The Early Middle Palaeolithic lithic industry of Dederiyeh Cave,Northwest Syria

The Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition of the Levant has attracted much attention, particularly because the early Middle Paleolithic is the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans fossils known to date in Eurasia have been attested in that part of Asia . The associated lithic assemblages are a significant source of information for investigating the cultural landscape of this important transition. This paper presents a new dataset from the 2003–2009 excavations at Dederiyeh Cave, northwest of Syria. A techno-typological analysis of the lithic industry reveals a common practice of blade blank production, which corroborates the other known early Middle Paleolithic assemblages of the Levant. However, its strong emphasis on Levallois core reduction and sidescraper manufacturing is noteworthy. The significance of this finding deserves further research from multiple viewpoints, including the functional and spatio-temporal variability of hominin activities in this period. It will be also important to interpret the techno-typological diagnostics of the early Middle Paleolithic assemblage of Dederiyeh considering its geographic location at the northern end of the Levant, distant from the previously known sites in the central and southern Levant.     

Inland human settlement in southern Arabia 55,000 years ago. New evidence from the Wadi Surdud Middle Paleolithic site complex, western Yemen

The recovery at Shi’bat Dihya 1 (SD1) of a dense Middle Paleolithic human occupation dated to 55 ka BP sheds new light on the role of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the alleged expansion of modern humans out of Africa. SD1 is part of a complex of Middle Paleolithic sites cut by the Wadi Surdud and interstratified within an alluvial sedimentary basin in the foothills that connect the Yemeni highlands with the Tihama coastal plain. A number of environmental proxies indicate arid conditions throughout a sequence that extends between 63 and 42 ka BP. The lithic industry is geared toward the production of a variety of end products: blades, pointed blades, pointed flakes and Levallois-like flakes with long unmodified cutting edges, made from locally available rhyolite. The occasional exploitation of other local raw materials, that fulfill distinct complementary needs, highlights the multi-functional nature of the occupation. The slightly younger Shi’bat Dihya 2 (SD2) site is characterized by a less elaborate production of flakes, together with some elements (blades and pointed flakes) similar to those found at SD1, and may indicate a cultural continuity between the two sites. The technological behaviors of the SD1 toolmakers present similarities with those documented from a number of nearly contemporaneous assemblages from southern Arabia, the Levant, the Horn of Africa and North Africa. However, they do not directly conform to any of the techno-complexes typical of the late Middle Paleolithic or late Middle Stone Age from these regions. This period would have witnessed the development of local Middle Paleolithic traditions in the Arabian Peninsula, which suggests more complex settlement dynamics and possible population interactions than commonly inferred by the current models of modern human expansion out of Africa.     

The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: an African middle stone age industry in Southern Arabia

Despite the numerous studies proposing early human population expansions from Africa into Arabia during the Late Pleistocene, no archaeological sites have yet been discovered in Arabia that resemble a specific African industry, which would indicate demographic exchange across the Red Sea. Here we report the discovery of a buried site and more than 100 new surface scatters in the Dhofar region of Oman belonging to a regionally-specific African lithic industry--the late Nubian Complex--known previously only from the northeast and Horn of Africa during Marine Isotope Stage 5, ～128,000 to 74,000 years ago. Two optically stimulated luminescence age estimates from the open-air site of Aybut Al Auwal in Oman place the Arabian Nubian Complex at ～106,000 years ago, providing archaeological evidence for the presence of a distinct northeast African Middle Stone Age technocomplex in southern Arabia sometime in the first half of Marine Isotope Stage 5.     

Prospections sur les plateaux désertiques du désert libyque égyptien (Abydos, Moyenne Égypte). Quelques exemples de technologies lithiques

Recent work in the high desert west of the historic site of Abydos has revealed a number of technologies that date from the Middle Paleolithic through later periods. The earliest of these include both Nubian and classical Levallois technologies, which are abundant and demonstrate virtually all stages of production. Presumed later technologies include both large blade production technologies as well as more expedient reduction methods. Although results are still preliminary, the lack of significant taphonomic disturbance, the abundance of refits (including many discrete flintknapping episodes), and the high visibility of the archaeological remains make this an ideal area to reconstruct the techniques of lithic reduction in use.     

