Abstract
Changing climatic conditions are thought to be a major control of human presence in Arabia during the Paleolithic. Whilst the Pleistocene archaeological record shows that periods of increased monsoon rainfall attracted human occupation and led to increased population densities, the impact of arid conditions on human populations in Arabia remains largely speculative. Here, we present data from Jebel Faya in Southeast (SE) Arabia, which document four periods of human occupation between c. 210,000 and 120,000 years ago. The Jebel Faya record indicates that human occupation of SE Arabia was more regular and not exclusively linked to major humid periods. Our data show that brief phases of increased rainfall additionally enabled human settlement in the Faya region. These results imply that the mosaic environments in SE Arabia have likely formed a population refugia at the end of the Middle and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene.
Highlights
A vast dry land, human occupation of Arabia is thought to be closely linked to climate change and limited to periods of increased p recipitation[1,2,3]
The Arabian archaeological record supports the view of human occupation linked to periods of increased rainfall[19]
The lower part of the Jebel Faya rock shelter record presented contains a sequence of Middle Paleolithic assemblages, which show human presence at about 210 ka, 170 ka, and between 135 and 120 ka
Summary
A vast dry land, human occupation of Arabia is thought to be closely linked to climate change and limited to periods of increased p recipitation[1,2,3]. The strength of the monsoon has varied through time due to orbital forcing[7,8], with northern hemisphere glacial periods accompanied by low latitude aridity Such periods of aridity are expected to represent hostile environments that formed an obstacle for human occupation of Arabia[9,10,11]. The Arabian archaeological record supports the view of human occupation linked to periods of increased rainfall[19]. This is best exemplified by the coincidence of peak humid conditions between c. Researchers argue on the one hand that the lack of archaeological evidence for human occupation of Arabia in dry periods is linked to pan-Arabian extinctions and the abandonment of settlement in A rabia[19]. Fossil and artifactual evidence are difficult to record, given large parts of the refugial zones are today below water, while current paleoclimatic records fail to adequately reflect the complexity and heterogeneity of the contemporary Arabian landscape
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