Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: Implications for climate change and human dispersals
Rémy Crassard,Michael D. Petraglia,Nick Drake,Paul S. Breeze,Bernard Gratuze,Abdullah Alsharekh,Mounir Arbach,Huw S. Groucutt,Lamya Khalidi,Nils Michelsen,Christian Julien Robin,Jérémie Schiettecatte +11 more
TLDR
The first discoveries of Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in association with the Mundafan palaeolake are reported, indicating that humans repeatedly penetrated the ameliorated environments of the Rub’ al-Khali.Abstract:
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.read more
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Rethinking the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa.
Huw S. Groucutt,Michael D. Petraglia,Geoff Bailey,Eleanor M. L. Scerri,Ash Parton,Laine Clark-Balzan,Richard P. Jennings,Laura H. Lewis,James Blinkhorn,Nick Drake,Paul S. Breeze,Robyn Helen Inglis,Maud H. Devès,Maud H. Devès,Matthew Meredith-Williams,Nicole Boivin,Mark G. Thomas,Aylwyn Scally +17 more
TL;DR: The emerging picture of the dispersal process suggests dynamic behavioral variability, complex interactions between populations, and an intricate genetic and cultural legacy in Homo sapiens out of Africa.
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Palaeohydrological corridors for hominin dispersals in the Middle East ∼250–70,000 years ago
Paul S. Breeze,Huw S. Groucutt,Nick Drake,Tom S. White,Richard P. Jennings,Michael D. Petraglia +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the palaeoenvironmental setting for hominin dispersals between, and within, northeast Africa and southwest Asia during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 7-5 using reconstructions of surface freshwater availability as an environmental proxy.
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The greening of Arabia: Multiple opportunities for human occupation of the Arabian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene inferred from an ensemble of climate model simulations
Richard P. Jennings,Joy S. Singarayer,Emma J. Stone,Uta Krebs-Kanzow,Vyacheslav Khon,Kerim H. Nisancioglu,Madlene Pfeiffer,Xu Zhang,Adrian G. Parker,Ash Parton,Huw S. Groucutt,Tom S. White,Nick Drake,Michael D. Petraglia +13 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an ensemble of five global climate models (CCSM3, COSMOS, HadCM3, KCM, and NorESM) for the Arabian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene.
Journal ArticleDOI
Remote sensing and GIS techniques for reconstructing Arabian palaeohydrology and identifying archaeological sites
Paul S. Breeze,Nick Drake,Huw S. Groucutt,Ash Parton,Richard P. Jennings,Tom S. White,Laine Clark-Balzan,Ceri Shipton,Eleanor M. L. Scerri,Christopher Stimpson,Rémy Crassard,Yamandú H. Hilbert,Abdullah Alsharekh,Abdulaziz Al-Omari,Michael D. Petraglia +14 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a combined method for remotely mapping the location of palaeodrainage and palaeolakes in currently arid regions that were formerly subject to more humid conditions is presented.
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The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons
TL;DR: This article examined the basis for the proposed drastic climate change in Arabia and the shifts in the summer monsoon rains, by reviewing paleohydrologic lacustrine records from Arabia and concluded that these basins were not occupied by lakes, but by shallow marsh environments.
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