Doctoral Dissertation: Into Arabia: Exploring Early Upper Pleistocene Range Expansions Into Oman

Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Central Oman Pleistocene Research program (COPR) will be conducted by Jeffrey I. Rose under the supervision of Dr. Anthony E. Marks. This project, funded by an NSF dissertation improvement grant, will investigate the source and development of stone tool technologies in South Arabia during the Upper Pleistocene period (128,000-18,000 BP). It is during this time the first anatomically modern humans appear in Africa and rapidly disseminate throughout the globe. The COPR fieldwork will focus on excavating archaeological material within caves and rockshelters to obtain samples from undisturbed, buried deposits. Focusing on these well-preserved contexts will help establish a developmental sequence of lithic technology in this region. The study of stone tool manufacture in southern Arabia will help shed light on a region that is terra incognita in Middle Stone Age/Middle Palaeolithic research. Until recently, scholars have been prevented from studying this corridor of early human migration because of restrictive socio-political conditions. South Arabia is particularly important in that it may have served as the primary route of dispersal for the first anatomically modern humans expanding from Africa sometime during the Upper Pleistocene, as well as a marginal zone for hunter-gatherer range expansions during episodic wet phases. If hunter-gatherers did disperse from Africa during the Upper Pleistocene, it is likely there will be recognizable technological affinities along the corridor of migration. Understanding the nature of lithic industries in Oman will allow us to evaluate possible connections with East Africa, thus, testing an important facet of the 'Out-of-Africa' model of human origins. Recent work in the field of genetics has added credence to this hypothesis. Our research has the potential to add further corroboration by providing the first direct archaeological evidence for this expansion outside of Africa. By funding archaeological research in the Arabian Peninsula, this dissertation improvement grant has secondary, albeit important political consequences. The project will be a joint venture with the Omani Ministry of Heritage, and is planned as the first season of a long term project. Oman is unique among much of the Arab world in its support and encouragement of scientific research; therefore, COPR will serve to cultivate these values by providing training for Omani archaeologists in the field of Palaeolithic studies. In this politically sensitive time, it is vital to maintain cooperation and continue building bridges between the rifting worlds of Islam and the West.