Monumental landscapes of the Holocene humid period in Northern Arabia: The mustatil phenomenon.

ABSTRACT: Between 10 and six thousand years ago the Arabian Peninsula saw the most recent of the 'Green Arabia' periods, when increased rainfall transformed this generally arid region. The transition to the Neolithic in Arabia occurred during this period of climatic amelioration. Various forms of stone structures are abundant in northern Arabia, and it has been speculated that some of these dated to the Neolithic, but there has been little research on their character and chronology. Here we report a study of 104 'mustatil' stone structures from the southern margins of the Nefud Desert in northern Arabia. We provide the first chronometric age estimate for this type of structure - a radiocarbon date of ca. 5000 BC - and describe their landscape positions, architecture and associated material culture a

SUBMITTER: Groucutt HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7575307 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature