Hailat Araka and the South Arabian Neolithic

Abstract

A small Neolithic lithic scatter site was discovered in 1992 through survey in the southern region of Dhofar, Oman just south of the Rub al Khali. Four test units (1994, 2009) confirmed a 60-90 cm single period Neolithic stratification sequence of the mid-sixth millennium BC. Lithic debris contains all stages of knapping from prepared cores and is dominated by trihedral rod production. Based on comparable sites both to the west in Yemen and to the east in northern Oman/the UAE, it is suggested that still rare domesticated cattle and ovicaprids supplemented a basic forager lifestyle. Participation in long-range trade networks involved marine shells, exotic flint tools as well as obsidian, steatite and amazonite. Genetic testing suggests that the Neolithic populations may represent ancestral Modern South Arabic Language (MSAL) populations currently living in southern Arabia.

Fluted-point technology in Neolithic Arabia: An independent invention far from the Americas

“…BP [106] (Fig 5: 13-16). Other sub-types of trihedral fluted points were observed from surface and stratified sites in the inland plateau of Dhofar in south Oman [103,109] (fluted points and channel flakes are present) and in the Rub' al-Khali Desert at the borders of Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia, at sites around Maitan [110].…”

“…In the following sections, we describe the fluting occurrences from Manayzah, as this site is dated and has a complete chaine opératoire for fluting (composed of 6 fluted pieces and 21 channel flakes). In addition, the fluted assemblage from a newly discovered site, Ad-Dahariz 2, will be discussed, as it is an exceptionally rich surface site where 46 Manayzah places fluting in South Arabia in a clear chronological framework, situating it in the South Arabian Neolithic [7,109,116]. This regional Neolithic tradition does not appear to https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236314.g005…”

Geomorphology of the Jebel Qara and coastal plain of Salalah (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman)

“…The Neolithic period (∼8650-3500 BCE) is not represented in the Jebel Qara, and by contrast no occupation belonging to the Late Palaeolithic has yet been found in the Salalah Plain. This large coastal plain was regarded as unsettled during the Neolithic, but recent investigations discovered many Neolithic sites on the lower escarpments of the Dhofar hills (Newton & Zarins, 2010;Zarins, 2013) and along the Arabian Sea shoreline, often appearing as impressive shell-middens (Maiorano et al, 2018). Along the Salalah coast, at least two Neolithic sites associated with ancient lagoon deposits are preserved (Charpentier et al, 2014).…”

“…In Medieval times, the Dhofarian shoreline was a crucial node in the maritime commercial routes across the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India. In this phase, the city of Al-Balīd (ancient Salalah) grew and became one of the main harbours of southern Arabia (Zarins, 2013).…”

Early–Middle Holocene environmental changes and pre-Neolithic human occupations as recorded in the cavities of Jebel Qara (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman)

“…The Dhofar archaeological record for the Early Holocene is mainly characterized by surface sites, but also a few stratified (e.g., Zarins, 2001Zarins, , 2013Hilbert, 2013). The Early Holocene occupations of southern Oman, and more broadly of the whole southern Arabia, are in fact quite unclear, mostly known by blade productions, as well as tanged lithic projectiles (including Fasad points).…”