Title

Hailat Araka and the South Arabian Neolithic

Abstract

A small Neolithic lithic scatter site was discovered in 1992 through survey in the southern region of Dhofar, Oman just south of the Rub al Khali. Four test units (1994, 2009) confirmed a 60-90 cm single period Neolithic stratification sequence of the mid-sixth millennium BC. Lithic debris contains all stages of knapping from prepared cores and is dominated by trihedral rod production. Based on comparable sites both to the west in Yemen and to the east in northern Oman/the UAE, it is suggested that still rare domesticated cattle and ovicaprids supplemented a basic forager lifestyle. Participation in long-range trade networks involved marine shells, exotic flint tools as well as obsidian, steatite and amazonite. Genetic testing suggests that the Neolithic populations may represent ancestral Modern South Arabic Language (MSAL) populations currently living in southern Arabia.

Department(s)

Sociology and Anthropology

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/aae.12009

Keywords

Long-distance trade, MSAL groups, Oman, South Arabian Neolithic, Trihedral rods

Publication Date

5-1-2013

Journal Title

Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy

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