The Nefud Desert lies in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, and is
thought to have been one of the key obstacles that early Humans, and other
Hominids, had to pass as they expanded out of Africa into Southwest Asia. The
area is close to the southern extent of the range of the Neaderthals, who
occupied much of Europe and West Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, and it is
thought that Modern Humans dispersed through the region between about 130 000
and 75 000 years ago. The Nefud Desert has yielded a number of sites from which
a variety of stone tools have been collected, however while a variety of
Hominid remains have been found in other areas of the Middle East, none have
been found from the Nefud, making it hard to assert the identity of the Nefud
toolmakers with any confidence.
In a paper published in the journal Quaternary International on 8 October 2014, a team
of archaeologists led by Eleanor Scerri of the University of Bordeaux discus
the results of a survey of a survey of archaeological sites in the southern
Nefud Desert carried out in 2013.
The area studied is currently hyperarid, and covered by a variety of
and dune structures. However it is thought to have had a wetter climate at
times over the past half million years, with lakes occupying the area at about
410 000 years ago, about 320 000 years ago, about 200 000 years ago, about 125
000 years ago, from about 40 000 to 25 000 years ago and from about 10 000 to
about 6000 years ago. During some of these periods it appears likely that
significant lakes covered much of the area, but during others it is more likely
that smaller ephemeral (temporary) lakes were scattered across the region.
In 2013 Scerri et al surveyed
12 sites in the southern Nefud, five close to the village of Khall Amayshan
(numbered KAM 1-4 and 6), two near Al Raba (Rab 3 and 4), two at Khabb Musayyib
(KM 1 and 2), one in the T'is al Ghadah Basin (TAG 1), one in the Tayma
Wildlife Reserve (WR) and one in the Munasafiyah Basin (HIS 1).
Map of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites found
during the Palaeodeserts 2014 survey of the southwestern Nefud. KAM 1e5 refer
to Khall Amayshan sites; KM 1e2 andKM-RM refer to the sites at Khabb Musayyib;
TAG 1 refers to Ta'is al Ghadah; HIS 1 refers to a site along a line of jibal;
RAB 3 and 4 refer to the Al Raba sites; WR refers to the Wildlife Reserve site.
Scerri et al. (2014).
The first Khall Amayshan site (KAM 1) was first discovered in 1998
and is thought to date to between 117 000 and 99 000 years ago. The site
represents a circular lake which persisted some time, laying down at least 3.24
m of layered marls, silts and sands, from which fossils of a number of
freshwater Diatoms have been recovered, providing a reliable guide to both the
dates of the deposits and the conditions under which they were laid down. A
variety of stone tools have been recovered from these lake deposits.
Exposed lakebed and location of the sampled section at
KAM 1. Paul Breeze in Scerri et al.
(2014).
Scerri et al. recovered
106 stone artifacts from this site, all being of good quality and most made of
quartzite, with some chert objects; the quartzite appears to come from the
local region, but the chert is from further afield. Eleven cores (stones from
which numerous flakes had been removed) were found, along with numerous flakes.
Most were of the Levallois type (a distinctive style of tool making first described from tools from Levallois, a suburb of Paris, in the nineteenth century; flakes are chipped away from the edges of a stone core in a way that leaves it resembling a tortoise shell), which is considered to be Middle
Palaeolithic. Scerri et al. suggest
that the artifacts were left by toolmakers who were sporadically visiting the
lake, and working stone by the lake edge.
Selected artefacts from KAM1. (1) Conjoined Levallois
flake with bidirectional flaking pattern; (2) Levallois flake with centripetal
flaking pattern; (3) broken Levallois flake,possibly a point, with
unidirectional flaking pattern; (4) broken Levallois flake, possibly a point,
with bidirectional flaking pattern; (5) Levallois flake with centripetal
flaking pattern; (6) centripetally prepared preferential Levallois core; (7)
double side retouched point; (8) side retouched flake; (9) refitted single
platform core and flake; (10) refitted core management flakes; (11) conjoined
blade. Eleanor Scerri in Scerri et al.
