Resolving problematic luminescence chronologies for carbonate- and evaporite-rich sediments spanning multiple humid periods in the Jubbah Basin, Saudi Arabia

Clark-Balzan, Laine; Parton, Ash; Breeze, Paul S.; Groucutt, Huw S.; Petraglia, Michael D.

doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2017.06.002

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Precisely reconstructing regional palaeoclimate at this time and relating it to human demographic and behavioural change has proved challenging. This reflects both rapid changes in climate, as well as the complexities involved in dating relevant deposits41. In summary, combining chronological data (Supplementary sections 2-4), interpretation of the sedimentary sequence (described below), and the regional setting of Al Wusta, we conclude that lake formation and associated finds such as the AW-1 phalanx relate to the late MIS 5 humid period associated with the 84 ka insolation peak.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago

et al. 2018

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Understanding the timing and character of Homo sapiens expansion out of Africa is critical for inferring the colonisation and admixture processes that underpin global population history. It has been argued that dispersal out of Africa had an early phase, particularly ~130-90 thousand years ago (ka), that only reached the East Mediterranean Levant, and a later phase, ~60-50 ka, that extended across the diverse environments of Eurasia to Sahul. However, recent findings from East Asia and Sahul challenge this model. Here we show that H. sapiens was in the Arabian Peninsula before 85 ka. We describe the Al Wusta-1 (AW-1) intermediate phalanx from the site of Al Wusta in the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia. AW-1 is the oldest directly dated fossil of our species outside Africa and the Levant. The palaeoenvironmental context of Al Wusta demonstrates that H. sapiens using Middle Palaeolithic stone tools dispersed into Arabia during a phase of increased precipitation driven by orbital forcing, in association with a primarily African fauna. A Bayesian model incorporating independent chronometric age estimates indicates a chronology for Al Wusta of ~95-86 ka, which we correlate with a humid episode in the later part of Marine Isotope Stage 5 known from various regional records. Al Wusta shows that early dispersals were more spatially and temporally extensive than previously thought. Early H. sapiens dispersals out of Africa were not limited to winter rainfall-fed Levantine Mediterranean woodlands immediately adjacent to Africa, but extended deep into the semi-arid grasslands of Arabia, facilitated by periods of enhanced monsoonal rainfall.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago

et al. 2018

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“…Pollen records from Tayma, approximately 50km west of Alshabah, indicate that this activity occurred after the peak of the Holocene Humid Period (Engel et al 2012; Dinies et al 2015). Furthermore, a marl bed at Al-Rabyah in Jubbah, dating to 6.4±0.4ka (Clark-Balzan et al 2017), indicates the continued availability of water in basins in the region. The overall trend towards aridification led to significant changes in vegetation—particularly a reduction in grasslands (Dinies et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neolithic pastoralism in marginal environments during the Holocene Humid Period, northern Saudi Arabia

et al. 2018

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A. OSL dating methodologyThe light exposed external surfaces of hearth ferricrete stones were removed using a chisel. A small portion of the remaining light-shielded material was homogenised using a Retsch Mixer Mill MM400. Fine grained (4-11µm) quartz extracted from the resulting powder via Stokes settling, a one week H2SiF6 etch followed by a 10M HCl rinse, and a second cycle of Stokes settling. Four of the seven samples analysed yielded sufficient quartz for dating.Equivalent doses were measured using the single-aliquot regenerative dose method (Murray and Wintle 2000). Measurements were performed on a Risø TL/OSL-DA-20 automated dating system. Optical stimulation (60s at 125°C) was via blue light emitting diodes

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“…Jubbah is a dune-bounded endorheic basin that measures ∼20 × 5 km with deposits extending to a depth of ca. 30 m (56)(57)(58). At Jubbah, there are no inflowing drainage channels, which suggests that the water bodies formed as a result of surface expression of water from the shallow Saq aquifer, recharged by both local and regional rainfall onto the dune field.…”

Section: Assessing the Environments And Archaeology Of Northern Arabiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Human responses to climate and ecosystem change in ancient Arabia

Petraglia

Groucutt

Guagnin

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Recent interdisciplinary archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the Arabian peninsula is transforming our understanding of ancient human societies in their ecological contexts. Hypotheses about the cultural and demographic impacts of a series of droughts have primarily been developed from the environmental and archaeological records of southeastern Arabia. Here we examine these human–environment interactions by integrating ongoing research from northern Arabia. While droughts and extreme environmental variability in the Holocene had significant impacts on human societies, responses varied across space and time and included mobility at various scales, as well as diverse social, economic and cultural adaptations, such as the management of water resources, the introduction of pastoral lifeways, and the construction of diverse types of stone structures. The long-term story of human societies in Arabia is one of resilience in the face of climate change, yet future challenges include rising temperatures and flash flooding. The history of human responses to climatic and ecosystem changes in Arabia can provide important lessons for a planet facing catastrophic global warming and environmental change.

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Resolving problematic luminescence chronologies for carbonate- and evaporite-rich sediments spanning multiple humid periods in the Jubbah Basin, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Resolving problematic luminescence chronologies for carbonate-and evaporite-rich sediments spanning multiple humid periods in the Jubbah basin, Saudi Arabia. Quaternary Geochronology.

Cited by 14 publications

References 113 publications

Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago

Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago

Neolithic pastoralism in marginal environments during the Holocene Humid Period, northern Saudi Arabia

Human responses to climate and ecosystem change in ancient Arabia

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