A Neolithic innovation in eastern Arabia: haematite axes and adzes

Abstract

Well before metallurgy, Neolithic societies in the Gulf were engaging in a very peculiar form of metal object production, particularly of axes and adzes made from haematite. In the heart of the Neolithic Middle East, this innovation was specific to Arabian shores between the Musandam and Qatar peninsulas. Quite infrequent among Neolithic lithic assemblages from Arabia, axes and adzes were mostly collected on the surface of domestic settlements. One is often dealing with objects to which the most focus has been given, apart from arrowheads and projectile points. Several sites or outcrops are present on the Emirati coastline and Gulf islands. Inland mountain ranges also include some of these. From Ra’s al‐Khaimah to Qatar, only 500 km separate the most distant Neolithic domestic settlements which possess haematite axes or hoes, a distance that is quite small when one considers the circulation of polished stone blades in other societies of the same period. Within the Middle East, south‐eastern Arabia during the Neolithic engaged in a very original means of production of metal objects, as the latter did not focus on copper, a very malleable and much more available material, but on haematite, which was much harder.

Challenging the Late Neolithic cultural horizon of Southern Arabia: The case of Sharbithat 10 (Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman)

“…The blade production is uncommon in the known Middle Neolithic industries of Southern Arabia (6500-4500 BCE), while several sites dated to the last phase of the Late Neolithic (3700-3100 BCE) (Charpentier, 2004;Crassard, 2008;Borgi et al, 2012;Maiorano et al, 2020a) yielded numerous artefacts made on laminar blanks. Fisherfolks at Sharbithat oriented their manufacture to producing blades and bladelets.…”

“…Their tips are blunt, and they were most likely hafted (Figure 7: 14-16). Backed bladelets are rarely mentioned in the literature of Arabian prehistory, but a few specimens are reported in UAE 5th millennium sites, such as Marawah Island, Sharjah Tower and Abu Dhabi Airport (Millet, 1988;Beech, et al, 2004;Charpentier, 2004;Kallweit, 2004). A few backed bladelets have also been reported at Suwayh SWY-1 (Charpentier, 2004), and Ras al-Hamra RH-6 in Oman (Biagi 1999 Fig:12-14).…”

“…Backed bladelets are rarely mentioned in the literature of Arabian prehistory, but a few specimens are reported in UAE 5th millennium sites, such as Marawah Island, Sharjah Tower and Abu Dhabi Airport (Millet, 1988;Beech, et al, 2004;Charpentier, 2004;Kallweit, 2004). A few backed bladelets have also been reported at Suwayh SWY-1 (Charpentier, 2004), and Ras al-Hamra RH-6 in Oman (Biagi 1999 Fig:12-14). In Southern Oman, the first documented microliths belong to the Upper Palaeolithic, to the MIS3 layer in Matafah AH III (Rose et al 2019; see Rose, 2022: Fig.…”

From Galena to Lead: Divergent Paths in Early Metallurgy in the Western Mediterranean

“…Galena is found at archaeological sites from as early as the Middle Palaeolithic and there is evidence of its continued use until the Chalcolithic (~3000 BC) across wide geographically and culturally different areas, including North America (Walthall, 1981), Europe with special frequency in southern France (Baudais, Kramar and Gallay, 1990;Roscian, Claustre and Dietrich, 1992;Wyss, 1999, p.236;Convertini and Georjon, 2018), North Africa and the Near and Middle East as far as Pakistan (Jarrigue, 2008;Molist, et al, 2009;Bains, et al, 2013;Radivojević, et al, 2017;Çevik, et al, 2020;Charpentier, 2020). This confirms that it was a well-known mineral before its metallurgical use.…”