Exploitation des ressources marines au cours des Ve-IVe millénaires : le site à dugongs de l'île d'Akab (Umm al-Qaiwain, Émirats Arabes Unis) avec une Annexe par Desse J. Note sur l'échantillon d'ichthyofaune de Akab (Émirats Arabes Unis)

Abstract

The archeological site of Akab Island in the Umm al-Qaiwain lagoon (United Arab Emirates) dates from the Vth-IVth millenia, and provide a rich fauna as well numerous artefacts : lithic industry, net sinkers, ceramics, shell beads. Essentially, the fauna is represented by remains of dugongs (Dugong dugon) and molluscs but also by fishes and marine turtles, and some rare bones of domestic Mammals. The archeozoological study allows to understand the site function. The dugongs were intensively hunted in the spring and summertime, by the method of net catching, and the young animals were preferentially chosen. Slaughtering and butchering activities on dugongs occurred directly on the island. Aside, this location was used for fishing and molluscs collecting. The ecology of the malaco-fauna and of the dugong induce a paleoenvironment similar to the present one, although the lagoon showed a quite different geography. Finally, Akab appears as a specialised and intensive site of exploitation of marine products, at a period of their massive utilisation for alimentation elsewhere along the Western coast of the Gulf.