The role of wild terrestrial animals in late prehistoric societies of south‐eastern Arabia: new insights from Saruq al‐Hadid

Abstract

The nature of the relationship between humans and wild terrestrial animals has been little discussed in Bronze Age and Iron Age south-eastern Arabia, largely due to a relative paucity of their remains in contemporary faunal assemblages. In this paper we present the results of analysis of animal bone recently excavated from Saruq al-Hadid, a late prehistoric (2200-800 BC) site located in the desert interior of the UAE. Wild terrestrial animals, particularly oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and gazelle (Gazella sp.), were the predominant taxa identified, suggesting longterm, frequent exploitation of these species. Here we use these remains to examine the implications of this wild animal exploitation for subsistence strategies and social formation at the site and in the region, alongside late prehistoric use of the desert zone and the complexities of the relationship between humans and wild animals that occur in this environment. A reassessment of the zooarchaeological evidence from south-eastern Arabia highlights the potential economic and social significance of wild animals to late prehistoric societies in the region, and the necessity to factor this importance into considerations of concurrent social developments. K E Y W O R D SBronze Age, Iron Age, Saruq al-Hadid, south-eastern Arabia, wild animals, zooarchaeology

The exploitation of marine resources at Saruq al‐Hadid: Insights into the movement of people and resources in Bronze and Iron Age south‐eastern Arabia

“…Based upon the quantification methods employed in the analysis of this assemblage, we suggest that marine vertebrates were a significant component of the subsistence strategy employed at Saruq al‐Hadid, alongside wild animals local to the site (e.g. oryx and gazelle; Roberts et al, ) and domestic sheep and goat. The significance of fish derives not from their calorific contribution to the diet at Saruq al‐Hadid—which may indeed have been relatively small—but from the continuous presence of marine animals in the site assemblage throughout its occupation, regardless of the contribution of their meat to the diet.…”

“…As mentioned briefly above, the existence of such an exchange network during the Bronze Age in the region was suggested by Cleuziou (), who speculated that fish from the coastal region may have been exchanged with copper from the ore sources that exist in the mountains of the interior. While there are no such copper sources local to Saruq al‐Hadid, other resources, such as the meat from hunted wild terrestrial animals, may have been exchanged with coastal or piedmont sites (Roberts et al, ). A discussion of the Bronze Age animal economy of south‐eastern Arabia identified potential evidence for the movement of resources from the inland region to the coast, but no direct evidence for the movement of goods in the other direction (Uerpmann & Uerpmann, : 482).…”

“…Of the remains that could be securely associated with one of the five archaeological horizons at the site, 8785 fragments of bone (29.5% of total NISP) were classified as marine species (Tables and ). The remains of the other species identified at Saruq al‐Hadid are discussed elsewhere (Roberts, forthcoming; Roberts et al, , forthcoming). An observable trend in the wider assemblage should be addressed here.…”

“…lizards and rodents) into these later horizons and the intrusive deposition of large numbers of their remains into archaeological contexts, effectively lowering the relative proportion of marine remains. The taphonomic processes affecting site formation at Saruq al‐Hadid, and the nature of the faunal assemblage, are described in further detail elsewhere (Roberts et al, , forthcoming; Weeks et al, ).…”

Dating Persistent Short-Term Human Activity in a Complex Depositional Environment: Late Prehistoric Occupation at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai

“…Archaeological deposits at Saruq al-Hadid cover an area of more than 1 square kilometer within the mobile dunes of the northeastern extension of the Rub' al-Khali desert and-based on artifact typologies-attest to long-term, persistent, temporary use by human groups from the Neolithic period through to the relatively recent past. This use clearly changed through time: early activities focused on the exploitation of local wild animal resources and the presence of seasonal grazing for domestic herds (Roberts et al 2018); later occupations are characterized by increased craft activity-likely incorporating the production of metal, bone, shell and wood artifacts-in contexts of apparent ritual activity and deposition and involving the interaction of members of multiple communities (Karacic et al 2017;Weeks et al 2018). The latest periods of use of the site include the "scavenging" and recycling of earlier ferrous metal remains (Stepanov et al 2019), as well as copper smelting on a significant scale (Weeks et al 2017) and later, historically and archaeologically documented seasonal occupation by modern mobile groups (e.g., Wilkinson 1977;Contreras Rodrigo et al 2017: Fig.…”