An Introduction to Human Prehistory in Arabia: The Lost World of the Southern Crescent (Springer Textbooks in Archaeology and Heritage)

This textbook explores the mystery of human origins in the Arabian Peninsula, the lost Southern Crescent where humanity took its first steps toward civilization. Under Arabia’s surface of sand and stone lies a primordial realm of rolling grasslands, freshwater lakes, and river floodplains. This book aims to restore a critical missing chapter in the prehistory of our species that played out in this forgotten place of plenty. The author has carried out more than twenty years of fieldwork in Yemen and Oman, weaving his research together into an unorthodox tapestry of archaeology, environmental science, genetics, and Middle Eastern mythology. This volume peers beneath Arabia’s abandoned deserts, revealing a land that once served as a bridge between prehistoric worlds. This textbook is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students as well as all readers who are interested in learning about Arabian prehistory. Preface Acknowledgments Contents About the Author Abbreviations List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction: The Lost World of the Southern Crescent 1.1 The Curious Ape 1.2 Giants in the Desert 1.3 Atlantis of the Sands References Chapter 2: The Time Before Time 2.1 Deep Time 2.2 Unearthing the Ice Ages 2.3 The Scientific Art of Prehistory 2.4 Telling Time in the Ice Ages 2.4.1 As Above, So Below 2.4.2 Marine Isotope Stages 2.4.3 Geologic Time References Chapter 3: Waxing and Waning of the Southern Crescent 3.1 Indian Ocean Monsoon 3.2 Environmental Proxy Signals 3.2.1 Speleothems 3.2.2 Cave Sediments 3.2.3 Wadis and Gravel Plains 3.2.4 Inland Basins 3.2.5 Dune Fields 3.2.6 Shorelines 3.3 Biogeography 3.3.1 Flora 3.3.2 Fauna 3.4 Systems Theory References Chapter 4: Studying Stone in the Stone Ages 4.1 Flintknapping 4.2 Lithic Analysis 4.2.1 Anatomy of an Assemblage 4.2.2 Attribute Analysis 4.3 Into the Mind of the Maker 4.4 Timeline of Technology References Chapter 5: Turtles All the Way Down 5.1 The Theory of Evolution 5.2 Of Monkeys and Men References Chapter 6: Roots of the Human Tree (3.3 Ma – 300 Ka) 6.1 Handy Humans 6.1.1 Toolmaking, Brain Size, and Subsistence 6.1.2 Landscape Bias 6.1.3 One Giant Leap 6.2 Homo Erectus 6.2.1 Creativity 6.2.2 Into Arabia 6.3 Homo Heidelbergensis 6.3.1 Ignition 6.3.2 Arabian Acheulean References Chapter 7: Becoming Human (300–100 Ka) 7.1 The Nascence of Us 7.1.1 Seeds of Modernity 7.1.2 Chin-Up and Head High 7.2 Brain Power 7.2.1 Symbolism 7.2.2 Individualism 7.3 Lower-Middle Palaeolithic Transition 7.4 Late Middle Pleistocene in Arabia References Chapter 8: Cauldron of Genes (130–70 Ka) 8.1 Middle Earth 8.2 Archaeogenetics 8.2.1 Non-recombining DNA 8.2.2 Passage de l’amour 8.3 The Arabian Menschenpumpe 8.3.1 Nubian Technocomplex 8.3.2 The Fertile Circle References Chapter 9: Out of Arabia (70–50 Ka) 9.1 The Great Human Bottleneck 9.2 Middle-Upper Palaeolithic Transition References Chapter 10: Seeking Solace (50–12 Ka) 10.1 The Last Ice Age 10.1.1 Shadow of a Forgotten Ancestor 10.1.2 In Refugia 10.2 The Last Glacial Maximum 10.2.1 Waning Crescent 10.2.2 South Arabian Upper Palaeolithic 10.3 The Well-Watered Garden References Chapter 11: Lands of Legend (12–6 Ka) 11.1 Deglaciation 11.2 Under Arabian Sands 11.2.1 Arrowheads in the Corrupted Sands 11.2.2 Cattle and Children 11.3 Apotheosis 11.3.1 Forbidden Fruit 11.3.2 Demon of the Southern Wind 11.3.3 Days of Misfortune References Chapter 12: Epilogue: One Million and One Arabian Nights 12.1 Ideas Harder than Stone 12.2 Code of Culture References Glossary