Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures pp 1–5Cite as

Stone Technology in Arabia

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

The Importance of Arabia in Prehistory

Prehistoric research in the Arabian Peninsula is in its infancy, and it has long been treated as an empty spot on the archaeological world map. While information about Arabian prehistory is still relatively scarce, archaeological sites are, in fact, abundant. Archaeological sites are found in many places across Arabia, usually represented by stone tool industries. Arabia is a key geographic zone of the Old World, as it lies at the crossroads of three continents: Africa, Europe, and Asia. The Peninsula therefore plays a leading role for studying the worldwide expansion of early humans.

Archaeological surveys have been carried out in Arabia for more than half a century, revealing the existence of prehistoric sites spanning over a long time period, some perhaps extending back to more than one million years ago. Stone tools (also called lithics) represent the main kind of material objects found in archaeological sites. Based on the typology of stone...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Armitage, S., Jasim, S., Marks, A. E., Parker, A., Usik, V. I., & Uerpmann, H.-P. (2011). The southern route “Out of Africa”: Evidence for an early expansion of modern humans into Arabia. Science, 331, 453–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charpentier, V., & Crassard, R. (2013). Back to Fasad… and the PPNB controversy. Questioning a Levantine origin for Arabian Early Holocene projectile points technology. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 24(1), 28–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crassard, R. (2008). La Préhistoire du Yémen. Diffusions et diversités locales, à travers l’étude d’industries lithiques du Hadramawt (British Archaeological Reports International Series, Vol. 1842). Oxford, UK: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crassard, R., & Drechsler, P. (2013). Towards new paradigms: Multiple pathways for the Arabian Neolithic. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 24(1), 3–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crassard, R., & Hilbert, Y. H. (2013). A Nubian Complex site from central Arabia: Implications for Levallois taxonomy and human dispersals during the Upper Pleistocene. PLoS ONE, 8(7), e69221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crassard, R., Petraglia, M. D., Drake, N. A., Breeze, P., Gratuze, B., Alsharekh, A., et al. (2013). Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic occupations around Mundafan Palaeolake, Saudi Arabia: Implications for climate change and human dispersals. PLoS ONE, 8(7), e69665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delagnes, A., Tribolo, C., Bertran, P., Brenet, M., Crassard, R., Jaubert, J., et al. (2012). Inland human settlement in southern Arabia 55,000 years ago. New evidence from the Wadi Surdud Middle Paleolithic site complex, western Yemen. Journal of Human Evolution, 63(3), 452–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groucutt, H. S., & Petraglia, M. D. (2012). The prehistory of the Arabian peninsula: Deserts, dispersals, and demography. Evolutionary Anthropology, 21(3), 113–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilbert, Y. H. (2014). Khashabian, a Late Paleolithic industry from Dhofar, southern Oman (British Archaeological Reports International Series, Vol. 2601). Oxford, UK: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petraglia, M. D., Alsharekh, A., Breeze, P., Clarkson, C., Crassard, R., Drake, N., et al. (2012). Hominin dispersal into the Nefud Desert and Middle Palaeolithic settlement along the Jubbah palaeolake, northern Arabia. PLoS ONE, 7(11), e49840.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, J. I., Usik, V. I., Marks, A. E., Hilbert, Y. H., Galletti, C., Parton, A., et al. (2011). The Nubian Complex of Dhofar, Oman: An African Middle Stone Age industry in southern Arabia. PLoS ONE, 6(11), e28239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 5133 ‘Archeorient’, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon, France

    Rémy Crassard

  2. School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Michael Petraglia

Authors
  1. Rémy Crassard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Petraglia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rémy Crassard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Helaine Selin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this entry

Cite this entry

Crassard, R., Petraglia, M. (2014). Stone Technology in Arabia. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10043-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10043-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-3934-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation