Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
Sci Rep. 2021 May 12;11(1):10111. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89489-6.
The Arabian Peninsula is a critical geographic landmass situated between Africa and the rest of Eurasia. Climatic shifts across the Pleistocene periodically produced wetter conditions in Arabia, dramatically altering the spatial distribution of hominins both within and between continents. This is particularly true of Acheulean hominins, who appear to have been more tethered to water sources than Middle Palaeolithic hominins. However, until recently, chrono-cultural knowledge of the Acheulean of Arabia has been limited to one dated site, which indicated a hominin presence in Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 7-6. Here, we report the first dated Acheulean site from the Nefud Desert of northern Saudi Arabia, together with palaeoecological evidence for an associated deep, probably fresh-water, lake. The site of An Nasim features varied and often finely flaked façonnage handaxes. Luminescence ages together with geomorphological and palaeoecological evidence indicates that the associated artefacts date to MIS 9. At present, An Nasim represents the oldest yet documented Acheulean sites in Arabia, and adds to a growing picture of regionally diverse stone tool assemblages used by Middle Pleistocene hominins, and likely indicative of repeated population re-entry into the peninsula in wet 'Green Arabia' phases.
阿拉伯半岛是非洲和欧亚大陆其他地区之间的一个关键地理陆块。更新世期间的气候变化使阿拉伯地区的湿润条件周期性地出现，极大地改变了大陆内部和之间古人类的空间分布。这在阿舍利手斧人类中尤其如此，他们似乎比中更新世人类更依赖水源。然而，直到最近，对阿拉伯阿舍利文化的年代文化知识仅限于一个有年代的地点，该地点表明人类在海洋同位素阶段 (MIS) 7-6 存在。在这里，我们报告了沙特阿拉伯北部内夫得沙漠中第一个有年代的阿舍利遗址，以及与一个相关的深湖（可能是淡水）的古生态学证据。纳斯姆遗址的特点是有各种各样的、通常是精细剥落的手斧面型。发光年代以及地貌和古生态学证据表明，相关的人工制品可以追溯到 MIS 9。目前，纳斯姆遗址是阿拉伯半岛有记录以来最古老的阿舍利遗址，它增加了一个不断增长的图景，即中更新世人类在该地区使用了多种多样的石器组合，可能表明在湿润的“绿色阿拉伯”阶段，人类反复重新进入该半岛。
