Beyond the Levant: first evidence of a pre-pottery Neolithic incursion into the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 19;8(7):e68061. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068061. Print 2013.

Abstract

Pre-Pottery Neolithic assemblages are best known from the fertile areas of the Mediterranean Levant. The archaeological site of Jebel Qattar 101 (JQ-101), at Jubbah in the southern part of the Nefud Desert of northern Saudi Arabia, contains a large collection of stone tools, adjacent to an Early Holocene palaeolake. The stone tool assemblage contains lithic types, including El-Khiam and Helwan projectile points, which are similar to those recorded in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B assemblages in the Fertile Crescent. Jebel Qattar lies ∼500 kilometres outside the previously identified geographic range of Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures. Technological analysis of the typologically diagnostic Jebel Qattar 101 projectile points indicates a unique strategy to manufacture the final forms, thereby raising the possibility of either direct migration of Levantine groups or the acculturation of mobile communities in Arabia. The discovery of the Early Holocene site of Jebel Qattar suggests that our view of the geographic distribution and character of Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures may be in need of revision.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeology*
  • Civilization*
  • Environment*
  • Humans
  • Saudi Arabia

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Geographic Society (to MDP), the Leakey Foundation (to MDP), the European Research Council (number 295719, to MDP), the Australian Research Council (to RGR and ZJ) and the Fondation Fyssen (‘Subvention de Recherche 2013’, to RC). The authors acknowledge the Australian Research Council for OSL sample collection and dating through laboratory analysis. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.