How did human behaviour change during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene in South Arabia?

D. Yamandú Hilbert is currently a DAAD scholarship holder at the Erlangen Institute for Pre- and Early History. Within a P.R.I.M.E.-funded post-doc project, he will spend a total of 18 months starting in September 2019 as an FAU employee researching the transition from an appropriated to a productive economy on the Arabian Peninsula.

The project is searching for traces of the earliest farming on the Arabia Peninsula by analyzing lithic implements. The transition from hunter-gatherers to herders-farmers, which in most places occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, represents one of the most impactful episodes. The earliest archaeological evidence for this shift in human subsistence comes from the Near East, where human populations underwent a series of profound technological and socio-political changes during the end of the Pleistocene, which culminated in the emergence of food-producing societies. However, there is a gap of knowledge about the transition from hunter-gatherers to herders-farmers in regions to the south of the Fertile Crescent, despite the fact that recent archaeological research in Arabia has revealed a plethora of archaeological cultures dating from the Late Pleistocene to the Early Holocene (app. 22.000 to 7.000 years before present).

In addition, genetic discoveries suggest the existence of a population refugia in South Arabia from which a demic development of the existing Neolithic traditions may have occurred. The P.R.I.M.E. project of Yamandú Hilbert will test this hypothesis by undertaken the first diachronic studies of human behaviour in this area and the time frame in question. Because organic materials, which may give direct evidence for agriculture by pollen and macro remains, are not preserved, analysis will focus on the study of stone tools by using use-wear and residue analysis,never before undertaken in this region. Important samples of late Pleistocene and Early Holocene lithic assemblages come from archaeological sites located in the Governorate of Dhofar, Oman.

The analysis are conducted in close cooperation with Dr. Clement-Conte, director of the research laboratory “Archaeology of Social Dynamics“, at the IMF-CSIC in Barcelona. The results obtained will be incorporated in the available palaeoclimatic record and the absolute chronology of South Arabia.

A) Spätpaläolithikum und B) Neolithikum im Süden des Oman. Konturlinien der Punktdichte der während der Feldarbeit aufgezeichneten Fundstellen. Die Überlappung der spätpaläolithischen und neolithischen Konturlinien in den Karten A und B ist ein Artefakt des Kartenmaßstabs; neolithische Standorte wurden abseits von Rohstoffaufschlüssen und in unterschiedlichen Zonen als spätpaläolithische Standorte gefunden, die überwiegend an Rohstoffaufschlüssen zu finden sind. A) Late Palaeolithic and B) Neolithic sites in southern Oman. Contour lines with an interval of one show point density of site locations recorded during fieldwork. The overlapping of the Late Palaeolithic and Neolithic contour lines in maps A and B is an artefact of map scale; Neolithic sites have been found away from raw material outcrops and in distinct zones as Late Palaeolithic sites, which are predominantly near to raw material outcrops.
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Spätpaläolitische Werkzeuge aus dem Oman. 1 und 2 Fasad Spitzen von TH.200 und al-Hatab; 3, 6 und 9 retuschierte Spitzen aus al-Hatab und TH.200; 4 und 5 Wa’shah-Spitzen von TH.267; 7 Schaber von TH.262; 8 Rücken Messer von SJ.51; 10 bis 12 Stichel aus TH.267; 13 Blattspitze aus al-Hatab; 14 zusammengesetzter Wa’shah-Kerne aus TH.125; 15 Wa’shah-Kerne aus al-Hatab; 16 spitzbogige Kratzer aus TH.262. Late Palaeolithic tools from Oman. 1 and 2 Fasad points from TH.200 and al-Hatab; 3, 6 and 9 partially retouched points from al-Hatab and TH.200; 4 and 5 Wa’shah points from TH.267; 7 sidescraper from TH.262; 8 pseudo-backed knife from SJ.51; 10 to 12 burins on truncation from TH.267; 13 foliate from al-Hatab; 14 refitted Wa’shah core from TH.125; 15 Wa’shah core from al-Hatab; 16 ogival endscraper from TH.262.
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