Climate change and human occupation in the Southern Arabian lowlands during the last deglaciation and the Holocene

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Abstract

Paleohydrological and archaeological evidence from the Southern and South-Eastern Arabian Peninsula reveal strong relations between phases of human settlements and climate change linked to the Indian monsoon system. During the early to mid-Holocene, large fresh-water lakes extended in the lowland deserts of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn (Yemen) and Wahiba Sands (Oman), which were very similar to those occurring in the North, in the Rub' al-Khali (Saudi Arabia), at that time. Many archaeological sites, characterized by scattered stone artefacts, ostrich-eggshells and bones around hearths, are related to this lacustrine phase, which culminated around 10 000–8000 cal yr B.P. in the lowland deserts before the lakes progressively dried up. The last record of fresh-water bodies' extensions date back 7300 cal yr B.P. at Shabwa (Yemen) and 7500 cal yr B.P. at al-Haid (Oman). Then, fresh-water was probably available only from seasonal run-off from adjacent highlands, where paleolakes persisted into the late Holocene. Dry climate conditions in the inland desert of Yemen during the late Holocene coincide with a phase of intensive human inhabitation as testified by development of irrigation in the piedmontane areas, numerous necropolises of built collective burials and houses.

Introduction

During the Holocene, tropical deserts of Africa and Arabia experienced strong climate variations leading to the development of fresh-water lakes and the setting of Neolithic populations in areas which are now very arid and inhospitable. Although relations between man and environment are now well documented in northern Africa at both regional (e.g., Hoelzmann et al., 2001) and continental scales (Petit-Maire et al., 1993), the tropical desert of Arabia is still poorly investigated. There, archaeological data older than the 6th millennium B.P. are scarce, but excavations and archaeological surveys have demonstrated an early Holocene human occupation at the foot of the Omani highlands (Uerpmann et al., 2000), near the littoral of the Indian ocean (Charpentier et al., 2000), or in the inland desert of Yemen, the Ramalt as-Sab'atayn (Cleuziou et al., 1992, Inizan et al., 1998). Widespread development of complex cultures after the Early Bronze Age when agriculture, metallurgy, pottery and economic exchanges develop in Yemen (e.g. Braemer et al., 2001) and Oman (in Cleuziou, 2005) deserts as climate conditions become drier (e.g., Fleitman et al., 2003) lead to several questions: Do the occupation phases and cultures correlate with climate variations and how? How did the environmental resources (fresh-water and plants) change with climate?

The aim of this article is to review our current knowledge of man–climate relations in the lowlands of Southern and Eastern Arabia (Yemen, Oman) during the Holocene using recent studies carried out in the frame of the French Research Programme, ECLIPSE. Data comprise mineralogy, pollen, isotope and diatoms according to the sites and archaeological findings with the objective to place the history of human occupation in a reliable climatic and environmental context. Palaeoenvironmental data from two selected paleolakes in the Yemen highlands are also discussed.

Section snippets

Environmental setting

The climate of Southern Arabia is strongly influenced by the summer migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the associated Indian monsoon rainfall belt (Fig. 1). In summer south-westerly surface winds carry moisture from the Southern Indian Ocean along the Arabian coast but do not penetrate far northwards into Southern Arabia. The mean annual rainfall rapidly decreases from the coast to the interior and from the mountains to the lowlands. The maximum rainfall is recorded in

Modern pollen data

Fifty-nine soil surface samples taken along a latitudinal transect through the Rub' al-Khali sand sea, from the Ramlat as-Sab'atayn to the South to the Iraq coastal areas to the North, and along an altitudinal transect from the littoral to 2000 m alt in Oman illustrate the pollen signature of major Arabian ecosystems (Fig. 2; Table 1). The latitudinal transect, combining regional studies from Lézine et al., 1998, Bonnefille and Riollet, 1988, El-Moslimany, 1983 has been detailed in Lézine et al.

The Holocene sedimentary sequences

Five lacustrine sedimentary sequences of Holocene age ranging from 12 000 cal B.P. to 5000 cal. B.P. were detailed for mineralogical analyses and chronology. They were recovered from the lowland sand seas of Ramlat as-Sab'atayn in central Yemen (al-Hawa) and of the Wahibah sands in Southern Oman (al-Haid), and from the Yemen highlands (Rada and Saada). Only two sequences were favourable to pollen (al-Hawa) and diatom (Rada) analyses.

The lowland vegetation environment

Pollen data from the Southern Arabian lowlands are rare, as only six sites have provided interpretable pollen spectra. Due to conditions of extreme aridity, pollen grains are usually poorly preserved and some sites have provided a very limited number of pollen spectra such as in the Rub' al-Khali (El-Moslimany, 1983). In this context, the al-Hawa pollen diagram appears as an exceptional, continuous, early to mid-Holocene record of vegetation changes. Additional data from two well distinct

Phases of human occupation (Fig. 11)

Most archaeological sites located in the desert areas appear as flint scatters, where some earths are occasionally found. In the desert lowlands, these are generally referred as “Rub' al-Khali Neolithic”, and considered by most prehistorians as linked to a wetter phase, usually following McClure's (1976) suggestions. Four radiocarbon dates ranging from 9790 cal yr B.P. to 8000 cal yr B.P. were obtained from ashes or charcoal in hearths associated with surface scatters in the in the al-Hawa area,

Hydro-climatic conditions

One of the most striking features of our paleohydrological records is the timing and the duration of the Arabian humid period. As shown on Fig. 12, the oxygen isotope and terrigenous record of core 74KL recovered off the Indian Ocean coast of the Arabian Peninsula (Sirocko et al., 1993) indicates that the climate evolution over the Northern Indian Ocean and the Arabian Peninsula was associated with the early Holocene rise in the summer insolation forcing of the Indian monsoon since about 16 300 

Conclusion

The review presented here illustrates the role of the peculiar geomorphological features of Southern Arabia in the record of past climate changes and their impact on the lowland desert landscapes. Enhanced monsoon fluxes led to the extension of several paleolakes in the lowlands from 11 000 to 5000 cal yr B.P. and the eastward displacement of the tropical phytogeographical zone of influence. However, paleolake records are surprisingly scarce and the two main fresh-water extensions at Mundafan in

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to I. N. Al-Ganad (Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Board, Sana'a), Y. Abdallah, A. Shamsan, A. H. Al-Herf and S.H. Sadek (General Agency of Antiquities, Museums and Manuscripts, Yemen), F. Mermier and F. Burgat (CERFAS, Sana'a) in Yemen, J.-P. Breton (BRGM), B. Al-Sabri, A. Al-Shanfari (Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Muscat), H. bin Mohammed Al-Azri (General of Minerals, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Muscat) and H. David in Oman, for

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