Analysis of archaeological fish remains provides new insights into seasonal mobility in Eastern Arabia during the mid-Holocene. The subsistence fisheries of UAQ36, Umm al-Quwain lagoon (United Arab Emirates)

Abstract

The site of UAQ36 is a shell midden located on top of a sand dune on the eastern edge of the Umm al-Quwain lagoon, United Arab Emirates. The first radiocarbon dates suggest that the site was inhabited from the mid-5th millennium, and possibly part of the 4th millennium BCE. While the site was surprisingly poor in material culture, its stratigraphy reached almost 2 m deep. The abundant faunal remains collected during the excavations allow a detailed analysis of the subsistence economy of the site. Out of 2985 fish remains, 607 were taxonomically identified. The assemblage is almost entirely composed of small inshore fish including seabreams (Sparidae), rabbitfish (Siganidae), emperors (Lethrinidae), and mojarras (Gerreidae). The fishing grounds exploited and the diversity of the strategies used by the fishermen in the UAQ lagoon are discussed by comparing data from the neighboring sites of UAQ2 and Akab. This paper gives the first indication of a summer–early autumn occupation of a coastal site during the Neolithic in this area, and provides new insights on the seasonality and mode of occupation of Neolithic sites, not only in the Persian Gulf, but across Eastern Arabia.