Southeastern Arabia Research Articles

Evidence of Middle Palaeolithic human occupation in south-central Oman

Abstract Debate surrounds the early peopling of the Arabian Peninsula. The first evidence of the Levallois lithic technology in the Huqf area of south-eastern Arabia now extends the Middle Palaeolithic record of hominin activity into central Oman and helps to diversify the picture of Arabian prehistory.

Intra-Turonian stratigraphic reorganization on the Arabian Plate

Shallow-marine carbonate deposition was widespread across the Arabian Plate during much of the Late Permian–Mesozoic but was significantly interrupted by a major tectonically driven stratigraphic reorganization that took place within the Turonian. Published literature terms this the ‘Wasia–Aruma Break’, the ‘mid-Turonian Unconformity’, or the ‘K150 Sequence Boundary (SB)’. It is widely understood that this event relates to subduction in a closing Neotethys Ocean and obduction onto the continental margin, especially in the southeastern part of the plate. As well as a change in facies, a hiatus of variable duration is present, associated with erosion of the underlying stratigraphy. Despite the event being known for several decades, precision on its timing has been lacking due to the limitations of biostratigraphic data and because few other chronostratigraphic proxies have been employed. In order to rectify this, all relevant biostratigraphic data from across the Arabian Plate have been synthesized and evaluated in the context of a review of chronostratigraphic calibration of standard biozones from multiple fossil groups. This shows that the youngest preserved rocks beneath the K150 SB can be assigned to the middle Turonian Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica planktonic foraminifera zone or Collignoniceras woollgari ammonite zone. The oldest rocks above the K150 SB can be assigned to the same biozones, supporting the assertions that it is a very short duration event. Whilst obduction may have initiated earlier (as supported by the recognition of precursor events), crustal loading was sufficient by 91.5 Ma to develop a forebulge in the eastern part of the plate with associated uplift and erosion. A review of relative sea-level change during the Turonian has been carried out to investigate eustatic signals during this time. In multiple sections around the world, a sea-level fall in the upper part of the woollgari Zone of European usage can be detected. This appears to coincide with an episode of climate cooling. However, despite there being correspondence between the K150 SB and a significant eustatic event, this seems mostly coincidental as the tectonic drivers at this time across Arabia were much more dramatic. This is especially true in southeastern Arabia. In northwestern Arabia, tectonic quiescence may have allowed eustasy to dominate. In any case, a eustatic fall would have amplified the effects of tectonics across the entire region.

Integrating genomics and biogeography to unravel the origin of a mountain biota: The case of a reptile endemicity hotspot in Arabia.

Advances in genomics have greatly enhanced our understanding of mountain biodiversity, providing new insights into the complex and dynamic mechanisms that drive the formation of mountain biotas. These span from broad biogeographic patterns to population dynamics and adaptations to these environments. However, significant challenges remain in integrating large-scale and fine-scale findings to develop a comprehensive understanding of mountain biodiversity. One significant challenge is the lack of genomic data, particularly in historically understudied arid regions where reptiles are a particularly diverse vertebrate group. In the present study, we assembled a de novo genome-wide SNP dataset for the complete endemic reptile fauna of a mountain range (19 described species with more than 600 specimens sequenced), and integrated state-of-the-art biogeographic analyses at the population, species, and community level. Thus, we provide a holistic integration of how a whole endemic reptile community has originated, diversified and dispersed through a mountain system. Our results show that reptiles independently colonized the Hajar Mountains of southeastern Arabia 11 times. After colonization, species delimitation methods suggest high levels of within-mountain diversification, supporting up to 49 deep lineages. This diversity is strongly structured following local topography, with the highest peaks acting as a broad barrier to gene flow among the entire community. Interestingly, orogenic events do not seem key drivers of the biogeographic history of reptiles in this system. Instead, past climatic events seem to have had a major role in this community assemblage. We observe an increase of vicariant events from Late Pliocene onwards, coinciding with an unstable climatic period of rapid shifts between hyper-arid and semiarid conditions that led to the ongoing desertification of Arabia. We conclude that paleoclimate, and particularly extreme aridification, acted as a main driver of diversification in arid mountain systems which is tangled with the generation of highly adapted endemicity. Overall, our study does not only provide a valuable contribution to understanding the evolution of mountain biodiversity, but also offers a flexible and scalable approach that can be reproduced into any taxonomic group and at any discrete environment.

Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae: Scarini) of the Socotra Archipelago: Diversity and distributional biogeography, including a range extension of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995.

An updated account of the diversity of parrotfishes from the Socotra Archipelago is provided. Fourteen species are positively recorded based on underwater observations, photography and collections, including confirmations of three species which were previously only tentatively recorded: Scarus falcipinnis(Playfair, 1868), Scarus scaber Valenciennes, 1840 and Scarus tricolorBleeker, 1847. The distribution of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995, previously known only from coastal waters of southern Oman, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is extended to the Archipelago, with Abd al-Kuri Island representing the westernmost edge of its known range. Visual records of three additional species are yet to be documented. With 1417species the Archipelago approximates the modal richness range of 1518 species for Arabian ecoregions. A species account, accompanied by photographs, provides distinctive characters, distribution details in the Arabian region, and general remarks for each species. The distributional biogeography of the family pertinent to the Socotra Archipelago and the Arabian region is analysed in the context of the Western Indian Ocean. Three main Arabian units are identified: A Red Sea unit spans the combined Red Sea ecoregions and the western Gulf of Aden; a Socotra unit covers south-eastern Arabia including the Archipelago, the eastern Gulf of Aden and southern Oman; and a Gulf unit combines the Arabian/Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and putatively central Oman. These units form a discrete pan-Arabian cluster within the wider Western Indian Ocean. The Socotra unit resembles more strongly the Gulf unit than the Red Sea unit. Parrotfishes thus contrast overall distributional patterns of reef fishes in Arabia.

Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic in Context: A Proposal for an Expanded Typology of Southeastern Arabian Dialects

Abstract This paper seeks to clearly outline the features that distinguish Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic (also called Šiḥḥī Arabic, Musandam Arabic) spoken on the Omani peninsula from surrounding dialects. Comparison with nearby Arabic varieties yields a few areal features (in segmental phonology) that establish a dialect continuum from the coasts of northern Oman to Musandam. A large number of phonological similarities between Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic and Dhofari Arabic are then documented here for the first time. This robust but discontinuous link re-frames many of the peculiarities of Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic as vestiges of a coastal southern Arabian dialect group. This finding fits a wellknown ancient pattern of northward population movements out of south Arabia, and allows for a more effective delineation of innovations unique to Ruʾūs al-Jibāl . It also offers a direction forward for an expanded framework for the classification of the Arabic dialects of southeastern Arabia, incorporating Oman's peripheries at Dhofar and Musandam.

Methane concentrations fluctuate over south-eastern Arabia

Methane concentrations fluctuate over south-eastern Arabia

Beyond dots with dates: A landscape approach to the Sohar hinterlands

Landscape archaeology, as a type of research based on a systemic surface survey and that results in quantifiable datasets of high quality, has started to be practiced in southeastern Arabia only in recent years. In this paper, I will briefly review the short history of landscape archaeology in the area and its relevance. I will then present the approach and methods used in the Wadi al Jizzi Archaeological Project and discuss some of the results obtained to discuss both the potential and problems of the data that the project generated. In particular, I will focus on ephemeral sites and assemblages, data quality and data representativity.

Moisture and Seasonality Shifts Recorded in Holocene and Pleistocene Speleothems From Southeastern Arabia

AbstractThe source and seasonality of rainfall in southern Arabia during the early‐ to mid‐Holocene and preceding humid periods are controversial because fossil lacustrine sediments provide solely indirect information on the amount of rainfall. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope measurements on fluid inclusion water trapped in Holocene and Pleistocene stalagmites from Hoti Cave in Northern Oman are direct indicators of the isotopic composition of paleoprecipitation. Isotope values of fluid inclusions formed during peak interglacial periods plot along monsoonal water lines and are indicative of a southern monsoonal moisture source. The last monsoon‐dominated period lasting from ∼10,100 to 6,300 years before present was terminated within a few decades in southeastern Arabia. The subsequent reduction in rainfall amount and change from predominantly summer to predominantly winter rainfall had a profound impact on human communities living in this area and triggered migration from inland to coastal areas where resources were more abundant.

