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The production and use of shell tools has been reported from the Neolithic (c. 6500–3300 BCE) to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1300 BCE) – or the Early Iron Age c. 1300–1000 BCE) – along the eastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula. The latter are described as large bivalve shells whose ventral margin has been retouched. However, to date, no functional analysis has been performed to understand the use of these unusual tools, despite the recognised importance of marine resources in the cultural development of Protohistoric societies in this region. This paper, therefore, aims to present the findings of a large number of worked shell valves collected from excavations at Neolithic sites in the Umm al-Quwain area in the Northern United Arab Emirates, over the past 20 years. It introduces the first functional study of shell tools in the Arabian Peninsula and contributes to the knowledge of techno-cultural processes among the Neolithic coastal communities of this area.

The Neolithic in Southern Arabia has always shown unique traits that followed an autonomous path, different from the Northern Arabian region and the Levant. Its chronological framework is still under construction, but the systematic research occurring in Oman unveils a complex picture of moving populations developing specific solutions to various environmental conditions. This paper shows the results of an intensive survey carried out on the coastal trait around the village of Sharbithat (Sharbithāt), which refines the cultural chronology of the vastly unexplored area at the turn of Al-Wusta/Dhofar Governorate in southern Oman. Characterised by 14 km of shoreline enclosed in a limestone massif, Sharbithat is dotted by vast mesas surrounded by wadi deltaic branches and abundant flint sources. Most terraces are inhabited today and covered up with flint scatters, dwellings, and cairns. A sequence of preliminary test trenches to assess the stratigraphy of Sharbithat SHA-10B indicated a precise chronological frame. Indeed, the sites on this mesa show a single period stratification sequence, a rich marine faunal composition and intense flintknapping activity. A peculiar lithic industry consisting of lunates, backed pieces, and tanged points characterise this Late Neolithic site (4th mill. BCE), in contrast with the Middle Neolithic sites (as SHA-4, 6th mill. BCE), which are fully dedicated to the production of bifacial foliates and trihedral projectile points. Based on the study of the technological processes that led to the manufacture of such artefacts, new hypotheses on coastal subsistence strategies and chronological issues have risen. With the present article, we introduce the first study of this area, the chrono-typological implications, and their relevance in the framework of South Arabian prehistory.

Abstract.: Pollen and micropalaeontological analyses carried out on mangrove swamp sediments of Suwayh, Oman (22°05.589'N, 50°40.033'E) reveal environmental changes linked both to climate (monsoon) and geomorphological (sea-level) variations during the Late Holocene. A Rhizophora mangrove developed at Suwayh around 6000 years B. P. under climate conditions marked by an increased tropical influence as compared to the modern situation, with dominant summer rains. The later extension of Prosopis cineraria at Suwayh provides evidence for a different rainfall pattern, with a winter rainy season. Pollen and micropalaeontological composition shows three episodes influenced by the sea water at Suwayh. The most important corresponded to the mangrove episode centred ca 6000 B. P. This was followed by two episodes of slight seawater incursion at ca. 5100 and 4500 B. P. responsible for the formation of a brackish laagon. Comparison based on 14C measurements on shell recovered from both the sedimentary sequence of Suwayh and the nearby archaeological sites demonstrates that close relations existed between man and mangroves during the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.

ABSTRACTFluting is a technical process used to thin bifacial projectile points. This operation, which requires a high level of skill, was until now considered as exclusively characteristic of American prehistoric industries, where it nearly always applies to the base of the projectile. The occurrence of this process has recently been documented in the Old World, on certain Neolithic points of Arabia (Oman Sultanate and Yemen). In this region, fluting bears only on the tip of the projectile, and it seems to be an original cultural marker of these Neolithic societies of southern Arabia.

This paper discusses the results of a new geo-archaeological study on the nephrite (jade) axes discovered in southern Oman (Dhofar Governorate). The research presents a first account of the geological composition and the morphological structure of such tools and it outlines a preliminary distribution network of jade axe-heads across Southern Arabia. After the discovery of the first analysed sample at Shaqat Jadailah SQJ-3, in the Rub’ al-Khali Desert (Dhofar), four other archaeological axe-adze samples collected from southern Oman, were analysed using micro-Raman Spectroscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF). We compared the analysed samples to other nephrite axes collected in the first pioneering exploration of Gertrude Caton-Thompson (Yemen) and Wilfred Thesiger (South Oman). These objects were then correlated with nephrite raw material from the basement exposures in Yemen. Available data show that the raw material originating in Yemen reached the Neolithic groups of Southern Rub’ al-Khali and coastal Dhofar most likely during the 6th-5th millennium BC, following a similar path to the obsidian route. The colour, texture and composition, together with the presence of other classes of lithic artefacts such as the trihedral projectile points, indicate that during this period Southern Oman was fully integrated into long-distance exchange networks. The analysis of the collected samples show that they are made exclusively from nephrite, and not from other general “green stones”. Considering the high hardness and toughness of the nephrite, this fact allows the hypothesis of a deliberate choice in the selection of raw material for its durability or prestige value.

•Luminescence dating was conducted on archaeological and palaeoenvironmental contexts.•Sediments sampled from shell middens and from the current sabkhas were analysed.•Human occupation during the Neolithic spans the seventh to fourth millennia BC.•The formation of the lagoon/mangrove occurred around ~5900–4700 years ago.•Ages allow to correlate the Neolithic occupation with palaeoenvironmental records.