Human behavioral strategies in the desert environments of Southeast Arabia during the Late Pleistocene: A case study from Jebel Faya, UAE
Final Report Abstract
This project aimed at increasing our understanding of chances and limitations of human occupation of arid landscapes during the Paleolithic period using the site Jebel Faya in the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates as a case study. The first goal was to gain a better understanding of the timing of human occupations at the site, their paleoenvironmental context and the influence of taphonomic processes on the formation of the excavated archaeological record. Through successful collaborations with national and international experts these goals were reached. An extended chronological framework for the site could be developed, which added to the already known c. 125 ka occupation, evidence for human occupation at c. 80 ka, c. 170 ka and c. 210 ka. Contextualizing this for southern Arabia unique data set with paleoenvironmental results revealed that the site was occupied during both long and pronounced periods of increased precipitation as well as brief periods of increased rainfall. The archaeological results of this project demonstrate that through time, the different groups settling at Jebel Faya followed similar land use strategies and had access to a broad but comparable spectrum of typo-technological strategies, which is a classic characteristic of the Middle Paleolithic period. While saying this, there are also shifts in the preference for the use of the distinct technological solutions. Studies on lithic raw material economy conducted in this project reveal an increasing economization and efficiency in the production of lithic artifacts through time. The observed similarities and differences, in addition to the timing of the settlement periods as well as their paleoenvironmental context led to the finial conclusion that archaeological record from Jebel Faya supports the idea of humans adopting to desert conditions through time due to continued exposure to changing climatic conditions, rather than arriving several times with distinct material cultures. Considering southeast Arabia, the results of this project hence contradict the prevailing view of repeated dispersals into Arabia from Africa or SW Asia exclusively during major wet periods. Results of this project instead support the refugia model, where human groups were thought to survive periods of hostile conditions in Arabian regions which are less effected by climatic downturns, such as the Yemen highlands or the Hajar Mountains. The project’s results clearly indicate that patterns of human occupation in southern Arabia were different from those observed in central and northern Arabia. The new chronological framework, the conclusion of differences between Arabia’s South and North/Center, as well as evidence for the existence of a human refugium in southern Arabia have important implications for our understanding of how mobile hunter-gatherer have colonized the arid landscapes of Arabia and create new research questions and great potential for promising follow-up research projects.
Publications
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2020. On the diversity of the Palaeolithic record and patterns of Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental conditions in Southeast Arabia. Paléorient 46:15-30
Bretzke, K, Yousif, E, Jasim, S, Raith, K, Parton, A, Parker, A
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2020. Stone Tools of Prehistoric Arabia. Archaeopress, Oxford
Bretzke, K, Crassard, R, Hilbert, YH (Eds.)
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2020. The Palaeolithic record from the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, in: Bretzke, K, Crassard, R, Hilbert, YH (Eds.), Stone Tools of Prehistoric Arabia, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 15-26
Bretzke, K
