Southern Arabia Research Articles

Holocene soils and sediments around Ma’rib Oasis, Yemen: Further Sabaean treasures?

The ancient cultures of Southern Arabia are increasingly recognised as playing as major a role in the heritage of mankind as the early cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia or the Indus Valley. The beginning of the widely known Sabaean culture dates back to the end of the second millennium BC. Whereas, undoubtedly, its wealth came mainly from the trade along the Incense Road, the backbone of its economy was irrigated agriculture. Since agriculture is based on soil and water resources and, hence, land availability, the buried soils and sediments of the area surrounding the Ma’rib Oasis have been investigated, both as an archive of Holocene soil development in Pre-Sabaean times and as ‘natural treasures’, as, for example, ores or alabaster are defined. The natural buried Holocene soils around Ma’rib are rich in phosphate, organic material and volcanic ashes. In a few places they demonstrate cultivation before the Great Dam of Ma’rib was built in the first millennium BC. Most important are those soils that formed during the Neolithic between 8000 and 3000 BC, a time before the permanent settlement of humans in the Bronze Age, and before the arrival of those of the early Sabaean period at the Ar-Rub’ Al-Khali desert margin. Since the area surrounding the oasis shows a huge variety of landscapes, such as dune belts, volcanic fields with archaeological structures and different soils, it is worth accentuating the significance of Holocene soils as an important record or archive of land use. As well as classical soil analysis, AMS- 14C-datings, the results of phytolith analysis and geochemistry, including XRF data, have been taken into consideration.

Bayesian island biogeography in a continental setting: the Rand Flora case

We here explore the use of a Bayesian approach to island biogeography for disentangling the evolutionary origins of a continental-scale floristic pattern, the enigmatic 'Rand Flora'. The existence of disjunct distributions across many plant lineages between Macaronesia-northwest Africa, Horn of Africa-southern Arabia and east-south Africa has long intrigued botanists, but only now can we start analysing it within a statistical framework. Phylogenetic and distributional data from 13 plant lineages exhibiting this disjunct distribution were analysed to estimate area carrying capacities and historical rates of biotic exchange between areas. The results indicate that there has been little exchange between southern Africa and the northern African region, and that this exchange occurred via east Africa. Northwest Africa-Macaronesia shows the smallest carrying capacity but highest dispersal rate with other regions, suggesting that its flora was built up by immigration of lineages, probably from the Mediterranean region and western Asia. In contrast, southern Africa shows the highest carrying capacity and lowest dispersal rate, suggesting a flora formed by in situ diversification. We discuss further improvements of the method for addressing more complex hypotheses, such as asymmetric dispersal between regions or repeated cyclical events.

Climate change and human occupation in the Southern Arabian lowlands during the last deglaciation and the Holocene

Paleohydrological and archaeological evidence from the Southern and South-Eastern Arabian Peninsula reveal strong relations between phases of human settlements and climate change linked to the Indian monsoon system. During the early to mid-Holocene, large fresh-water lakes extended in the lowland deserts of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Yemen) and Wahiba Sands (Oman), which were very similar to those occurring in the North, in the Rub' al-Khali (Saudi Arabia), at that time. Many archaeological sites, characterized by scattered stone artefacts, ostrich-eggshells and bones around hearths, are related to this lacustrine phase, which culminated around 10 000–8000 cal yr B.P. in the lowland deserts before the lakes progressively dried up. The last record of fresh-water bodies' extensions date back 7300 cal yr B.P. at Shabwa (Yemen) and 7500 cal yr B.P. at al-Haid (Oman). Then, fresh-water was probably available only from seasonal run-off from adjacent highlands, where paleolakes persisted into the late Holocene. Dry climate conditions in the inland desert of Yemen during the late Holocene coincide with a phase of intensive human inhabitation as testified by development of irrigation in the piedmontane areas, numerous necropolises of built collective burials and houses.

Age-based life history parameters and status assessments of by-catch species (Lethrinus borbonicus, Lethrinus microdon, Pomacanthus maculosus and Scolopsis taeniatus) in the southern Arabian Gulf

Summary Life history and demographic parameters for Lethrinus borbonicus, Lethrinus microdon, Pomacanthus maculosus and Scolopsis taeniatus in the southern Arabian Gulf were estimated using a combination of size frequency, biological and size-at-age data. Defined structural increments consisting of alternating translucent and opaque bands in transverse sections of sagittal otoliths were validated as annuli. The maximum age estimates ranged from 5 years for Scolopsis taeniatus to 36 years for Pomacanthus maculosus. The size-at-age relationships were highly asymptotic in form with the majority of growth being achieved early in life. There were significant differences in the growth characteristics between sexes for Pomacanthus maculosus, with males approaching a larger asymptotic size at a faster rate than females. With the exception of Scolopsis taeniatus, the mean age at which fish became vulnerable to capture was lower than the mean age at first sexual maturity. The stocks of L. microdon, P. maculosus and S. taeniatus were exploited within sustainable limits, conversely, L. borbonicus was found to be overexploited and recruitment overfishing may have occurred as the relative spawner biomass per recruit was below 30% of the unexploited state.

Recent advances in phylogeny and taxonomy of Near and Middle Eastern Vipers – an update

The number of recognized viper species in the Near and Middle East has been raised significantly in the last 25 years (Table 1). While some smaller genera remained more or less stable, the genus Vipera has been subdivided into four genera on the basis of molecular genetic data. Of these genera, Daboia contains the former Vipera palaestinae and D. russelii, Macrovipera the species M. lebetina, M. schweizeri and an undescribed, basal species from Iran, and Montivipera the former Vipera xanthina and V. raddei complexes. While the genetic diversity in the M. raddei complex is fairly low, it is high in the M. xanthina complex. This may give reason to synonymize several taxa in the M. raddei complex, while new taxa can be described in the Turkish M. xanthina complex. The number of known species in the Middle Eastern Saw-scaled vipers (genus Echis) must be raised from 2 to 6. These species belong to 3 different species complexes (an Asian, an African and an Arabian complex). A particularly high diversity of Echis is found in southern Arabia. Antivenom producers should pay particular attention to new species in the medically important genera Echis and Macrovipera.

The First Millennium bc in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia and South–Central Eritrea: A Reassessment of Cultural and Political Development

An overview is offered of the development of research—both archaeological and epigraphic—on the inhabitants of the northern Horn during the first millennium bc. Initially, reconstructions of this period placed considerable emphasis on links with southern Arabia and tended to group those into a single cultural category that was designated ‘Pre-Aksumite’. It is now argued that long-distance contacts were much less pervasive, being largely restricted to the elite, and that other aspects of life—including much material culture and subsistence economy—displayed strong local continuity from earlier times. Similarly, it is argued that interpretation of the epigraphic evidence as indicating a single ‘Pre-Aksumite’ state called D'MT is unjustified.

Imperial Eyes: Imperial Spies. British Travel and Espionage in Southern Arabia, 1891–1946

From the late nineteenth century, a number of British travellers ventured far from the comforts of the colony of Aden, that lone imperial seat in southern Arabia, into the unknown, neighbouring worlds of the Hadhramaut and Turkish Yemen. This article traces a number of those remarkable journeys and their aftermaths, to uncover that the relationships which these travellers held with the British government varied greatly. Some were actively encouraged to travel while others found rather less support from government officials. Archive material is employed to investigate a number of ventures made into Yemen and the Aden Protectorates by British travellers from the 1890s to 1940s and the value of certain travellers to Britain's imperial project in Arabia.

A revision of Anacharoides Cameron, 1904 (Hymenoptera, Figitidae) with a description of a new species

Anacharoides Cameron is revised and six species are recognized: A. nicknacki Buffi ngton & van Noort, sp. n., A. pallida Quinlan, A. paragi Benoit, A. quadrus Quinlan, A. striaticeps Cameron and A. stygius Benoit. A key to species is provided. Anacharoides striaticeps was determined to be a variable species, and consequently a number of names have been proposed for this species. Here we clarify the identity of A. striaticeps and provide evidence for the following new synonymies of A. striaticeps: Anacharoides elongaticornis Benoit, syn. n., Anacharoides eurytergis Benoit, syn. n., Anacharoides decellius Quinlan, syn. n., Anacharoides sanitas Quinlan, syn. n., Anacharoides nigra Quinlan, syn. n., Anacharoides arcus Quinlan, syn. n., Anacharoides suspensus Quinlan, syn. n.. Th e holotype of Anacharoides rufa (Kieff er) is lost; examination of a specimen possibly determined by Kieff er from 1913 housed in the Museum is conspecifi c with A. pallida, but no nomenclature action is pursued at this time. Th e syn. n. of A. astrida Quinlan with A. quadrus is also hypothesized. Defi nitive host records for the genus, based on isolated puparia, are reported to be the syrphids Ischiodon Sack and Paragus Latreille. Species of this genus of fi gitid wasp are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the southern Arabian Peninsula and the Canary Islands. Images of all species contained within this paper are available from http://morphbank.net. An online Lucid interactive key to species of Anacharoides and images are available at http://www.waspweb.org/Cynipoidea/Figitidae/Aspicerinae/Anacharoides/index.htm.

Prehistoric small scale monument types in Hadramawt (southern Arabia): convergences in ethnography, linguistics and archaeology

The authors report new understanding of the prehistoric monuments of Hadramawt (Yemen) using archaeological fieldwork, linguistic terminology and ethnography. The stone tombs, platforms and alignments are shown to have experienced particularly interesting life histories. Passing travellers add stones and bury camels, shrines are reconditioned and dismantled to construct goat pens. It is clear that only this kind of multi-disciplinary expertise can hope to define the prehistoric sequence in an arid and rocky mountain landscape in which non-literate pastoral peoples have left few other traces. An online photo essay accompanies the article athttp://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/mccorriston/index.html

Modalities and characteristics of human occupations in Yemen during the Early/Mid-Holocene

Although few reference sites are known in Yemen, those found to date give good, although preliminary, chronostratigraphic sequences that demonstrate different types of lithic industries. The Hadramawt region of eastern Yemen is particularly rich in Early to Mid-Holocene sites. These sites are characterized by the appearance of laminar and especially bifacial lithic industries. The latter includes the production of flat as well as symmetrical arrowheads, and likely later manufacture of arrowheads with triangular section. The distribution of the trihedral points through southern Arabia suggests a technical tradition anchored at the beginning of the Middle Holocene. Presence of the fluting technique reinforces the impression that a true local Arabian “endemic development area” was constituted through time, without any particular external influences. Climate and geography probably contributed to settling modalities and consequently influenced diffusions, relations and movements of populations.

Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East

The evolution of languages provides a unique opportunity to study human population history. The origin of Semitic and the nature of dispersals by Semitic-speaking populations are of great importance to our understanding of the ancient history of the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Semitic populations are associated with the oldest written languages and urban civilizations in the region, which gave rise to some of the world's first major religious and literary traditions. In this study, we employ Bayesian computational phylogenetic techniques recently developed in evolutionary biology to analyse Semitic lexical data by modelling language evolution and explicitly testing alternative hypotheses of Semitic history. We implement a relaxed linguistic clock to date language divergences and use epigraphic evidence for the sampling dates of extinct Semitic languages to calibrate the rate of language evolution. Our statistical tests of alternative Semitic histories support an initial divergence of Akkadian from ancestral Semitic over competing hypotheses (e.g. an African origin of Semitic). We estimate an Early Bronze Age origin for Semitic approximately 5750 years ago in the Levant, and further propose that contemporary Ethiosemitic languages of Africa reflect a single introduction of early Ethiosemitic from southern Arabia approximately 2800 years ago.

Monsoon triggered formation of Quaternary alluvial megafans in the interior of Oman

A vast bajada consisting of coalescing low-gradient (< 0.3°) alluvial fans exceeding 100 km in length formed along the southwestern margin of the Oman Mountains. It comprises an old fan sequence of inferred Miocene to Pliocene age termed Barzaman Formation, diagenetically highly altered to dolomitic clays, and a thin veneer of weakly cemented Quaternary gravels. A combination of remote sensing, lithological analyses and luminescence dating is used to interpret the complex aggradation history of the Quaternary alluvial fans from the interior of Oman in the context of independent regional climate records. From satellite imagery and clast analysis four fans can be discerned in the study area. While two early periods of fan formation are tentatively correlated to the Miocene–Pliocene and the Early Pleistocene, luminescence dating allows the distinction of five phases of fan aggradation during the Middle–Late Pleistocene. These phases are correlated with pluvial periods from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 through 3, when southern Arabia was affected by monsoonal precipitation. It is concluded that the aggradation of the alluvial fans was triggered by the interplay of increased sediment production during arid periods and high rainfall with enhanced erosion of hillslopes and transport rates during strong monsoon phases. However, the lack of fine-grained sediments, bioturbation and organic material implies that although the Quaternary fans are sourced by monsoonal rains they formed in a semi-arid environment. Thus, it appears that, in contrast to the Oman Mountains, the interior was not directly affected by monsoonal precipitation.

Chloroplast DNA phylogeography suggests a West African centre of origin for the baobab, Adansonia digitata L. (Bombacoideae, Malvaceae)

The African baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is an emblematic, culturally important, and physically huge tropical tree species whose natural geographical distribution comprises most of tropical Africa, but also small patches of southern Arabia, and several Atlantic and Indian Ocean islands surrounding the African continent, notably including Madagascar. We analysed the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism of five chloroplast DNA fragments obtained from 344 individuals of A. digitata collected from 74 populations covering the entire extant distribution range of the species. Our goal was to reconstruct the phylogeographical history of the species and, if possible, to identify its centre of origin, which has been a subject of controversy for many decades. We identified five haplotypes whose distribution is clearly geographically structured. Using several species of Adansonia and of closely related genera as outgroups, the haplotypes showed a clear phylogeographical pattern of three groups. Two are phylogenetically related to the outgroup taxa, and are distributed in West Africa. The third group is substantially more differentiated genetically from outgroup species, and it corresponds to southern and eastern Africa, Arabia and the Indian Ocean islands, including Madagascar. According to our results, the tetraploid A. digitata, or its diploid progenitor, probably originated in West Africa and migrated subsequently throughout the tropical parts of that continent, and beyond, by natural and human-mediated terrestrial and overseas dispersal.

The speleothem record of climate variability in Southern Arabia

Uranium-series dated stalagmites from Oman indicate that pluvial conditions prevailed from 6.3 to 10.5, 78 to 82, 120 to 130, 180 to 200 and 300 to 330 kyr B.P.; all of these periods coincide with peak interglacials. Oxygen (δ 18O) and hydrogen (δD) isotope ratios of speleothem calcite and fluid inclusions reveal the source of moisture and provide information on the amount of precipitation, respectively. δ 18O and δD values of stalagmites deposited during peak interglacials vary between −8 and −4 ‰ (VPDB) and −53 and −20‰ (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water [VSMOW]) respectively, whereas modern stalagmites range from −2.6 to −1.1‰ in δ 18O (VPDB) and −7.6 and −3.3‰ in δD (VSMOW), respectively. The growth and isotopic records indicate that during peak interglacial periods, the limit of the monsoon rainfall was shifted far north of its present location and each pluvial period was coinciding with an interglacial stage of the marine oxygen isotope record.

Qadhat—a comparative study of ancient and new lime mortar from the Marib province/Yemen

Qadhat is the name for a lime mortar in Southern Arabia. Its usage has a long tradition. This work describes physical and mineralogical properties of ancient, historical and new samples, which seem to have been produced the same way. XRD, thin sections and SEM analyses show the similarity of the material. It consists of aggregates of volcanic material that are rich in volcanic glass and lime as binder. The production process includes several hours of crushing the material, which produces fine-grained splinters of aggregates in the binder matrix and gives the mortar a high stability. A weathering test with sodium sulphate on different samples confirms that the stability of this mortar is the result of the production process.

