Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’
Despite its largely hyper-arid and inhospitable climate today, the Arabian Peninsula is emerging as an important area for investigating Pleistocene hominin dispersals. Recently, a member of our own species was found in northern Arabia dating to c. 90 ka, while stone tools and fossil finds...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Springer Nature
2018
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| _version_ | 1826294391049814016 |
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| author | Roberts, P Stewart, M Alagaili, A Breeze, P Candy, I Drake, N Groucutt, H Scerri, E Lee-Thorp, J Louys, J Zalmout, I Al-Mufarreh, YSA Zech, J Alsharekh, A Omari, A Boivin, N Petraglia, M |
| author_facet | Roberts, P Stewart, M Alagaili, A Breeze, P Candy, I Drake, N Groucutt, H Scerri, E Lee-Thorp, J Louys, J Zalmout, I Al-Mufarreh, YSA Zech, J Alsharekh, A Omari, A Boivin, N Petraglia, M |
| author_sort | Roberts, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Despite its largely hyper-arid and inhospitable climate today, the Arabian Peninsula is emerging as an important area for investigating Pleistocene hominin dispersals. Recently, a member of our own species was found in northern Arabia dating to c. 90 ka, while stone tools and fossil finds have hinted at an earlier, Middle Pleistocene, hominin presence. However, there remain few direct insights into Pleistocene environments, and associated hominin adaptations, that accompanied the movement of populations into this region. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to fossil mammal tooth enamel (n=21) from the Middle Pleistocene locality of Ti’s al Ghadah in Saudi Arabia associated with newly-discovered lithics and probable cutmarks. The results demonstrate productive grasslands in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula c. 300-500 ka, as well as aridity levels similar to those found in open savanna settings in eastern Africa today. The association between this palaeoenvironmental information and the earliest traces for hominin activity in this part of the world lead us to argue that Middle Pleistocene hominin dispersal into the interior of the Arabian Peninsula required no major novel adaptation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:44:54Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:bf226f2c-ab08-433b-9355-fe436a4e8d51 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:44:54Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:bf226f2c-ab08-433b-9355-fe436a4e8d512022-03-27T05:45:22ZFossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:bf226f2c-ab08-433b-9355-fe436a4e8d51Symplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer Nature2018Roberts, PStewart, MAlagaili, ABreeze, PCandy, IDrake, NGroucutt, HScerri, ELee-Thorp, JLouys, JZalmout, IAl-Mufarreh, YSAZech, JAlsharekh, AOmari, ABoivin, NPetraglia, MDespite its largely hyper-arid and inhospitable climate today, the Arabian Peninsula is emerging as an important area for investigating Pleistocene hominin dispersals. Recently, a member of our own species was found in northern Arabia dating to c. 90 ka, while stone tools and fossil finds have hinted at an earlier, Middle Pleistocene, hominin presence. However, there remain few direct insights into Pleistocene environments, and associated hominin adaptations, that accompanied the movement of populations into this region. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to fossil mammal tooth enamel (n=21) from the Middle Pleistocene locality of Ti’s al Ghadah in Saudi Arabia associated with newly-discovered lithics and probable cutmarks. The results demonstrate productive grasslands in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula c. 300-500 ka, as well as aridity levels similar to those found in open savanna settings in eastern Africa today. The association between this palaeoenvironmental information and the earliest traces for hominin activity in this part of the world lead us to argue that Middle Pleistocene hominin dispersal into the interior of the Arabian Peninsula required no major novel adaptation. |
| spellingShingle | Roberts, P Stewart, M Alagaili, A Breeze, P Candy, I Drake, N Groucutt, H Scerri, E Lee-Thorp, J Louys, J Zalmout, I Al-Mufarreh, YSA Zech, J Alsharekh, A Omari, A Boivin, N Petraglia, M Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title | Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title_full | Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title_fullStr | Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title_short | Fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal Middle Pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in ‘Green Arabia’ |
| title_sort | fossil herbivore stable isotopes reveal middle pleistocene hominin palaeoenvironment in green arabia |
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