Abstract

The Acheulean is the longest lasting cultural–technological tradition in human evolutionary history. However, considerable gaps remain in understanding the chronology and geographical distribution of Acheulean hominins. We present the first chronometrically dated Acheulean site from the Arabian Peninsula, a vast and poorly known region that forms more than half of Southwest Asia. Results show that Acheulean hominin occupation expanded along hydrological networks into the heart of Arabia from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7 until at least ~190 ka ̶ the youngest documented Acheulean in Southwest Asia. The site of Saffaqah features Acheulean technology, characterized by large flakes, handaxes and cleavers, similar to Acheulean assemblages in Africa. These findings reveal a climatically-mediated later Acheulean expansion into a poorly known region, amplifying the documented diversity of Middle Pleistocene hominin behaviour across the Old World and elaborating the terminal archaic landscape encountered by our species as they dispersed out of Africa.

Details

Title
The expansion of later Acheulean hominins into the Arabian Peninsula
Author
Scerri, Eleanor M L 1 ; Shipton, Ceri 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Clark-Balzan, Laine 3 ; Frouin, Marine 4 ; Schwenninger, Jean-Luc 4 ; Groucutt, Huw S 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Breeze, Paul S 5 ; Parton, Ash 6 ; Blinkhorn, James 7 ; Drake, Nick A 8 ; Jennings, Richard 9 ; Cuthbertson, Patrick 4 ; Abdulaziz Al Omari 10 ; Alsharekh, Abdullah M 11 ; Petraglia, Michael D 12   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany; Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 
2  Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya 
3  Department of Geosciences, Freiburg, Germany 
4  Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 
5  Department of Geography, Kings College London, London, UK 
6  Human Origins and Palaeoenvironments Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, UK; Mansfield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 
7  Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany; Department of Geography Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK 
8  Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany; Department of Geography, Kings College London, London, UK 
9  School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Liverpool, UK 
10  Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
11  Department of Archaeology, College of Archaeology and Tourism, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
12  Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Nov 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35242-5
ProQuest document ID
2139583838
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.