(2014).
The second Khall Amayshan site (KAM 2) was discovered for the first
time during this survey. It yielded only two poorly preserved handaxes from a
marl deposit, which were not collected. However the site was recorded for
potential further investigation.
The third Khall Amayshan site (KAM 3) was also discovered for the
first time during this survey. It produced a small number of Late Palaeolithic
artefacts from a Diatom bed. Again these objects were not collected, but the
site was identified for later investigation.
Acheulean Handaxes from KAM 3. The handaxes were
heavily weathered andabraded, suggesting a long surface exposure. Eleanor Scerri
in Scerri et al. (2014).
The fourth Khall Amayshan site (KAM 4) appears to represent an
ephemeral lake site, where lakes appeared and disappeared over a long period of
time. While these have not yet been accurately dates, the site yielded a total
of 1561 artefacts, from several distinct phases of activity, ranging from
Acheulean (expand) to Middle Palaeolithic in nature. Some handaxes from the
site were made of a distinctive rock with a ‘wood grain’ pattern, which has
also been found at the KM sites and KAM 1, but which has yet to be identified.
Artefacts from KAM 4. (1) Side denticulated flake; (2)
Point produced using the unidirectional convergent Levallois method; (3)
Recurrent centripetal Levallois core; (4) Centripetally prepared preferential
Levallois core; (5-6) Handaxes. Eleanor Scerri in Scerri et al. (2014).
The fifth Khall Amayshan site (KAM 6) consisted of lake bed deposits
made up of Diatomite with preserved Crayfish burrows, overtopped by gypsum beds
(evaporite deposits probably formed as the lake dried up). The site yielded
several cores and flakes of the Levallois type, which were not collected, the
site being recorded for further investigation later.
The first Al Raba site (RAB 3) comprises an area of about 1.16 km2
of reworked sediments, mostly gypcretes and silts, which also produced Middle
Palaeolithic objects; it is unclear if these objects are also reworked. These
objects were not collected, but the site was recorded for further
investigation.
The second Al Raba site (RAB 4) comprised an area of lake sediments
about 1.5 km to the southeast of RAB 3. This also yielded Middle Palaeolithic
artifacts, but again these objects were not collected, but the site was
recorded for further investigation.
The two Khabb Musayyib sites (KM 1 and KM 2) are a pair of gypsum
and marl lakeshore deposits, apparently derived from the remains of a single
lake-bed which has otherwise eroded away. These sites have yielded a variety of
Early Palaeolithic remains, including small, finely made handaxes, a chopper
core and Levallois cores and flakes. A site of material for tool-making was
also found at KM 2, with sandstone and quartz cobbles along with further tools.
KM1b (mid ground) and KM2 (background, viewed from the
top of KM1a, looking south-east. Paul Breeze in Scerri et al. (2014).
The Khabb Musayyib sites yielded a total of 68 artefacts, mostly
made from quartzite, though one handaxe made from high grade chert was also
found. The artefacts from the lakeshore at KM2 appear to date from a different
period to the artifacts at the material source. 57 objects were obtained from
the lakeshore deposits, 40 of these being small, well-made bifaces (cutting
tools with two cutting edges), averaging 91 mm in length.
Tools from the lakeshore deposits at KM 2. (1-2) Small
finished bifaces; (3) unfinished biface; (4) large finished biface; (5-6)
unfished bifaces; (7) discoidal core; (8) denticulated flake. Eleanor Scerri in
Scerri et al. (2014).
Artefacts from the second site, KM-2. (1) Micoquian
Handaxe with missing tip; (2-3) bifaces; (4-5) Levallois cores. Eleanor Scerri in
Scerri et al. (2014).
The T'is al Ghadah Basin site (TAG 1) comprises a lake bottom with
several well preserved horizons yielding numerous surface fossils. On top of
this series of beds a number of collections of stone tools were found. The
fossil remains have been dated from the Early Pleistocene to about 410 000
years ago, while analysis of the uppermost sediments suggest ages of 328 000 to
310 000 years ago. It is unclear if the artifacts found at the site date from
this period or are more recent, but if they are then they represent some of the
oldest Middle Palaeolithic material found in the Nefud.