Origin and Classification of the Ancient South Arabian Languages

ASA (= Ancient South Arabian) documentation is testimony to a lengthy linguistic history in southern Arabia which predates the earliest written attestations. The hypothesis attributing the origin of ASA culture to immigration from the north is hard to endorse. The QAT (= Qatabanic) verb system and ASA more in general have strong parallels with the verb system of the north west of the second millennium. Just as the hypothesis of a recent wave of immigration to south Arabia is open to debate, so must the general idea of an ASA belonging to central Semitic as opposed to archaic southern Semitic be reexamined.

Reproductive biology and implications for management of the orange‐spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides in the southern Arabian Gulf

The reproductive biology of Epinephelus coioides was determined from the examination of 1455 individuals collected between July 2005 and June 2007 in the southern Arabian Gulf. Histological preparations of gonads indicated that males were either derived from a juvenile phase or the transition of postspawning females, confirming a diandric protogynous sexual pattern. The spawning season was well defined, occurring once a year during April and early May. Peaks in spawning occurred after the full and new moons and was completed within a single lunar cycle. The presence of mature males over the entire size and age range and the absence of inactive mature females during the spawning season suggested that the population was not constrained by sperm limitation. While specimens undergoing sexual transition were only observed in size and age ranges of 335-685 mm total length (L(T)) and 5-6 years, patterns in the proportion of males in size and age classes suggested that sex change occurred at a relatively constant rate after female maturation up to the maximum size (1002 mm L(T)) and age (11 years). Relationships between reproductive output and capacity with size and age indicated that conventional regulations that equate the mean size at first capture to sexual maturation are unsuitable for the management of E. coioides. The maximum age, small size and young age at sexual maturation (L(min)= 320 mm L(T), 2 years, for females and 242 mm L(T), 1 year, for males) conflict with the general pattern for large epinepheline groupers and may be a direct result of the intensive demersal fishery in the southern Arabian Gulf.

Phylogeny, Biogeography, and Character Evolution in Mediterranean, Asiatic, and Macaronesian Helichrysum (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae) Inferred from Nuclear Phylogenetic Analyses

The genus Helichrysum has 500–600 species in Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean basin, Macaronesia, western and central Asia, and India. The aims of this study are to confirm the exclusion of Castroviejoa from Helichrysum, to elucidate the origin of the Macaronesian endemics, to confirm the monophyly of the Mediterranean‐Asiatic group, and, within this group, to contrast molecular data with sectional classification and to provide insight into trends in character evolution and biogeography. To address these issues, ITS and ETS sequences were used in phylogenetic analyses. Results show that Castroviejoa is excluded from Helichrysum. The phylogeny obtained suggests a southern African origin for Helichrysum and several subsequent migrations throughout the African continent. The species from the Canary Islands do not form a monophyletic clade, suggesting that at least two independent colonization events occurred. Helichrysum makranicum, from Oman and southern Iran, is the closest relative of a clade consisting of two endemics of the Canary Islands, providing new evidence of the phytogeographical links between Macaronesia and eastern Africa–southern Arabia. Helichrysum gossypinum, the third endemic of the Canary Islands, is the sister species of a monophyletic Mediterranean and Asiatic group, with the four endemics of Madeira sister to all of them. Within the Mediterranean‐Asiatic clade, sect. Stoechadina is monophyletic, but sect. Helichrysum and sect. Virginea are not. Once in the Mediterranean region, the genus is hypothesized to have diversified and expanded to the east up to western and central Asia and to have suffered a reduction in woodiness.

