Roads of Arabia

09 Arabie US p136-157_CM_BAT.qxd 23/06/10 21:32 Page 142
Tabuk
Shuwayhitiyah
ROADS OF ARABIA
(preceding pages)
Dunes
1. Alsharekh 2006, p. 12–39.
2. Field 1971.
3. Kapel 1967.
4. McClure 1976.
5. Leakey 1971.
The history of prehistoric discoveries in Saudi Arabia
w. Fatima
Prehistory is a recent discipline whose timeline tends to vary as new discoveries are made and
with the increasing accuracy of absolute dating techniques, which have progressed considerably
Bir Hima
Farasan
in the last twenty years.
Najran
Islands
For instance, the beginning date for the most recent geological era, ERITREA the Quaternary Period
– when the genus Homo emerged – is placed at either 1.8 million or at 2.6 million years ago,
Danakil
depending on the author. Throughout the Quaternary, in Eurasia, climate shifts resulted in alternating
glacial and interglacial phases. In tropical latitudes these shifts corresponded Gobaad to dry periods,
characterized by intense wind activity, and humid periods that were favourable to human development.
In the present-day deserts of Africa and Arabia, lakes were formed during these wet phases.
For a long time, these violent changes in climate, coupled with the extremely arid conditions
that prevail across most of Saudi Arabia, impeded any systematic effort to search for prehistoric
sites and made it difficult to preserve their remains. In fact, prehistoric research in the
ETHIOPIA
country did not take off until 1970.
Prior to 1920, 1 travellers and ancient historians only mentioned monumental archaeological
remains in their descriptions, mainly those along the legendary caravan route that was used
to transport spices, incense and myrrh. From time to time, knapped flints, such as the famous
arrowheads discovered among the dunes, would be observed by travellers or military men. In
1933, John Philby reported the existence of Neolithic flints and noted the absence of
Palaeolithic remains in the Rub’ al-Khali desert (see in this Olduvai catalogue Sanlaville, pp. 62–3).
Then, with the influx of foreign companies prospecting TANZANIA for oil in the early 1950s, large
numbers of scientists began to arrive. Among them were geologists who would compile the first
collections of prehistoric lithic artefacts. They ventured out into unknown territory and
brought back substantial evidence of prehistoric occupation, mainly in the form of arrowheads
and bifacial elements that confirmed the existence of hunting groups.
A few rare prehistorians, the pioneers, would set out to conduct methodical surveys and
lay the foundations for a prehistoric chronology of this virtually unexplored territory. Henry
Field 2 regularly published articles and books after 1929 about the discoveries he made all over
Arabia. Holger Kapel 3 meticulously recorded the existence of prehistoric remains in the Eastern
Province on the Gulf and in the emirate of Qatar. He established a preliminary typology that
would be used for many years by archaeologists. H. McClure, 4 who paved the way for palaeoclimatological
studies in the peninsula, discovered and dated the outcrops of former lakes in the
Mundafan region of the Rub’ al-Khali desert.
Finally, in 1970, the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums began to play a
major role in developing archaeological research throughout the country. It implemented a fiveyear
survey program (1976–81) and created a national archaeological journal, Atlal, that covered
all the archaeological periods. The country was divided into six provinces (Eastern, North,
Northeastern, Western, Southwestern, and Central).
In just a few years, several hundred prehistoric Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupation sites
had been discovered. Yet despite the fact that highly skilled multi-disciplinary teams had been
sent out, almost all of these finds were located on the surface.
It is unfortunately very difficult to establish the origin and sequence of such prehistoric
occupations when dated, stratified Palaeolithic sites, human remains and Quaternary fauna are
lacking. Moreover, the only evidence of these cultures prior to the last warming period (the
Holocene) comes from knapped stone assemblages, and the typology used to order and classify
them was devised fifty years ago in Europe by F. Bordes and in Africa by M. Leakey 5 at the
Olduvai sites in Tanzania.
N i l e
R E D S E A
N a
Jubbah
f u d
BAB
Saffaqah
R u b
Riyâd
‘
a l
Hadramawt
AL-MANDAB
ARABIAN GULF
QATAR
- K h a l
i
Dhofar
The artefacts have been classified chronologically from the oldest to the most recent (fig. 2):
Oldowan or early Lower Palaeolithic (use of pebble tools or “choppers”), Lower Palaeolithic
(Acheulean, bifaces), Middle Palaeolithic, Mousterian (crude tools), often with some Levallois
debitage. Reduction was accomplished by using a hammerstone to shape various raw materials:
quartzite, andesite, flint, etc. It is notable that no blade tools corresponding to the Upper
Palaeolithic (based on the typology conventionally employed for European and Near Eastern
traditions) have been found anywhere in the entire peninsula.
For later occupations, however, dating from the Middle Holocene period 10,000 years ago,
we have more than just arrowheads. There are sites, a wide range of undisturbed archaeological
material and absolute dating techniques that can help us shed light on these cultures.
A R
N i l e
A B
M E D I T E R R A N E A N
TANZANIA
I A N
S E A
Olduvai
R E D S E A
Danakil
A n a t o l
Ta u r u
‘Ubaydiya
Tabuk
Farasan
Islands
ERITREA
Gobaad
i a
s
L e v a n t
N a
I n d u s
Shuwayhitiyah
Jubbah
f u d
w. Fatima
BAB
ETHIOPIA
Dmanisi
Z a
Saffaqah
R u b
Bir Hima
Najran
g r o
Riyâd
‘
a l
Hadramawt
AL-MANDAB
s
ARABIAN GULF
QATAR
- K h a l
Paléolithique moyen (Moustérien)
i
Dhofar
0 1000 km
Paléolithique ancien (Acheuléen)
Paléolithique archaïque (Olduwayen)
sorties d'Afrique d'Homo erectus
A R
A B
I A N
S E A
I n d u s
Hélène David, 2010
The Prehistoric Populations
Fig. 1. The first populations in Arabia
Jubbah
Riyâd
Bir Hima
Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian)
Lower Palaeolithic (Acheulean)
Early Lower Palaeolithic (Oldowan)
Homo erectus’s exit from Africa
Paléolithique moyen (Moustérien)
Paléolithique ancien (Acheuléen)
Paléolithique archaïque (Olduwayen)
sorties d'Afrique d'Homo erectus
Jubbah
Riyâd
Bir Hima
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