Conclusion: Progress Report on the State of Palaeolithic Research in Arabia

Abstract

Abstract. Over the past fifteen years, significant progress has been made in understanding the chronology and distribution of Palaeolithic sites throughout the Arabian Peninsula. As new data increase temporal and techno-cultural resolution, interregional studies are now able to compare Arabian Palaeolithic sites with neighboring regions such as the southern Levant and northeastern Africa. Today, we have a far more comprehensive picture of the variability of Middle Palaeolithic/Middle Stone Age sites and their distribution across the Arabian Peninsula. Recent research in neighboring regions such as the Syrian Plateau and the Negev Desert provide the opportunity for more accurate interregional syntheses. Although data on the Upper Palaeolithic are still meager, it is clear that Arabia was indeed occupied during this time and had developed some degree of cultural diversity, evidenced by the density and variety of blade industries spread across southern Arabia: from the Tihama Coast in Yemen to Sharjah in the UAE. Since the seminal workshop on Arabian Palaeolithic studies held in 2008, archaeologists have advanced from questioning the veracity of evidence of Palaeolithic occupation to debating its nuances such as local ecologies, multiple dispersals, cultural and biological admixture, and demographic refugia. Future research in the Arabian Peninsula faces the challenge of correlating stone tool “grammars” used by different researchers. Each team has brought their own background and analytical tradition, leading to a cacophony of methodologies and perspectives that are not always comparable and must still be resolved.