Saudi Arabia and Indonesia call for immediate end to Gaza catastrophe Private sector companies sign pacts worth $27 billion during visit of President Prabowo    Prince Faisal and Marco Rubio discuss over phone regional situation    Saudi Arabia and Indonesia agree to bolster bilateral ties Crown Prince and President Subianto chair first meeting of Saudi-Indonesian Supreme Coordination Council    Number of Sakani platform users exceeds 4.6 million by first half of 2025    International visitors spend nearly SR50 billion in Saudi Arabia during 1Q 2025    Saudi Arabia condemns calls for imposing Israeli sovereignty over occupied West Bank    Lacazette joins NEOM SC as Saudi Pro League newcomers boost attack with French star    Al Hilal sign Abderrazak Hamdallah on loan for Club World Cup push    Trump says Israel has agreed on terms for 60-day ceasefire in Gaza    New evidence suggests Russian forces shot down Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243    Iran's president halts cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog, reports say    Commerce Ministry recalls over 88,000 Anker portable chargers over fire risk    Elm, One sign MoU to enhance strategic partnership and support local content in communications and marketing sector    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Saudi FM receives message from Iranian counterpart    Inzaghi hails 'historic' Al Hilal win over Man City: We climbed a mountain with no oxygen    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    Al Hilal stun Manchester City in seven-goal thriller to reach Club World Cup quarterfinals    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Historic Jeddah's visual identity re-imagined through global art installations at Al-Arbaeen Lagoon    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Heritage Commission and German Max Planck Institute Declare: New Archaeological Sites date to ca. 350,000 years in the vicinity of Nefud, Hail
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 12 - 05 - 2021

In an article titled "The expansion of Acheulean hominins into the Nefud Desert of Arabia" published in the Nature Scientific Report, a new discovery has revealed the first dated Acheulean site—the site of An Nasim, in the region of Hail, north of Saudi Arabia, including paleoenvironmental evidence for an associated deep, probably fresh-water lake, as well as geomorphological, and palaeoecological features associated with Middle Pleistocene materials.
The recent results of the paleoenvironmental and archaeological surveys of the Green Arabian Project (GAP), which started 10 years ago, confirmed that the Arabian Peninsula experienced climatic shifts during the Pleistocene that produced wetter conditions, affecting the distribution of humans both within and between continents. This is particularly true of Acheulean communities, who appear more tethered to water sources than Middle Palaeolithic ones.
An Nasim represents one of the oldest documented Acheulean sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, revealing regionally diverse stone tool assemblages used by Middle Pleistocene man, probably indicate repeated population re-entry into the peninsula in wet' Green Arabia' phases. The site comprises a deep, narrow basin with outcrops visible in the central part where several Lower Palaeolithic artefacts were recovered. Approximately 354 artefacts were collected, primarily handaxes, together with various flakes. The survey showed that archaeological materials are closely associated with the dry lake.
The article mentions that the discovered lithic tools are similar to those previously found at the Acheulean sites in the Nefud Desert. Some flaked pieces indicate that the raw material was brought to the site, some were discarded after having been tested, as other pieces were very roughly shaped before being abandoned.
The broader surveys in the Nefud Desert indicate that this local quartzite was frequently used at other undated Acheulean assemblages, including handaxes diverse in form, ranging from ovate to cordiform and triangular forms, and variable in size, as at other Acheulean sites in Nefud Desert.
The Acheulean assemblage at An Nasim is late Middle Pleistocene in age, dating to between approximately 350,000 to 250,000 years, likely corresponding with the MIS 9 interglacial, when palaeolake formation was seemingly widespread in the Nefud Desert.
The similarity between the Acheulean material from An Nasim and other undated Acheulean sites in the Nefud Desert indicates that the paleolakes of this region provided an important corridor for man expansions and a viable habitation network for man and other mammals. The presence of diverse, small to large mammals, is evident at interglacial palaeolakes in the Nefud, indicating the expansions of animals into the region during wet phases and illustrating the availability of fauna as dietary resources at watering holes.
With participating Saudi experts, the Heritage Commission has been working on the completion of the scientific program the Green Arabian Project (GAP) in collaboration with their counterparts from Max Planck Institute for Human Development, which focuses on tracking back and studying the climate changes in the Arabian Peninsula over time, and between the beginning of man settlement and immigrations from ancient continents into the Arabia. The results of previous studies and investigations of the GAP show presence of hundreds of paleolakes, rivers and forests, along with the animals, around which emerged several successive civilizations due to the mild climate at that time.
In 2020's final quarter, the Heritage Commission disclosed traces of footprints of human, elephants, camels, and predatory animals discovered at a dry paleolake dating more than 120,000 years, in Tabuk. This discovery is considered the first scientific evidence of oldest footprints of man and animals in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Heritage Commission seeks, through "the Green Arabia Project" to carry out intensive surveys and systematic excavations to identify and gain insight into the ancient climatic conditions, nature of the prevailing paleoenvironment in Arabia, as well as human movements within the scope of the Heritage Commission's efforts to excavate, preserve and promote the archaeological sites as part of the Saudi Vision 2030.


Clic here to read the story from its source.