76 artefacts were recovered from TAG 1, predominantly from scatter
sites in two different areas of the basin. One such
scatter site produced a distinctive set of simple cores and flakes, of apparent
early Middle Palaeolithic origin made from a pale amber quartzite. Cores from
elsewhere in the basin were predominantly of a darker quartzite, with a few
chert objects, and comprised small cores and core fragments and flakes. This
tool set includes bifaces, discoidal cores, bifacial flakes, Levallois flakes
and simple blade cores, suggesting a late Early Palaeolithic or early Middle
Palaeolithic origin.
Flakes from TAG 1. (1-5) Retouched flakes; (6) pointed
flake; (7) Levallois flake; (8) Retouched flake; (10-13) Discoidal flakes. Eleanor
Scerri in Scerri et al. (2014).
The Tayma Wildlife Reserve site (WR) comprises an area of exposed
bedrock with eroded channels, with some infill material, leading downwards to
an exposed mudflat. The material gathered here was trapped in the erosion
channels. Scerri et al. recovered 94
flakes, two bifaces and 35 cores from this site, most made of local rock, but
including some quartz, limestone, chert and rhyolite also used. This site is
thought to contain material from several phases of occupation, but is of a
broadly Middle Palaeolithic origin.
Flakes from the Wildlife Reserve site. (1-5) Single
platform and discoidal flakes; (6-8) Levallois flakes; (9) Retouched Levallois
point, probably recycled; (10) Levallois flake; (11) large, cortical flakes. Eleanor
Scerri in Scerri et al. (2014).
Cores from the Wildlife Reserve site. (1-2)
Centripetally prepared preferential Levallois cores; (3) recurrent centripetal
Levallois core; (4) Single platform core; (5) bidirectional Levallois point
core; (6-7) discoidal cores; (8) single platform core; (9) multiple platform
core; (10-11) bifaces. Eleanor Scerri in Scerri et al. (2014).
The Munasafiyah Basin site
(HIS 1) comprised a scattered Palaeolithic site along the lower slopes of a
jibal (line of rocky hills). The site featured considerable rock art, as well
as artefacts of Early and Middle Palaeolithic origin, including handaxes,
bifaces, Levallois cores and flakes, débordant flakes, core tablets and other
material. All appeared to be made of local quartzite, suggesting the toolmakers
were using scree slopes at the foot of the jebel as a source of material. None
of the material was collected, but the site was marked for further
investigation.
The sites yielded a great diversity of Late Pleistocene material,
but very little from the Holocene, suggesting that conditions were considerably
more favourable in the Nafud then. The Early Palaeolithic material suggests a
long period of continuous occupation of the area, associated with fairly stable
lakes, which existed for long periods of time. The Middle Palaeolithic material
is more scattered and suggests more temporary occupation, associated with
ephemeral lakes, which were not always present. Scerri et al. suggest that the area was occupied repeatedly from
neighbouring areas, such as Jordan and the Sinai, when conditions were
favourable, then abandoned again when the lakes dried up.
See also…
Dating the Toba Eruption. Sometime between 69 000 and 77 000 years ago a large volcano occupying
the site of the current Lake Toba on northern Sumatra underwent what is
believed to have been the largest volcanoc eruption of the Quaternary
Period, covering much of south Asia in around 15 cm of ash, and probably
causing...
Toolmaking in the northeastern Thar Desert 95 600 years ago. The Thar Desert covers over 200,000 km² of land in the northwest part
of the Indian Subcontinent, straddling the border between Pakistan and
India. It marks the...
20 000 year old stone huts from Kharaneh in Eastern Jordan. The earliest stone structures are generally associated with the
Epipalaeolithic Natufian culture of Southwest Asia (the term
Epipalaeololithic applies to cultures outside the extent of the last
glaciation that showed the same...
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.
