Palaeoenvironmental and sea level changes during the Holocene in eastern Saudi Arabia and their implications for Neolithic populations

QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS

卷:249

Article

Parker, Adrian G.^1,2  Morley, Mike W.³  Armitage, Simon J.^4,5  Engel, Max⁶  Parton, Ash^1,7  Preston, Gareth W.¹  Russ, Hannah⁸  Drechsler, Philipp⁹ 

[1] Oxford Brookes Univ, Sch Social Sci, Human Origins & Palaeoenvironm Res Grp, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, England

[2] Univ Wollongong, Ctr Excellence Australian Biodivers & Heritage, Australian Res Council ARC, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

[3] Flinders Univ S Australia, Dept Archaeol, Coll Humanities Arts & Social Sci, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia

[4] Royal Holloway Univ London, Dept Geog, Egham TW20 0EX, Surrey, England

[5] Univ Bergen, Ctr Early Sapiens Behav SapienCE, Sydnesplassen 12-13, Bergen, Norway

[6] Heidelberg Univ, Inst Geog, Neuenheimer Feld 348, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

[7] Univ Oxford, Mansfield Coll, Oxford OX1 3TF, England

[8] Archaeol Biz, 39 Marwood Dr, Barnard Castle DL12 8DF, Durham, England

[9] Univ Tubingen, Inst Pre & Protohist & Medieval Archaeol Early Pr, Dept Geosci, Tubingen, Germany

关键词: Holocene;    Sea level changes;    Middle east;    Sedimentology;    Lakes;    Lagoons & swamps;    Palaeoenvironments;    Arabia;    Neolithic;    Dosariyah;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106618

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents the key findings of a multidisciplinary study investigating the nature and timing of coastal landscape evolution in eastern Saudi Arabia during the Holocene. To date, most sea level reconstructions for the Arabo-Persian Gulf are based on uncalibrated C-14 ages without correction for marine reservoir effects, or lack precision with regard to the effects of neotectonic changes, indicators of sea level used, errors in elevation of sedimentary units used, and the relationship with actual tides. As a consequence, the nature and timing of relative sea level (RSL) changes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene remain poorly understood. To help address this, we use sea level index points (SLIPs) based on calibrated C-14 ages to present a RSL curve for the central-southern Gulf of Saudi Arabia from coastal sabkha deposits near the archaeological site of Dosariyah. The sediments record rapid transgression during the early Holocene with a mid-Holocene high-stand immediately prior to 6880-6560 cal. BP when the upper limit for the palaeo Mean Highest High tide water (MHHW) was 2.8-3.10 m above present day mean sea level. Transgression continued until shortly after 5575-5310 cal. BP with an upper limit to the palaeo-MHHW of 3.75 m above present sea levels. Thereafter a fall in RSL was recorded, with the regression leading to the progradation of the coastal system and the development of coastal sabkhas. Nonetheless later transgressions are recorded in the region between 4848-4536 and 4335-3949 cal BP. Radiometric dating results from archaeological excavations at Dosariyah, one of the most important Neolithic coastal sites in the Gulf, suggest that occupation of the site during the Neolithic coincides with the mid-Holocene marine transgression (ca. 7200-6500 cal. BP). Whilst the close proximity of the site to the sea may have facilitated maritime exchange activities, occupation of the site was short-lived and the phase of abandonment occurred during a period of rapid RSL rise, which would have transformed the area around Dosariyah into an island or certainly cut it off tidally from the mainland. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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