Bronze age stone flaking at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, southeastern Arabia.

Excavations at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, UAE, discovered a stone tool technology with backed microliths dating to the Wadi Suq period and Late Bronze Age (ca. 1750–1300 BCE). The stone technology is a contemporary with metal production in the region, and the assemblage was recovered from a thick bone midden deposit at this multi-period site on the edge of the Rub’ al-Khali Desert. Small cobbles of chert were imported to the site and were reduced into flakes by hard-hammer percussion. Cores were frequently rotated during knapping and the reduction strategy was ad hoc, lacking hierarchical reduction stages. Flake tools were used as-is or modified by retouching. Some flakes were selected for backing into geometric microliths, and backing techniques often reflected high levels of stoneworking skill to produce stylised scalene shapes. A review of contemporary archaeological evidence, and the context of the Saruq al-Hadid assemblage, suggest that microliths may have been made as stone armatures for arrows despite the contemporary use of copper-based arrowheads.

Cave occupations in Southeastern Arabia in the second millennium BCE: Excavation at Mugharat al‐Kahf, North‐Central Oman

AbstractThis paper reports the results of excavation at Mugharat al‐Kahf (WTN01) in Wādī Tanūf, North‐central Oman. It also provides information on the nonmortuary and nonsedentary activities in central Oman during the Wādī Sūq period (2000–1600 BCE), as the subsistence and social arrangements of this period are the subject of much debate. Previous surveys had discovered a substantial amount of Wādī Sūq pottery at the site. This project took forward the excavation for further exploration. The excavation at Test Pit 1 identified Layers Ia and Ib, wherein pottery sherds, charred date stones and other samples for radiocarbon dating were discovered. These prove the cave's occupation during the early third millennium BCE, early second millennium BCE and the Islamic period. The analysis of artefacts and floral remains provided insights into the sojourn, storage and consumption of dates in the cave, and the mobile lifestyle in central Oman.

The latest Neolithic conquest of “new territories” in the Arabian Sea: The Al-Hallaniyat Archipelago (Kuria Muria, Sultanate of Oman)

In southern and south-eastern Arabia, the Neolithic developed between 6500 and 3100 BCE. In the Sultanate of Oman, occupation occurred along wadi banks, around paleolakes, and at large shell-middens accumulated on the shores of the Arabian Sea. Nevertheless, the origins and development of human occupation on the Arabian Sea islands are poorly known, if not totally undocumented. After exploring the archaeological potential of the large island of Masirah, we focused our research on the small Al-Hallaniyat archipelago (formerly known as the Kuria Muria islands). A preliminary archaeological survey led us to test several sites belonging to different occupational phases on the island, and we explored the largest shell-midden at the HLY-4 site in 2014 and 2019. Radiocarbon dating results, along with lithic analysis, demonstrate that at around 4200–4000 BCE, a Neolithic community settled the largest island (Al-Hallaniyah). While goats and dogs had been introduced as livestock, fish and dolphins were regularly fished and captured as a main food resource together with marine turtles and nesting birds. At HLY-4, not only lithic and bone artifacts characterize the assemblage, as standardized discoid marine-shell beads were also manufactured. The Neolithic conquest of Masirah Island occurred early in the Neolithic (at the beginning of the sixth millennium BCE), while the settlements on the Farasan islands (in the Red Sea) are dated to around 4500 BCE, and thus the ones on the Al-Hallaniyat archipelago to the end of the fifth millennium BCE. In Arabia, their chronological assessment marks the final conquest of the insular areas.