Cryogenian slate-carbonate sequences of the Tambien Group, Northern Ethiopia (I): Pre-“Sturtian” chemostratigraphy and regional correlations

Ethiopia's youngest Neoproterozoic sedimentary outcrops are “Sturtian” diamictites that cap the Tambien Group (Tigre, N. Ethiopia), a modestly thick (1–3 km) slate and carbonate succession that records early Cryogenian evolution of the Mozambique Ocean within the southern Arabian–Nubian Shield. Tambien carbonate deposition occurred over an island arc accretion complex, during or after the waning phase of arc magmatism (Tsaliet Group; ∼775–740 Ma) and ended prior to the structural and magmatic emergence of the East African Orogen (EAO; c. ≥630–610). Closure of the Mozambique Ocean to form the EAO, sometime after the deposition of “Sturtian” (∼715–685 Ma) diamictite and before the onset of EAO magmatism, destroyed accommodation space capable of preserving younger Cryogenian episodes. Litho- and chemostratigraphic variations of the Tambien Group, compiled from investigations of four areas of Tigre, demonstrate that integrated δ 13C carb and 87Sr/ 86Sr stratigraphies are effective for regional correlation and form the basis for a composite reference section (introduced here, but evaluated in the context of evolving Cryogenian Earth systems in a companion manuscript). Sediments in the Negash synclinorium span the depositional histories of all other localities but may contain a significant unconformity, suggesting at least local structural relief differentiation during deposition of the early Tambien Group carbonate platform. Mai Kenetal synclinorium sediments may preserve this missing interval. The regional Tambien record has two consecutive positive-to-negative carbon isotope excursions, the first associated with an abrupt transition to carbonates with cap carbonate-like features (basal Assem Limestone - Mai Kenetal) and the second associated with the transition from relatively organic-rich black limestone to “Sturtian” diamictite (Negash). Sr isotope compositions rise from <0.7055 in dolomites near the base of the carbonate sequence to a stratigraphic plateau near 0.7068 in upper black limestones, before declining to 0.7064 (or lower) in the transition to diamictite deposition. Sr contents of limestones increase (9x) systematically above the lower negative δ 13C carb interval. Textural and chemical properties of the Assem Limestone and its depositional context, suggest a transgressive cap-carbonate sequence. Although conformably underlain by laminated slate without definitive evidence of glaciation, its lithostratigraphic position as the lowest significant carbonate unit correlates regionally above polymict volcaniclastic agglomerates and greywackes (Negash and Samre synclinoria) previously interpreted to have a possible glacigenic origin. Chemical weathering indices (PIA: 92–99) in thick (0.5–1.1 km) slate comprising the lower Tambien Group indicate the Tsaliet arc accretion complex underwent protracted and intensive silicate weathering prior to carbonate deposition. These findings raise the possibility that the initial negative δ 13C carb interval of the Tambien Group corresponds to recovery from an earlier pre-“Sturtian” cooling event, perhaps related to the Kaigas glacial interval. If so, the Assem Limestone is the first and oldest cap carbonate sequence in the Arabian–Nubian Shield. The chemostratigraphic framework for the Tambien Group contributes to empirical observations that integrated C and Sr isotope stratigraphies are effective for Cryogenian (pre-“Sturtian”) chemostratigraphic correlations. However, more work is required to understand how δ 13C carb specifically relates to marine δ 13C DIC.

Pre-Aksumite Inscriptions from Mäqabǝr Ga‘ǝwa (Tigrai, Ethiopia)

This article presents some preliminary epigraphic results from salvage excavations carried out in 2007 at the site of Maqabər Ga‘əwa situated in the eastern zone of the Regional State of Tigrai, 7 km from the town of Wuqro. The inscriptions and the objects belonged to a temple of Almaqah, the principal god of the kingdom of Saba ʾ in Southern Arabia, who was also venerated in ancient Ethiopia. The author of one of the inscriptions is the king W ʿ rn son of Rd ʾ m whose reign is otherwise unattested. On paleographical grounds, judging from comparable inscriptions in the South Arabian alphabet, the inscribed objects can be dated to approximately the 7th or the 6th centuries BC.