Gazetteer of small‐scale monuments in prehistoric Hadramawt,Yemen: a radiocarbon chronology from the RASA‐AHSD Project research 1996–2008

This paper provides a new, interpretive gazetteer and chronology of Hadramawt’s highland monuments based on results from archaeological survey and test excavations by the RASA‐AHSD (Roots of Agriculture in southern Arabia‐Arabian Human Social Dynamics) Project. With the exception of a few incidental sightings and an unpublished pipeline survey, the prehistoric record of southern Yemen’s highland plateau has been largely unknown. There are few settlements, so that understanding human landscape history must begin with the numerous small‐scale stone monuments left by mobile people. With examples representing monuments from the fifth, fourth, third and first millennia BC, the corpus of small excavations and radiocarbon dates reported here provides the first guide to the monument types of South Arabian highlands. Monument building began under more moist conditions and appears to have commemorated animal sacrifices long before commemorating mortuary rites and interment. There appears to be a temporal break of 1000 years before the widespread and varied practices of Bronze Age tomb construction, which lasted through the third millennium BC. After another break in monument construction, tombs were reused in the first millennium BC, sometimes with successive ritual visits. The data presented offer new material for the interpretation of the lives and activities of prehistoric pastoralists throughout the Holocene.     

The Farasan Islands,Saudi Arabia: towards a chronology of settlement

An archaeological survey of Saudi Arabia's Farasan Islands in May 2010 recorded a broad range of sites that have not previously been documented. The survey concentrated on Greater Farasan and Segid islands, and comprised a rapid recording of sites shown to the authors by representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. The sites were photographed, their positions logged, sketch drawings made of the principal features and surface pottery drawn and photographed. Detailed drawings were made of a stone anchor and a well with possible Ancient South Arabian carved decoration. The sites visited included settlements, wells, cemeteries and a cave. Several sites included the remains of buildings made of massive ashlar blocks, as well as others of rubble‐stone construction. Datable material at the sites points to several periods of occupation, from the early first millennium BC to early modern times. Some locations were characterised by long periods of settlement. Apart from the findings of this survey, most of the sites remain largely uninvestigated, and suggest significant potential for future research into settlement on the archipelago, as well as into past maritime activity and technology in the southern Red Sea region and beyond.     

Reconsidering Yeha,c. 800–400 BC

Yeha, in Tigray, is the most impressive site with evidence for South Arabian influence dating to the first millennium BC in the northern Horn of Africa (Eritrea and northern Ethiopia). The evidence from this site was used to identify a ‘Pre-Aksumite’ or ‘Ethiopian-Sabean’ Period (mid-first millennium BC) when an early Afro-Arabian state apparently arose in the region. A ‘Pre-Aksumite Culture’, characterised by South Arabian elements, was also suggested as a distinctive archaeological culture in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, recent fieldwork in these countries suggests that a Pre-Aksumite culture actually did not exist and South Arabian features were restricted to a few sites, which were scattered in a mosaic of different archaeological cultures in the first millennium BC. This hypothesis is tested through a comparison between the ceramics from Yeha and those from Matara and other sites of the first millennium BC in Tigray and Eritrea.     

The Evolution of Pre‐Islamic South Arabian Coinage: A Metallurgical Analysis of Coins Excavated In Sumhuram (Khor‐Rori,Sultanate of Oman)

The present paper deals with compositional and microstructural features of 26 pre‐Islamic, South Arabian coins recently unearthed during archaeological excavations. Most of the investigated coins come from Sumhuram (Khor Rori, southern Oman), and were minted by the Hadramawt kingdom (fourth century bc to third century ad ); only a few of them belong to the Himyarite kingdom's coinage (first to fourth centuries ad ). In addition, some coins of both the Hadramawt and the Himyarite kingdoms found at Qani' (B'ir ‘Ali, Republic of Yemen) have been analysed for comparison. Our main focus was to provide new hints towards the comprehension of the chronological evolution in South Arabian coinage in terms of both metal composition and minting techniques. In addition, some melting crucibles found at Sumhuram have been examined in an attempt to make a comparison with the coins’ composition and to test the hypothesis that they were used for minting operations.     

Third-Millenniurn and Later Pottery From Abu Dhabi Airport

Surface pottery collected from a site on Abu Dhabi airport indicated sporadic occupation from the Hafit period, c. 3100–2700 BC, with maximum settlement in the second half of the third millennium BC. The ceramics, which could be related both to the coastal Umm an-Nar culture and to the sequence established at Hili 8 in Period II, included wares of probably Mesopotamian and Eastern Arabian origin. The site was unused throughout most of the second millennium BC and the Iron Age but pottery of first century BC-second century AD date suggested that it may have served as a point of entry or transit at that time, the first to be recognised in the coastal area of Abu Dhabi.     

Chihr de l’encens (Yémen)

Frankincense burners found in al‐Shihr’s excavations in Yemen, a frankincense harbour during the Islamic period, represent a rare corpus of this type, which is an indication of both specific use and goods from South Arabia. Although associated with the pre‐Islamic South Arabian kingdoms, the frankincense burner evolved throughout the Islamic period. This is proved by the long chronological sequence of the al‐Shihr site (780–1996). Texts quoting the presence of frankincense, its use and its trade in al‐Shihr are cited in this article to support the reputation of this harbour‐town, which is part of the maritime trade networks of medieval Islam. The aim of this article is to create a renewal of interest in future archaeological research about this object, which is so often neglected in spite of its importance as a testimony of the customs and exchanges that are deeply rooted in Arabian civilisation.     

Building G at Makaynūn: a late pre‐Islamic settlement above the ruins of a South Arabian town

This article presents the results of the excavation of a residence dated between the second and fourth centuries AD, constructed over the ruins of the South Arabian town of Makaynūn, in central Hadramawt (Yemen). The building yielded a large quantity of material including objects proving contacts between the central Hadramawt and regions located to the north‐east, such as central Oman, the Gulf area and India.     

Relating the Ancient Ona Culture to the Wider Northern Horn: Discerning Patterns and Problems in the Archaeology of the First Millennium BC

Archaeological research carried out between 1998 and 2003 on the Asmara Plateau of Eritrea has provided new insights concerning the development of early-to-mid first millennium BC settled agropastoral communities in the northern Horn of Africa. The settlement, subsistence, and material culture of these communities in the greater Asmara area, referred to as the “Ancient Ona culture,” bear both unique qualities and striking similarities to coeval communities in Tigray, Ethiopia. This article provides an overview of regional settlement data and ceramic and lithic traditions from the greater Asmara area, drawing comparisons to other contexts of this period in the archaeology of the wider northern Horn. It is argued that we can see among the Ancient Ona sites distinct localized cultural expressions and development as well as strong links to a wider first millennium BC macro-cultural identity.