Predetermined Flake Production at the Lower/Middle Paleolithic Boundary: Yabrudian Scraper-Blank Technology

While predetermined débitage technologies are recognized beginning with the middle Acheulian, the Middle Paleolithic is usually associated with a sharp increase in their use. A study of scraper-blank technology from three Yabrudian assemblages retrieved from the early part of the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex of Tabun Cave (ca. 415–320 kyr) demonstrates a calculated and preplanned production, even if it does not show the same complexity and elaboration as in the Levallois technology. These scraper dominated assemblages show an organization of production based on an intensive use of predetermination blank technology already in place at the end of the Lower Paleolithic of the Levant. These results provide a novel perspective on the differences and similarities between the Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries. We suggest that there was a change in the paradigm in the way hominins exploited stone tools: in many Middle Paleolithic assemblages the potential of the stone tools for hafting was a central feature, in the Lower Paleolithic ergonometric considerations of manual prehension were central to the design of blanks and tools.     

Les industries lithiques d’âge éemien du site de Caours (Somme)

The discovery of the Middle Paleolithic deposit of Caours in 2003 completely changed the understanding of settlement systems in Northern Europe during the Pleistocene and demonstrated that Neanderthals was also adapted to an interglacial environment. It is a butchery site, intended for the cutting of game. The lithic production intended for this activity was carried out through several methods: Discoid, unipolar and perhaps Levallois for immediate use.     

San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the Appearance of Levallois Technology in Europe: Results of a Radiometric and Technological Reassessment

The introduction of Levallois technology in Europe marked the transition from the Lower to the early Middle Paleolithic. This new method of flake production was accompanied by significant behavioral changes in hominin populations. The emergence of this technological advance is considered homogeneous in the European archaeological record at the Marine isotopic stage (MIS) 9/MIS 8 boundary. In this paper we report a series of combined electron spin resonance/U-series dates on mammal bones and teeth recovered from the lower units of San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the technological analyses of the lithic assemblages. The San Bernardino Cave has yielded the earliest evidence of Levallois production on the Italian Peninsula recovered to date. In addition to our results and the review of the archaeological record, we describe the chronological and geographical differences between European territories and diversities in terms of technological developments. The belated emergence of Levallois technology in Italy compared to western Europe corresponds to the late Italian Neanderthal speciation event. The new radiometric dates and the technological analyses of San Bernardino Cave raise the issue of the different roles of glacial refugia in the peopling and the spread of innovative flaking strategies in Europe during the late Middle Pleistocene.     

Archaeological records indicate a complex history of Pleistocene hunter-gatherer societies in Arabia

Paleolithic research on the Arabian Peninsula is still in its early stage. During the last decade, however, an increasing number of field projects were conducted and added significant data to the record. This development in addition to substantial paleoenvironmental research on Pleistocene climate and habitat changes creates a promising setting for research on human evolution in arid landscapes. Here I provide an overview of the main Paleolithic field projects conducted in Arabia and summarize their results.     

Neanderthal mobility and technological change in the northeastern of the Iberian Peninsula: The patterns of chert exploitation at the Abric Romaní rock-shelter

Understanding the changes in the technological organization of prehistoric hunter–gatherers is important to research into hominin foraging activities. During the Middle Paleolithic, the coexistence or the replacement between Levallois and discoid technologies has frequently been recorded, but there is still no clear understanding of the reasons for their alternating and fragmented use in the archaeological record. This paper aims to contribute with new data to the current debate, by exploring the chert assemblages from levels O and M of the Abric Romaní rock-shelter. The results reveal that the change from Levallois in level O to discoid in level M is accompanied by the use of different axes of mobility, a reduction in the foraging radius and a more careful management of raw materials. A cross comparison with other archaeological evidences indicates the general pattern in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula during the late Middle Paleolithic, in which the use of Levallois technology is associated with chert and high mobility patterns whereas discoid technology is more closely linked to the use of local raw materials and a lower degree of mobility. The modifications to the mountainous environments and to the distribution of preferred prey animals may have influenced the Neanderthals’ mobility patterns and contributed to modifying their technical behaviours in order to obtain better foraging incomes.     

Hominin Dispersal into the Nefud Desert and Middle Palaeolithic Settlement along the Jubbah Palaeolake,Northern Arabia

The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding hominin dispersals and the effect of climate change on prehistoric demography, although little information on these topics is presently available owing to the poor preservation of archaeological sites in this desert environment. Here, we describe the discovery of three stratified and buried archaeological sites in the Nefud Desert, which includes the oldest dated occupation for the region. The stone tool assemblages are identified as a Middle Palaeolithic industry that includes Levallois manufacturing methods and the production of tools on flakes. Hominin occupations correspond with humid periods, particularly Marine Isotope Stages 7 and 5 of the Late Pleistocene. The Middle Palaeolithic occupations were situated along the Jubbah palaeolake-shores, in a grassland setting with some trees. Populations procured different raw materials across the lake region to manufacture stone tools, using the implements to process plants and animals. To reach the Jubbah palaeolake, Middle Palaeolithic populations travelled into the ameliorated Nefud Desert interior, possibly gaining access from multiple directions, either using routes from the north and west (the Levant and the Sinai), the north (the Mesopotamian plains and the Euphrates basin), or the east (the Persian Gulf). The Jubbah stone tool assemblages have their own suite of technological characters, but have types reminiscent of both African Middle Stone Age and Levantine Middle Palaeolithic industries. Comparative inter-regional analysis of core technology indicates morphological similarities with the Levantine Tabun C assemblage, associated with human fossils controversially identified as either Neanderthals or Homo sapiens.     

Cotton cultivation and textile production in the Arabian Peninsula during antiquity; the evidence from Mada��in Salih (Saudi Arabia) and Qal��at al-Bahrain (Bahrain)

The discovery of seeds and textiles from Gossypium (cotton) in Achaemenian levels of the mid-6th–late 4th century b.c. at Qal’at al-Bahrain, Bahrain and in early 1st millennium a.d. at Mada’in Salih, Saudi Arabia, reveals the role played by the Arabian Peninsula as a textile production centre during the centuries before and after the beginning of the Christian era. Both these sites were situated on important trade routes, overseas (Qal’at al-Bahrain) and overland (Mada’in Salih), and it is likely that at least part of the cotton production was intended for trade, complementing and perhaps competing with other sources of cotton textiles in the contemporary Middle East. In the arid climate of the Arabian Peninsula, cotton was probably grown in association with irrigated date palm gardens where a wide array of other crops was grown, as is shown by the analysis of charred seeds and wood from occupation levels at both sites. The present article places these particular finds in the larger context of cotton cultivation in the Middle East and India.     

Small and overlooked: Phylogeny of the genus Trigonodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with the first record of Trigonodactylus arabicus from Jordan

Geckos of the genus Trigonodactylus are widely distributed in the sand deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Three species of this genus are currently recognized, with a fourth one, Stenodactylus pulcher, which placement within Trigonodactylus has been tentatively suggested, but not yet confirmed. We present a phylogenetic analysis of the genus Trigonodactylus with new specimens collected in central Saudi Arabia and southern Jordan. New genetic data has been generated from three mitochondrial markers to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of all species of the genus and to assess the putative generic assignment of S. pulcher. Our results confirm that S. pulcher indeed belongs within Trigonodactylus, branching as a sister lineage to all other species of the genus. The new samples cluster within Trigonodactylus arabicus, thus confirming the genetic homogeneity of the species across its large and seemingly inhospitable range. The new specimen collected in southern Jordan represents the first record for the country and a considerable range extension to the northwest from all previously reported localities. Our findings and discovery of a new species for Jordan highlight the need of more field surveys to be carried out in the underexplored parts of Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia, as these places still hold a potential for new discoveries and are crucial for understating the biogeography of the Arabian herpetofauna.     

Tabanidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia

Samples were collected from southern, central and eastern regions of Saudi Arabia using Malaise traps and sweep nets. Nine species of Tabanidae were identified, two for the first time from Saudi Arabia, Hybomitra peculiaris (Szilády) and Atylotus pulchellus (Loew).Therefore, the total number of Tabanidae in Saudi Arabia is 31 species. Remarks of the species recorded in this study were given. A key to the genera of Tabanidae occurring in the Arabian Peninsula is also provided. Available literature for Saudi Arabian Tabanidae is summarized and provided. It is concluded that the tabanid fauna of Saudi Arabia is more similar to that of the Palaearctic region than to the Afrotropical region.     

