Hominin Dispersal into the Nefud Desert and Middle Palaeolithic Settlement along the Jubbah Palaeolake, Northern Arabia

Michael D Petraglia,Abdullah Alsharekh,Ceri Shipton,Carney Matheson,Adrian G Parker,Richard G Roberts,Nick A Drake,Rémy Crassard,Richard Jennings,Ash Parton,Huw S Groucutt,Abdulaziz Al-Omari,Margaret-Ashley Veall,Paul Breeze,Chris Clarkson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049840

Abstract

The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding hominin dispersals and the effect of climate change on prehistoric demography, although little information on these topics is presently available owing to the poor preservation of archaeological sites in this desert environment. Here, we describe the discovery of three stratified and buried archaeological sites in the Nefud Desert, which includes the oldest dated occupation for the region. The stone tool assemblages are identified as a Middle Palaeolithic industry that includes Levallois manufacturing methods and the production of tools on flakes. Hominin occupations correspond with humid periods, particularly Marine Isotope Stages 7 and 5 of the Late Pleistocene. The Middle Palaeolithic occupations were situated along the Jubbah palaeolake-shores, in a grassland setting with some trees. Populations procured different raw materials across the lake region to manufacture stone tools, using the implements to process plants and animals. To reach the Jubbah palaeolake, Middle Palaeolithic populations travelled into the ameliorated Nefud Desert interior, possibly gaining access from multiple directions, either using routes from the north and west (the Levant and the Sinai), the north (the Mesopotamian plains and the Euphrates basin), or the east (the Persian Gulf). The Jubbah stone tool assemblages have their own suite of technological characters, but have types reminiscent of both African Middle Stone Age and Levantine Middle Palaeolithic industries. Comparative inter-regional analysis of core technology indicates morphological similarities with the Levantine Tabun C assemblage, associated with human fossils controversially identified as either Neanderthals or Homo sapiens.

Highlights

Though climate change and its effect on people around the world today is receiving considerable attention from scholars, governments and the general public, we have little understanding about how past populations coped with and adjusted to marginal environments in many regions of the world
The presence of Middle Palaeolithic hominins in northern Arabia is demonstrated by the occurrence of numerous surface archaeological localities [2], [27]
We have discovered and investigated three stratified and buried lithic assemblages in the Nefud Desert, thereby nearly doubling the count of well preserved Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Arabian Peninsula

Summary

Introduction

Though climate change and its effect on people around the world today is receiving considerable attention from scholars, governments and the general public, we have little understanding about how past populations coped with and adjusted to marginal environments in many regions of the world. Until very recently, little information has been forthcoming about the age of the archaeological sites in arid zones, and hardly anything is known about the specific ecological settings that hominins occupied This is an unfortunate situation as an understanding of the habitats in which hominins were living has implications about the peopling of Eurasia. Both figures show the locations of the Middle Paleolithic sites identified during reconnaissance and discussed within the text. On the basis of the DEM images, Landsat TM imagery and fieldwork, we have identified two smaller palaeolakes, one measuring 1 km (at Jebel Katefeh) and another in the extreme south, measuring 2.5 km (Figure 1)

Results

Residue Analysis Results

Discussion