of the
Wahibah sands in Southern Oman (al-Haid), and from the Yemen
highlands (Rada and Saada). Only two sequences were favourable to
pollen (al-Hawa) and diatom (Rada) analyses.
4.1. Methods
4.1.1. Bulk and clay mineralogy
The sedimentary sequences of al-Hawa, al-Haid, Rada, Saada 1 and
Saada 3 were sampled at 1 to 5 cm interval for bulk and clay mineral
Fig. 2. Modern surface samples from the Arabian Peninsula. On the top, a latitudinal transect from Yemen to Iraq. On the bottom, an altitudinal transect from the sea shore to 2000 m
alt in Oman. Percentages are calculated against the sum of all pollen grains and fern spores counted. Only the main taxa are presented. Data are available from the African Pollen
Database (http://medias.obs-mip.fr/pad).
414 A.-M. Lézine et al. / Global and Planetary Change 72 (2010) 412–428

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in "Climate change and human occupation in the southern arabian lowlands during the last deglaciation and the holocene" ?

Lézine et al. this paper reviewed the current knowledge of man-environment relations in the lowlands of Southern and Eastern Arabia ( Yemen, Oman ) during the Holocene using recent studies carried out in the frame of the French Research Programme, ECLIPSE. 

Q2. What is the composition of the assemblage?

The assemblage is mainly composed of lowland vegetation pollen types including Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Typha. 

Q3. What is the key to understanding the development of human communities in the Arabian lowlands?

Adaptation to such an environment marked by recurrent phases of intense dryness is key understanding the development of human communities in the Arabian lowlands. 

Q4. What led to the extension of several paleolakes in the lowlands?

Enhancedmonsoon fluxes led to the extension of several paleolakes in the lowlands from 11 000 to 5000 cal yr B.P. and the eastward displacement of the tropical phytogeographical zone of influence. 

Q5. What is the effect of aridity on the clay mineralogy?

The scarcity of clay minerals in the al-Haid section suggests that chemical weathering remained weak, as a probable consequence of strong aridity. 

Q6. What is the recent evidence of seasonal rainfall in the Arabian lowlands?

River flood deposits which are widely distributed along wadis at the back slopes of the highlands of Yemen (e.g., Coque-Delhuile and Gentelle, 1995) also testify for seasonal rainfall in mountains during the Late Holocene. 

Q7. What is the likely cause of the smectite in the al-?

Smectite is a typical product of chemical weathering in semi-arid areas, which formed through pedogenic processes and/or authigenesis in poorly drained downstream areas of the drainage basin. 

Q8. What is the oldest date known from Arabia?

The oldest date known from Arabia is around 10 820 cal yr B.P., from charcoal, in the section of Wadi Wattaya near Muscat in Oman (Uerpmann, 1992). 

Q9. What is the history of the desert oasis agriculture in Yemen?

By the very end of the 6th millennium B.P., oasis agriculture with date-palm gardens and cereal cultivation is well attested in the desert piedmonts of the Omani mountains, along the piedmontane sections of the main wadis. 

Q10. What is the average temperature in the coastal regions of Yemen?

Mean temperature varies from about 26 °C in the coastal regions under the monsoonal influence to 28 °C, with temperature falling with altitude from about 0.6 °C per 100 m elevation in the mountains of Yemen and Oman. 

Q11. What is the likely explanation for the higher abundances of kaolinite?

slightly higher abundances of kaolinite and random mixed-layers in the upper part of the section may result from increased contribution from the drainage basin because of intensified run-off. 

Q12. What type of sedimentary sequences were sampled at 1 to 5 cm interval?

The sedimentary sequences of al-Hawa, al-Haid, Rada, Saada 1 and Saada 3 were sampled at 1 to 5 cm interval for bulk and clay mineralinvestigations. 

Q13. What is the significance of the pollen types in the al-Hawa paleolake?

High percentages of these pollen types indicate the development of hygrophilous herbaceous populations around the lake during phases of low level in accordance with the sedimentological and mineralogical records. 

Q14. What type of pollen is found in the lowlands of Oman?

The altitudinal transect shows continuous occurrence in significant amounts ofProsopis-type cineraria (9%),whichcharacterize the lowlands of Eastern Oman. 

Q15. What is the main reason why the al-haid section is considered as mainly derived?

this clay assemblage is considered as mainly derived from eolian activity with little contribution from run-off in adjacent drainage basin, even during intervals of lake expansion. 

Q16. What is the influence of winter rains on the Omano-Makranian landscape?

At At Awafi, the dominance of Prosopis cineraria, which is one of themain components of the Omano-Makranian phytogeographical zone, leads to consider the dominant influence of winter rains, as nowadays, near the Persian Gulf.