A cave near the site of ancient human existence in the Arabian Desert.
Courtesy of Hugh S. Groucutt et al.
The dry deserts of northeastern Saudi Arabia were once wet enough to support vibrant animal communities – and researchers have just found evidence that ancient hominins lived there too.
“This paper provides the first overview of the archaeological record of interior northeastern Arabia, a vast region that has not yet been explored,” he says. Monika Markowska from Northumbria University, UK, who was not involved in the work.
The study focuses on the little-studied region of the Arabian Peninsula between Qatar and Kuwait. There is no record of prehistoric human presence in this area, but scientists know that it once received enough rain to support a thriving ecosystem.
“Hominins have been present in Arabia for at least the last 500,000 years – probably during several waves of occupation,” says Hugh Groucutt at the University of Malta.
To better understand the potential ancient hominins living in the area, Graucutt and his colleagues identified ancient rivers and caves located near deposits of flint, a hard, dense rock that prehistoric people used to make tools. “Caves are often important sites for archaeological, fossil and climate data,” says Groucutt.
In total, they searched 79 caves and their surroundings. Some of them contained evidence of the presence of ancient people and animals. One cave adjoined an area with more than 400 stone tools scattered on the floor. Inside the caves, they also discovered the remains of ancient reptiles, bats, birds, camels, gazelles, hyenas and wolves.
By analyzing the style of the stone tools, Growcut and his colleagues determined that hominins lived in caves between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago.
“Although today [Arabia] acts as a barrier to species movement, past climatic opportunities may have created more favorable conditions for settlement and migration,” Markowska says. “The exceptional preservation of thousands of bones in these caves provides rare information about past ecosystems.”
Team Member Michael Petraglia at Griffith University, Australia, has been researching the archeology of Arabia for many years. “This paper is another step toward understanding caves and rivers, what they contain, and what they tell us about life in Arabia's dynamic ecosystems,” he says.
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