Südarabien während des Spätpleistozäns und Frühholozäns: Archäologie, Paläogenetik und Populationsdynamik

Abstract

Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) conducted on South Arabian populations reveal that a substantial portion of the present South Arabian gene pool derives from an indigenous population(s) that occupied the region prior to the Late Glacial Maximum. This paper superimposes this new genetic information with the known archaeological record. A variety of lithic technologies span the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of southern Arabia. The Middle Paleolithic of this region (~130.000 to 50.000 BP) is marked by different forms of Levallois point production. The Late Paleolithic (~15.000 to 8.000 BP) is characterized by blade-based core technologies, tanged projectile points, burins, endscrapers and pseudo-backed knifes. The Early Neolithic (~ 9.000 to 7.000 BP) represents an abrupt technological and typological break from the Late Paleolithic. In Dhofar, the Early Neolithic tool kit consists of a variety of pressure-retouched projectile points, a plethora of finely made endscrapers, sidescrapers, burins, perforators, and several different bifacial implements. This paper uses the current palaeogenetic and archaeological research to address two diverging models of settlement processes within Arabia. In summary, it is argued that the low frequency of ancestral mtDNA L3 markers indicates minimal genetic contribution from the Middle Palaeolithic peoples of southern Arabia. On the other hand, these data point to significant population continuity across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary; hence, favoring the existence of population refugia within the Arabian Peninsula.