Settlement and Chronology in the early Bronze Age of Southeastern Arabia

The Umm an-Nar period (ca. 2700-2000 BC) of southeastern Arabia is a critical phase of social growth and cultural development in the region. Archaeological understandings of this key time period, however, have been limited by chronological ambiguity, especially in the interior of the Oman Peninsula. Settlements and domestic contexts, often understudied in Arabian prehistory, offer rich and temporally sensitive datasets that are well-suited to filling gaps in regional chronologies, which are commonly developed from excavations of mortuary and monumental contexts. This paper combines architectural and ceramic data from recent settlement excavations at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bat, in the Sultanate of Oman, to build a refined chronology for the site’s Umm an-Nar period occupations. These results place Bat in temporal and material context with settlements in ancient Arabia and offer valuable comparanda for establishing chronological patterns across the region.

A non-Egyptian «Egyptian» stone vessel from Ras Al Jinz RJ-2, Sultanate of Oman: Critical review of an entrenched hypothesis

This short communication aims to re-discuss the proposed provenance of a reworked stone vessel fragment from the Early Bronze Age site Ras Al Jinz RJ-2 along the coast of central Oman. In the original publication (Cleuziou and Tosi, 2000), it was linked with Egypt thus becoming the first and sole known connection between the Umm an-Nar communities of south-eastern Arabia and late Old Kingdom's Egypt. However, a reappraisal of the mineralogical texture of the stone used to manufacture the object seems to confidently exclude an Egyptian origin. Other possible sources are therefore discussed.

The first record of the rare stenopodidean shrimp Engystenopus palmipes Alcock & Anderson, 1894 (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Southeastern Arabian Sea, India

In this paper, the first observation of a rare deep-water stenopodidean shrimp, Engystenopus palmipes Alcock & Anderson, 1894 (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Southeastern Arabia Sea, India, supplemented with notes on its diagnosis, and geographical distribution, is reported. A single specimen of E.palmipes was collected using Expo model trawl net onboardthe Fisheries Oceanographic Research Vessel Sagar Sampadafrom a depth of 610 meters. Previously reported from the WesternPacific, Australia, Madagascar, and off Sri Lanka, this is the firstreport to the Indian waters.

Pre-oil Globalization in a Rural Community

This article aims to study whether the increase of agricultural settlements in the Sultanate of Oman during the Late Islamic period (c. 1500-1950) was related to pre-oil globalization, as attested in the wider Gulf region. This is done by analysing the archaeological dataset of the agricultural village of Sahlat, with a focus on the ceramic material, located in the Suhar region. The assemblages collected by the Wadi al-Jizzi Archaeological Project, point to its occupation from c. 1750 to 1930. During this time period, the coastal towns of southeastern Arabia were heavily influenced by globalization processes, but the effects and reach of trade on rural communities remains poorly known. In this paper, Sahlat is compared to two contemporary sites connected to the same falaj system, and two other sites in the Gulf region. The results indicate that pre-oil globalization did not only impact coastal towns, but that rural settlements such as Sahlat experienced similar transformations. It is suggested that pre-oil globalization was not only linked to the pearling trade, but that the export of dates should also be taken into consideration when studying this topic.

A non-Egyptian «Egyptian» stone vessel from Ras Al-Jinz RJ-2, Sultanate of Oman: Critical review of an entrenched hypothesis

Abstract This short communication aims to re-discuss the proposed provenance of a reworked stone vessel fragment from the Early Bronze Age site Ras Al Jinz RJ-2 along the coast of central Oman. In the original publication ( Cleuziou and Tosi, 2000 ), it was linked with Egypt thus becoming the first and sole known connection between the Umm an-Nar communities of south-eastern Arabia and late Old Kingdom's Egypt. However, a reappraisal of the mineralogical texture of the stone used to manufacture the object seems to confidently exclude an Egyptian origin. Other possible sources are therefore discussed.

