The dynamics of mangrove ecosystems, changes in sea level and the strategies of Neolithic settlements along the coast of Oman (6000–3000 cal. BC)

In Oman, the presence of highly productive marine environments, coupled with relatively limited land resources, have led to intense exploitation of coastal resources, but the question of the seasonality of occupation of coastal sites remains open. Our aim is to evaluate the contribution of marine resources to the diet of the Neolithic population of Ra's al-Hamra 5 (RH-5) to shed new light on its mobility, using stable isotopes and radiocarbon ((14)C) dating as dietary tracers. Charcoal, shell, human bone and enamel apatite from eight contemporary graves were sampled. Graves are thought to provide the best chance to obtain marine and terrestrial remains that were contemporary with the human remains in order to calculate the marine reservoir effect (MRE) for this period. Inter-individual variation in human bone apatite δ(13)C value is small, suggesting a homogenous diet. Bone apatite (14)C ages are very close to the shell ages while enamel is significantly younger and plots near the charcoal ages. Older enamel ages were obtained when a stronger acetic treatment was used, demonstrating that the young ages are due to diagenetic alteration rather than a diachronic change in diet and that only bone apatite retained in vivo dietary signals. Bone ages indicate a heavy reliance on marine resources and it is therefore unlikely that the individuals analyzed here were leaving the coast seasonally, although mobility along the coast cannot be excluded.

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“…Am J Phys Anthropol 153:353-364, 2014. Inter-individual variation in human bone apatite d 13 C value is small, suggesting a homogenous diet.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet and mobility in a late neolithic population of coastal oman inferred from radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis

Zazzo

Muñoz

Saliège

2013

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…For these first periods of the occupation (1 and 2a), the climate and environment were strongly connected to the monsoon phenomenon, with summer rains blocked by northwest winds (Fleitmann et al, 2007). They correspond to phase B of the environmental chronology, in which studies revealed the existence of a sandy terrace at the base of the settlement (Berger, Davtian, & Cleuziou, 2005;Berger et al, 2013). No mangroves were identified for phase A, but during phase B, because of the ever-increasing high sea level at the time, palaeo-mangroves were noted at Suwayh and at other places along the coast (e.g.…”

Section: Chronology and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The occupation period of the SWY-1 site took place at the end of the Holocene humid period (8500-4000 BC) (Berger et al, 2013;Fleitmann et al, 2007;Lézine et al, 2002). We based our environmental approach on the division proposed by Berger et al (2013), and will refer to it throughout this study (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Chronology and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…BC after simulation at 9 m by GIS (Teledetection and reclassification in five geomorphic units of a Landsat Satellite image of the Ash Sharqiyah coast). c Landsat Satellite image of the Suwayh sabkha area with the main Neolithic shell middens and the geological cores and trenches discussed in this study (modified from Berger et al, 2013; GIS simulations performed by G. Davtian, UMR CEPAM Nice, France). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] Zazzo et al, 2016;Zazzo, Munoz, & Saliège, 2014), these sites are now considered to be year-long rather than seasonal occupations.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Sharks in the lagoon? Fishing exploitation at the Neolithic site of Suwayh 1 (Ash Sharqiyah region, Arabian Sea, Sultanate of Oman)

Marrast

Béarez

Charpentier

2019

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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The study of the fish bones from the Neolithic shell midden of Suwayh 1, excavated in the 2000s, identified a total of 1060 identifiable fish bones, from 23 families, 33 genera and 28 different species. Radiocarbon dating demonstrates that the sites date to the early 6th to mid 5th millennium BC. The results follow an eight‐phase chronology highlighted by an earlier malacological study. The most important taxa were the Carcharhinidae (requiem shark), Rhinopteridae (cownose rays), Sparoidea (Sparidae and Lethrinidae: sea breams and emperors) and Ariidae (sea catfishes). The results of the fish study show that the Suwayh lagoon must have gradually opened up to the sea and been populated with mangroves. The unique presence of so many sharks at this site seems to indicate that the inhabitants had a special interest in shark fishing and that their location was ideal for this specialised activity. Two types of fishing nets and hooks have been discovered, which require the use of different fishing techniques.

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“…The discovery of shell middens around the shores of Lake Siranda is of major importance because it helps us define the geographic and environmental characteristics of some traits of the coastal landscape settled by the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of the northwestern corner of the Indian Ocean and compare it with the information available from other regions of the Arabian Sea, Oman, for example (Berger et al, 2013). In both countries the Neolithic coastal peopling seems to have followed the same trend, with fisher-gatherers exploiting well-developed mangrove environments along the shores of lagoons that started to dissect just after the retreat of the ocean waters that took place in the Bronze Age.…”

Section: Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shell Middens of the Coast of Balochistan

Biagi¹

2014

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

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The dynamics of mangrove ecosystems, changes in sea level and the strategies of Neolithic settlements along the coast of Oman (6000–3000 cal. BC)

Cited by 58 publications

References 38 publications

Diet and mobility in a late neolithic population of coastal oman inferred from radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis

Diet and mobility in a late neolithic population of coastal oman inferred from radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis

Sharks in the lagoon? Fishing exploitation at the Neolithic site of Suwayh 1 (Ash Sharqiyah region, Arabian Sea, Sultanate of Oman)

Shell Middens of the Coast of Balochistan

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