The Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of South Arabia and implications for cultural exchanges across the Red Sea
Ronin Institute
The Dhofar Archaeological Project mapped over 250 Middle Palaeolithic findspots across the Nejd plateau in southern Oman, most of which are dominated by Nubian Levallois prepared core technology. OSL ages from the site of Aybut Auwal place the appearance of this technocomplex in the Arabian Peninsula before 107 ka BP, likely during the Last Interglacial. Nubian Complex sites in South Arabia are distributed throughout the interior highlands - the incised limestone plateau stretching from Hadramawt to Dhofar. In contrast to some Nubian Compex sites in Northeast Africa, evidence of bifacial technology is consistently absent from the Arabian Nubian Complex. In that respect, the assemblages from Dhofar more closely resemble the Late Nubian Complex in Egypt. The earliest Nubian assemblages in Dhofar are found superimposed over a Large Blade industry, however, the relationship between these two entities is unclear.
The Nubian Levallois tradition in Dhofar developed into the derivative Mudayyan industry. In contrast to the widespread Dhofar Nubian Complex, Mudayyan sites are concentrated in a limited area of the western Nejd plateau near a series of fracture springs. Mudayyan assemblages are characterized by diminutive Nubian cores and recurrent, opposed platform point cores with faceted striking platforms. The Mudayyan represents a late expression of the Afro-Arabian Nubian tradition - a local development that evolved concurrent with Nilotic and southern Levantine late Middle Palaeolithic industries.
New evidence from Dhofar is also presented that sheds light on the Upper Palaeolithic. These data corroborate the archaeogenetic model of an ice age refugium in southhern Arabia from which pan-Middle Eastern mtDNA haplogroup R0a originated. The emerging archaeological picture reveals a complex demographic scenario of bidirectional exchanges across the Red Sea during MIS 5, allopatric separation during MIS 4 and early MIS 3, and re-establishment of these connections after 30 ka BP.
References:
- Rose, J.I. & A.E. Marks. (2014). “Out of Arabia” and the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the southern Levant. Quartär 61: 49-85.
- Rose, J.I., V.I. Usik, A.E. Marks, Y.H. Hilbert, C.S. Galletti, A. Parton, V. Černý, J.M. Geiling, M. Morley & R.G. Roberts. (2011). The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: an African Middle Stone Age industry in southern Arabia. PLoS ONE 6(11): e28239.
- Usik, V.I., J.I. Rose, Y.H. Hilbert, P. Van Peer & A.E. Marks. (2013). Nubian Complex reduction strategies in Dhofar, southern Oman. Quaternary International 300: 244-266.