Strontium isotope evidence for a trade network between southeastern Arabia and India during Antiquity

Cotton (Gossypium sp.), a plant of tropical and sub-tropical origin, appeared at several sites on the Arabian Peninsula at the end of the 1st mill. BCE-beginning of the 1st mill. CE. Its spread into this non-native, arid environment is emblematic of the trade dynamics that took place at this pivotal point in human history. Due to its geographical location, the Arabian Peninsula is connected to both the Indian and African trading spheres, making it complex to reconstruct the trans-continental trajectories of plant diffusion into and across Arabia in Antiquity. Key questions remain pertaining to: (1) provenance, i.e. are plant remains of local or imported origin and (2) the precise timing of cotton arrival and spread. The ancient site of Mleiha, located in modern-day United Arab Emirates, is a rare and significant case where rich archaeobotanical remains dating to the Late Pre-Islamic period (2nd–3rd c. CE), including cotton seeds and fabrics, have been preserved in a burned-down fortified building. To better understand the initial trade and/or production of cotton in this region, strontium isotopes of leached, charred cotton remains are used as a powerful tracer and the results indicate that the earliest cotton finds did not originate from the Oman Peninsula, but were more likely sourced from further afield, with the north-western coast of India being an isotopically compatible provenance. Identifying the presence of such imported cotton textiles and seeds in southeastern Arabia is significant as it is representative of the early diffusion of the crop in the region, later to be grown extensively in local oases.

THE NEW RADIOCARBON DATASET FOR TRILITH MONUMENTS OF SOUTHEASTERN ARABIA

ABSTRACTTriliths are megalithic monuments scattered across the coastal plains of southern and southeastern Arabia. They consist of aligned standing stones with a parallel row of large hearths and form a space, the meaning of which is undoubtedly significant but nonetheless still unknown. This paper presents a new radiocarbon (14C) dataset acquired during the two field seasons 2018–2019 of the TSMO (Trilith Stone Monuments of Oman) project which investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of the triliths. The excavation and sampling of trilith hearths across Oman yielded a dataset of 30 new 14C dates, extending the use of trilith monuments to as early as the Iron Age III period (600–300 BC). The earlier dates are linked to two-phase trilith sites in south-central Oman. The three 14C pairs collected from the two-phase trilith sites indicated gaps between the trilith construction phases from 35 to 475 years (2 σ). The preliminary spatio-temporal analysis shows the geographical expansion of populations using trilith monuments during the 5th to 1st century BC and a later pull back in the 1st and 2nd century AD. The new 14C dataset for trilith sites will help towards a better understanding of Iron Age communities in southeastern Arabia.

The Early Iron Age collective tomb LCG-1 at Dibbā al-Bayah, Oman: long-distance exchange and cross-cultural interaction

Abstract

The provenance of early Iron Age ferrous remains from southeastern Arabia

Recent excavations at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, have recovered more than 200 kg of ferrous remains from early Iron Age contexts dated to c. 1250-800 BCE, transforming our understanding of the scale of early iron use in southeastern Arabia. Many of these ferrous artefacts show typological parallels with contemporary objects from Luristan in western Iran, and the possibility of their long-distance import from this well-known iron producing and using region has long been recognized. The present study uses material from Saruq al-Hadid and the contemporary site of Muweilah to explore the provenance of the earliest iron from southeastern Arabia, by (i) summarizing the evidence for the iron resources and technology in the region and adjacent areas; and (ii) compositionally analysing iron ores, iron slags and slag inclusions in artefacts from Saruq al-Hadid and Muweilah, alongside Iron Age ferrous artefacts from Iran, using OM, SEM-EDS, XRF, ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS. Multivariate statistical analyses are used to explore these geochemical data, alongside a large dataset of ores and artefacts derived from existing geochemical and archaeological publications. The study identifies slag samples from Muweilah as originating from iron smithing activities, providing the first evidence for iron working of any kind in southeastern Arabia. Differences in the geochemical compositions of the material from Saruq al-Hadid and Muweilah and iron ores from the U.A.E. and Oman – particularly the distribution of rare earth elements – suggest that Iron Age ferrous artefacts from southeastern Arabia were not smelted from locally-available iron ores. Rather, the study demonstrates geochemical similarities between southeastern Arabian iron objects, contemporary objects from Luristan, and ores of the Sanandaj-Sirjan metallogenic belt of Iran, suggesting that iron may have been imported, at least partially as complete objects, from this region. Multiple source deposits are indicated, however, and the possible contribution of iron from other regions of ancient Western Asia and neighbouring regions remains to be further explored. The research provides critical new information regarding the long-distance exchange contacts of southeastern Arabia society during the floruit of the early Iron Age, in the late second and early first millennia BCE.