Palaeolithic artefact deposits at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia; a multi-scalar geoarchaeological approach to building an interpretative framework

Abstract

Surface artefacts dominate the archaeological record of arid landscapes, particularly the Saharo-Arabian belt, a pivotal region in dispersals out of Africa. Discarded by hominins, these artefacts are key to understanding past landscape use and dispersals, yet behavioural interpretation of present-day artefact distributions cannot be carried out without understanding how geomorphological processes have controlled, and continue to control, artefact preservation, exposure and visibility at multiple scales.We employ a geoarchaeological approach to unravelling the formation of a surface assemblage of 2,970 Early and Middle Stone Age lithic artefacts at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia, the richest locality recorded to date in the southwestern Red Sea coastal region. Wadi Dabsa basin, within the volcanic Harrat Al Birk, contains extensive tufa deposits formed during wetter conditions. We employ regional landscape mapping and automatic classification of surface conditions using satellite imagery, field observations, local landform mapping, archaeological survey, excavation, and sedimentological analyses to develop a multi-scalar model of landscape evolution and geomorphological controls acting on artefact distributions in the basin. The main artefact assemblage is identified as a palimpsest of activity, actively forming on a deflating surface, a model with significant implications for future study and interpretation of this, and other, artefact surface assemblages.

Paleolithic artifact deposits at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia: A multiscalar geoarchaeological approach to building an interpretative framework

“…Samples for chronometric analysis were collected from tufa deposits (U‐Series dating, 234 U– 230 Th) and basalt flows (Argon–Argon dating, 40 Ar– 39 Ar) representative locations across the basin (locations reported in Inglis et al, ). The samples are currently undergoing analysis at the British Geological Survey, Keyworth, and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center, East Kilbride, respectively.…”

“…It contains a rich archaeological record covering potentially 1.8 million years (G. N. Bailey et al, ; Foulds et al, ; Inglis et al, ; Zarins et al, , ). The discovery of a dense accumulation of almost 3,000 lithic artifacts, predominantly Early Stone Age (ESA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) in character, associated with extensive tufa deposits at Wadi Dabsa in the volcanic Harrat al Birk, Asir Province (Foulds et al, ; Inglis et al, , ) represents the richest Paleolithic locality recorded to date in southwestern Saudi Arabia (Sinclair et al, 2018), offering a rare chance to examine ESA and MSA activity at different scales within a landscape that may have proved persistently attractive to hominins over an extended period of time. Research questions at Wadi Dabsa focus on examining the archaeological assemblage in its landscape context.…”