Hominid dispersals in the Near East

Angela

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Very interesting new paper:

Paul S. Breeze et al"
https://www.academia.edu/25824817/P...rsals_in_the_Middle_East_250-70_000_years_ago



"The timing and extent of palaeoenvironmental connections between northeast Africa, the Levant and theArabian Peninsula during the Middle and Late Pleistocene are critical to debates surrounding dispersalsof hominins, including movements of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Although there is evidence that synchronousepisodes of climatic amelioration during the late Middle and Late Pleistocene may haveallowed connections to form between northern Africa and western Asia, a number of palaeoclimatemodels indicate the continued existence of an arid barrier between northern Arabia and the Levant. Herewe evaluate the palaeoenvironmental setting for hominin dispersals between, and within, northeastAfrica and southwest Asia during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 7e5 using reconstructions of surfacefreshwater availability as an environmental proxy. We use remotely sensed data to map palaeohydrologicalfeatures (lakes, wetlands and rivers) across the presently hyper-arid areas of northernArabia and surrounding regions, integrating these results with palaeoclimate models, palaeoenvironmentalproxy data and absolute dating to determine when these features were active. Ouranalyses suggest limited potential for dispersals during MIS 7 and 6, but indicate the formation of apalaeohydrological corridor (the ‘Tabuk Corridor’) between the Levant and the Arabian interior duringthe MIS 6-5e glacialeinterglacial transition and during MIS 5e. A recurrence of this corridor, following aslightly different route, also occurred during MIS 5a. These palaeohydrological and terrestrial data can beused to establish when proposed routes for hominin dispersals became viable. Furthermore, the distributionof Arabian archaeological sites with affinities to Levantine assemblages, some of which areassociated with Homo sapiens fossils, and the relative density of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages withinthe Tabuk Corridor, are consistent with it being utilised for dispersals at various times.


The maps are great.
 
One of the interesting maps:

Click to enlarge...

Hominid dispersal 3.jpg
 
That's what I thought, that waves of dispersal went along water sources during warm and wet conditions. It makes perfect sense.
 
nice maps, but unfortunately restricted to Northern Arabia
there were things going on in Southern Arabia and in the Gulf area as well, and Neanderthals also appeared in the Zagros

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/657397?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents

Jeffrey I Rose is the best in this area.

there are no human remains from this area, and an abundance of stone artefacts but dated artefacts are very scarce
 

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