The environment and economy of an early 5th millennium BC site on Dalma island, United Arab Emiratesby:Dr. Mark J. Beech
Emily Glover
Paper presented at "The fifth millennium BC in the Near East" Conference - 15-18 November 2001, Liverpool, U.K. The conference
was jointly organised by the University of Liverpool
and Manchester (Sponsored
by the British
Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, British
School of Archaeology in Iraq, Council
for British Research in the Levant and National
Museums and Galleries on Merseyside).
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the environmental and economic evidence from three seasons of excavation at the early 5th millennium BC site on Dalma island, United Arab Emirates. The discovery of carbonized date stones at this site has made an important contribution to the dating of early date consumption in the Near East. AMS radiocarbon dating of these date stones provides some of the earliest radiometric dates for south-east Arabia. Large quantities of animal bones were recovered during the excavations. These indicate that fishing and hunting were of great importance although ovicaprid husbandry was also practised. Gazelle, marine turtle, dugong and dolphin were only occasionally exploited. Other marine resources utilised included crabs and marine mollusca. Fishing seems to have been an important activity. Analysis of the fish remains from the 1993-4 seasons suggests that a wide range of species are present, including inshore as well as pelagic species. Fishes represented include thresher, requiem and hammerhead sharks, sawfish, eaglerays, sea catfish, needlefish, groupers, jacks/trevallies, snappers, grunts, emperors, seabream, parrotfish, barracudas and tuna. Marine molluscs are a dominant and visible feature of all coastal sites on the Arabian Peninsula from the early Holocene to Islamic times. Despite their ubiquity the study of marine shell from archaeological sites has been relatively neglected although with the acceleration of research within the last decade or so fresh interest has developed in the description of prehistoric environments, economies and biogeography. Sites from the mid-Holocene are still poorly known but three seasons of excavation at DA11 on the island of Dalma have provided new evidence for the exploitation of coastal resources and habitats. In contrast to contemporary sites on the mainland, DA11 has an unusual range of exploited molluscs, dominated by a few species from exposed rocky shores, cobbles and coarse sand, along with a great use of pearl oyster from shallow water cobbles and sea grass beds. Molluscs from sheltered lagoon environments which are common on mid-Holocene sites on the mainland are entirely absent. This evidence highlights two important concepts: (1) the overall patchiness of mollusc distribution along the shore reflecting quite subtle habitat needs of each species with the potential to change over time under different climates or other conditions, and (2) the effect this had on the human exploitation of these species. With further archaeological research on molluscan shell it should be possible to establish quite a clear picture of prehistoric coastal environments during the mid-Holocene.
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