Nubian technology in northern Arabia: Impact on interregional variability of Middle Paleolithic industries

Abstract

Since 2013, the authors have conducted archaeological surveys across the Al-Jawf province in northern Saudi Arabia. In the past two seasons, 48 sites were mapped and characterized by the presence of Levallois technology and, therefore, attributed to the Middle Paleolithic of Arabia. Preferential Levallois reduction using different methods of dorsal core preparation have been found at these sites. The technological variability includes Nubian Levallois methods, preferential Levallois with centripetal preparation, as well as recurrent centripetal reduction methods. In Arabia, sites with Nubian Levallois reduction are known from southern Oman, eastern Yemen, and central Saudi Arabia, while in Africa this reduction method has been identified across much of the northeastern continent. Preferential Levallois with centripetal preparation and recurrent centripetal Levallois methods have been found across Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Outside of Arabia, these methods have been found in many regions across the Old World. In this paper, we present the results from technological analyses on the Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the newly discovered Al-Jawf sites. The technological data are used to place these sites into a wider regional framework, assessing whether connections with known lithic industries from across the Near East and northeastern Africa can be surmised.

Middle Palaeolithic find spots with Nubian cores from the Southern Negev and the Arava, Israel

“…Two such localities are Nahal Zihor 6 and Nahal Paran 9. The core scatters from these two find spots typologically resemble the Negev Highland assemblages (Goder-Goldberger et al 2016), as well as the core type combinations reported from the Al-Jawf region in Arabia (Hilbert et al 2016(Hilbert et al : 2017. The cores collected and analysed from Nahal Paran 9 (Table 1) Goldberger et al 2016: Table 4) and Har Oded (Boutié & Rosen 1989 : Tables 9 and 11), albeit they are wider.…”

“…The average core density at Nahal Paran 9 is 0.37 cores per m 2 , while at Har Oded, the average density is 2 cores per m 2 (Boutié & Rosen 1989). In the Al Jawf region, Arabia, artifact densities amounted to 1-4 artifacts per m 2 (Hilbert et al 2017), while the surveyed localities on the Abydos plateau, Egypt have an average density of 3.49 artifacts per m 2 , with the maximum density reported for a single locality of 144.83 artifacts per m 2 . Localities with the highest artifact densities appear on the ridges adjacent to the central wadi system (Olszewski et al 2005).…”

“…Nahal Paran 9 and Nahal Zihor 6 localities are found in the relatively concise geographic area in which the Nubian technology incorporating the reduction of Nubian cores is found (Goder-Goldberger et al 2016;Hilbert et al 2017;Hussain et al 2015;Rose et al 2011;Van Peer & Vermeersch 2007). Within this arid region movements of hunter-gatherer groups across the landscape were most likely facilitated by climatic wet phases.…”

“…The Arava today is a hyper arid environment cut by dry waterways and covered by desert pavements (Avni et al 2011;Ginat 1997), although evidence for periods of higher levels of humidity and semi-desert conditions are present (Ginat et al 2003;Waldmann et al 2010). The findings from these two localities bridge a gap in the geographical extent between the Negev Highland and central Arabia adding data to the ongoing of recent discussions regarding archaeological markers of modern human dispersals out of Africa and feasible routes into Eurasia and Arabia (Breeze et al 2016;Goder-Goldberger et al 2016;Hilbert et al 2017). …”

“…Although sparse, all dated assemblages containing Nubian technology are assigned to MIS5 (Mercier et al 1999;Rose et al 2011;Schmidt et al 2015;Van Peer & Vermeersch 2007;Van Peer et al 2010). The distinctive technological characteristics, geographical extent and chronology advocate using the Nubian technology as a possible marker for human dispersals and interactions between Eastern Africa the Nile valley the southern Levant and Arabia (Crassard & Hilbert 2013;Goder-Goldberger et al 2016;Hilbert et al 2017;Rose et al 2011;Usik et al 2013).…”