United Arab Emirates: Phylogenetic relationships and ancestral populations

In the current report, 109 unrelated individuals from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were typed across 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D149S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA) routinely employed in population genetics analyses and compared across a set of ethnically and geographically targeted reference collections. UAE, located at the southeastern most portion of the Arabian Peninsula, in the tri-continental crossroads connecting Africa, Europe and Asia, has been influenced by a number of human dispersal waves from a plethora of sources including the Paleolithic “Out of Africa” migrations, the exodus of Neolithic pastoral agriculturalists from the Fertile Crescent and Northern Africa, as well as more recent migrations from Asia and the Middle East. We found that despite the high levels of consanguinity that characterize UAE, this population is genetically highly heterogeneous. When compared to various world-wide biogeographical regions, the Arabian Peninsula exhibits the highest intra-population variance. Admixture analyses indicate that UAE and Bahrain uniquely in Arabia share 23.7% and 22.9%, respectively, of their DNA with Southwest Asian populations. Similar and complex Structure profiles are seen among Arabian Peninsula populations underscoring the high genetic diversity of the region. Although UAE shares a number of genetic characteristics in common with the rest of the populations in the Arabian Peninsula, it is unique in terms of its relative high Asian genetic component, likely the result of geographical proximity to Southwest Asia, west-bound waves of migration and socio-political ties with territories to the east.     

2004年新疆旧石器考古调查简报

2004年5-6月,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所和新疆文物考古研究所联合组队,在新疆北部和中部进行了旧石器时代考古调查。发现24个石器地点和数千件石制品,采集和试掘出500余件石制品;绝大多数石制品来自于地表,少数出自原生地层。石制品类型多样,包括普通石核与石片、棱柱状石核、石叶、两面器、细石叶石核、细石叶、勒瓦娄哇石核与石片等;原料种类多样,尺寸、形态、技术变异大。从技术与类型判断,这些不同地点的文化材料时代跨度较大,较早的可能属旧石器时代晚期之初,甚至旧石器时代中期,较晚的则可能属于新石器时代早中期。较早阶段的石制品组合与中亚、西伯利亚阿尔泰地区同期遗址的文化面貌有相似之处,也与我国水洞沟遗址的石叶遗存有一定联系。骆驼石遗址及其丰富的勒瓦娄哇制品及大型石叶制品是本次调查的最大收获。本次调查的成果表明,新疆地区在旧石器时代晚期是人类迁徙和生存演化的活跃地带,留下丰富的文化遗存,对研究当时人类技术、文化特点和适应生存能力提供了重要材料与信息;很多地点具有与欧洲、俄罗斯阿尔泰地区旧石器时代中、晚期相似的文化遗存,对研究当时欧亚大陆古人群的迁徙、融合和文化交流具有重要价值;该地区具有发现更多、更重要的旧石器时代遗址并开展深入的考古发掘与研究的巨大潜力。     

First Dinosaurs from Saudi Arabia

Dinosaur remains from the Arabian subcontinent are exceedingly rare, and those that have been documented manifest indeterminate affinities. Consequently the discovery of a small, but diagnostic, accumulation of elements from Campanian-Maastrichtian (∼75 Ma) deposits in northwestern Saudi Arabia is significant because it constitutes the first taxonomically identifiable dinosaur material described from the Arabian Peninsula. The fossils include a series of possible lithostrotian titanosaur caudal vertebrae, and some isolated theropod marginal teeth that share unique character states and metric parameters (analyzed using multivariate statistical methods) with derived abelisaurids – this is the first justifiable example of a non-avian carnivorous dinosaur clade from Arabia. The recognition of titanosaurians and abelisaurids from Saudi Arabia extends the palaeogeographical range of these groups along the entire northern Gondwanan margin during the latest Cretaceous. Moreover, given the extreme paucity of coeval occurrences elsewhere, the Saudi Arabian fossils provide a tantalizing glimpse into dinosaurian assemblage diversity within the region.     

Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic Occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake,Saudi Arabia: Implications for Climate Change and Human Dispersals

The Arabian Peninsula is a key region for understanding climate change and human occupation history in a marginal environment. The Mundafan palaeolake is situated in southern Saudi Arabia, in the Rub’ al-Khali (the ‘Empty Quarter’), the world’s largest sand desert. Here we report the first discoveries of Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in association with the palaeolake. We associate the human occupations with new geochronological data, and suggest the archaeological sites date to the wet periods of Marine Isotope Stage 5 and the Early Holocene. The archaeological sites indicate that humans repeatedly penetrated the ameliorated environments of the Rub’ al-Khali. The sites probably represent short-term occupations, with the Neolithic sites focused on hunting, as indicated by points and weaponry. Middle Palaeolithic assemblages at Mundafan support a lacustrine adaptive focus in Arabia. Provenancing of obsidian artifacts indicates that Neolithic groups at Mundafan had a wide wandering range, with transport of artifacts from distant sources.     

Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave,Mount Carmel,Israel

The transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is a crucial event in human evolution, since it may involve the arrival of a new human population. In the current study, we present thermoluminescence (TL) dates obtained from 32 burnt flints retrieved from the late Lower Paleolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) and Early Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) layers of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Early Middle Paleolithic industries rich in Levallois and laminar products were assigned mean ages ranging from ∼250 to ∼160 ka (thousands of years ago), suggesting a production of this industry during MIS 7 and the early part of MIS 6. The mean ages obtained for the samples associated with the Acheulo-Yabrudian (strengthened by an isochron analysis) indicate a production of this cultural complex ∼250 ka ago, at the end of MIS 8. According to the Misliya TL dates, the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the site took place at the limit MIS 8/7 or during the early part of MIS 7. The dates, together with the pronounced differences in lithic technology strongly suggest the arrival of a new population during this period.     

Mousterian technology and settlement dynamics in the site of Hummal (Syria)

The site of Hummal is one of several artesian springs in the El Kowm area (Central Syria) that became the focus of archaeological research at the beginning of the 1980s. The archaeological sequence spans the whole Paleolithic period and the spring is therefore a reference site for the Paleolithic in the interior part of the Levant. Archaeological remains are found in a more than 15 m thick succession of deposits that contain Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic assemblages. The present paper addresses archaeological and geological data, which were recovered during recent years’ excavations of Mousterian deposits. With a compiled stratigraphy of over 6 m and more than 30 archaeological levels, the Hummal Mousterian sequence is especially apt for the reconstruction of changing site-use patterns through time. Lithic analysis helps to elucidate technological traditions as well as organization and the changing ways in which mobile foragers used a site in the context of an arid steppe. Results contribute further to existing models of Levantine Middle Paleolithic land-use strategies and demography in the time span of between 130,000 and 50,000 BP, and partly contradict existing interpretations. Two different lithic industries were defined, which correspond to a C- and B-type Levantine Mousterian according to the three-stage Tabun model. The discovery of a C-type Mousterian in the lower deposits further extends the geographical range of this cultural facies into the interior arid part of the Levant. An increasing importance and standardization of Levallois points is observable and thereby supports models that postulate a growing specialization of hunting techniques at the end of the Middle Paleolithic.     

Nubian Complex strategies in the Egyptian high desert

Systematic survey by the Abydos Survey for Paleolithic Sites project has recorded Nubian Complex artifact density, distribution, typology, and technology across the high desert landscape west of the Nile Valley in Middle Egypt. Our work contrasts with previous investigations of Nubian Complex settlement systems in Egypt, which focused on a small number of sites in the terraces of the Nile Valley, the desert oases, and the Red Sea Mountains. Earlier research interpreted the Nubian Complex, in particular, as a radiating settlement system that incorporated a specialized point production. Our high desert data, however, indicate that the Nubian Complex associated with early modern humans in this region of the high desert reflects a circulating, rather than a radiating, settlement system, and that point production has been over-emphasized. Data available from our work, as well as sites investigated by others, do not conclusively identify Nubian Complex behavioral strategies as modern. These data, however, do contribute to the understanding of landscape use by early modern human populations living along the Nile Valley Corridor route out of Africa.