The Wa'shah method: an original laminar debitage from Hadramawt, Yemen (2025)

Jebel Kareem (TH.68): Techno-Typological characteristics of a distinctive lithic assemblage from Dhofar, southern Oman

Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2019

The lithic sample from TH.68 in Southern Oman is characterised by a set of techno- typological features: (a) the variety of blank production strategies employed to pro- duce flakes, blades and bladelets; (b) the level of standardisation of tools, including backed bladelets, end scrapers, burins on truncation, unifacial and bifacial plano- convex points, etc.; and (c) a previously unknown technique that produced specific flakes presenting uniform morphological traits and high incidence of retouch. Here a comprehensive account of the lithic production systems employed by prehistoric human bands and the formal retouched tools that they made is provided.

The lithic industry of Wadi Shab, a Middle Holocene site on the Coast of Oman

Survey of Prehistoric Sites in Mahra, Eastern Yemen

Adumatu, 2002

A recent survey in the governorate of Mahra, Yemen produced surface collections of lithic artifacts rich in bifacial tools and blades. Technological analysis of the Mahra collection suggests a simple blade industry unrelated to the Upper Palaeolithic blade traditions found in the deserts of the northern Arabian Peninsula. A large percentage of the Mahra assemblage consists of specialized bifacial tools characterized as plano-keeled naviforms. Correlates to these tool types have been discovered throughout Oman. It is suggested the artifacts are associated with an Early/Middle Holocene wet phase lasting from 10,000 to 5,000 BP.

The "Upper Palaeolithic" of South Arabia

Technological and functional analysis of Upper Palaeolithic backed micro-blades from southern Oman

Quartär, 2022

While a considerable amount of information on the Pleistocene human occupation of South Arabia has been gathered by archaeologists over the course of the last decades, little is known about the Upper Palaeolithic period and its local specificities. This is evidently a function of the still poor archaeological record for this period and the difficulties in finding stratified and therefore datable occurrences in general. Here, we present the traceological and technological analysis of the stone tools from one of the few archaeological sites in Oman dating between 33,000 to 30,000 years ago, which has yielded a small but important assemblage of backed tools initially suggested to be projectiles. The bi-pointed backed micro-blades from Mutafah 1 share specific technological and morphological features making it germane to suggest comparable operational sequences for the manufacture of these pieces. Our analysis, which identified specific traces of use related to both hunting and domestic activities, as well as microscopic residues on the backed micro-blades, indicates that the Mutafah 1 tools were part of a toolkit with wide applications reflecting the highly opportunistic nature of the Upper Palaeolithic human occupation of South Arabia.

Backed pieces at Sharbithat SHA-10 (Sultanate of Oman): technological issues and chronological assessment

Documenta Praehistorica, 2024

Sharbithat 10 (SHA-10) was discovered in 2017 during the first extensive survey of the northern part of the Dhofar region. Located on a vast mesa surrounded by wadi deltaic branches and abundant sources of flint, SHA-10 is characterized by flint scatters, dwellings, and cairns. Initial test trenches revealed a single period stratification sequence, highlighting a rich marine faunal composition and intense flintknapping activity. The fishing equipment, typical of coastal sites from this period, accompanies a distinctive lithic industry comprising blades, backed pieces, and tanged points. Through the study of technological processes leading to the manufacture of these artefacts, analysis of the points’ morphological variability, and examination of the prevalence of backed bladelets, new hypotheses regarding coastal subsistence strategies and chronological issues have emerged. However, the potential co-occurrence of different facies complicates a chronological definition which can be partly clarified by radiocarbon data results. In this communication, we present a preliminary study of this unique assemblage, discuss its chrono- typological implications, and explore their significance within the framework of South Arabian prehistory.

Bidirectional blade technology on naviform cores from northern Arabia: New evidence of Arabian‐Levantine interactions in the Neolithic

Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2020

Discovered in March 2015, the sites of DAJ‐112 and DAJ‐125 in the Al‐Jawf province of northern Saudi Arabia consist of a large collection of surface lithic artefacts that can be compared to well‐known Pre‐Pottery Neolithic (PPN) B technology from the Levant: the two sites include bidirectional blade technology with naviform core preparation and opposed platforms surface exploitation, as well as burin production at a wide scale. Other surface scatters have been identified during the 2013 and 2015 surveys, showing these two sites are not isolated in Al‐Jawf, as rather important occurrences of Early Holocene technology have been identified across the region. Although the sites from Al‐Jawf are surface occurrences and not radiometrically dated, the finds have proven to be extremely significant, representing a southward incursion of classic naviform cores‐based technology, thus expanding the geographical distribution of this technology beyond the Levant. By addressing the lithic evidence from northern Arabia, the expansion and/or influence of PPN populations and cultural elements will be discussed.

A bladelet industry in southwestern Saudi Arabia

Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2001

Technology of striking platform preparation on lithic debitage from Wadi Aghar , southern Jordan, and its relevance to the Initial Upper Palaeolithic technology in the Levant

Papers from the forty-third meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 23-25 July 2009 || A possible Upper Palaeolithic and Early Holocene flint scatter at Raʾs ʿUshayriq, western Qatar

2010

Researchers from the MARES Project visited Yemen in February 2009 in order to investigate the building and use of traditional wooden boats ("dhows" in English) in the country. The survey covered the coastline from Aden to al-Salīf in the Red Sea, and visited centres of dhow building and use, including Ghurayrah (Ghureira), al-Mukhā (Mocha), and al-Khawkhah (Khokha). The project's aim was to assess the state of the industry, establish a vessel typology, understand construction processes, learn about the use of these vessels, and compile a lexicon of boatbuilding and nautical terms. This article offers the preliminary findings of the survey, pending more comprehensive publication in the future. The survey found that, in all locations visited, the building of new vessels had rapidly diminished in the preceding decade, and has now all but ceased. The only ongoing activity witnessed during the survey was repairs to existing wooden craft. In formerly large boatbuilding centres, builders of wooden boats, mostly elderly, have ceased work, while younger men were building fishing craft using fibreglass -the material used in the great majority of vessels in Yemen today. A preliminary typology of surviving vessels was established. The double-ended cargo-carrying zaΚāyim (sg. zāΚīmah) and zawārīk (sg. zārūk) were recorded only as abandoned hulks. Double-ended Κabārī (sg. Κobrī) and the transom-sterned "large hūrī" (pl. hawārī), with its stern-quarter "fins", continued to be used in small numbers for seine fishing and transporting livestock. Again, most examples were abandoned. Various forms of small log and plank hūrī "canoes" were observed, few still in use, while the log-raft ramas survives on the Red Sea coast. The terms used for these vessel types form part of a linguistic survey of dhow activity in Yemen.