New perspectives on regional and interregional obsidian circulation in prehistoric and early historic Arabia
Résumé
Until recently, the western Arabian Peninsula has had an enigmatic role in the large-scale prehistoric exchange networks of the greater ancient Near East. New geological and archaeological data recovered from obsidian-rich zones as well as sites in south-west Arabia and beyond, have begun to elucidate the region’s unprecedented position as a regional and interregional supplier and consumer of obsidian as early as the sixth millennium BC. This paper reviews recent data on obsidian sourcing in Arabia as well as new source matches to archaeological sites in the major source zone supplying obsidian across the region, namely the Dhamār highland plains of Yemen, and discusses the results within the context of previous obsidian research. These data offer new perspectives that will allow us to broaden our understanding of the development of ancient Near Eastern societies over time, to include south-west Arabia. Furthermore, these new data provide us with a preliminary diachronic view of the intensification and fluctuations in obsidian circulation and their relationship to the major societal transformations that occurred between the Neolithic and early historic periods in the region.
Mots clés
Arabia
Near East
Yemen
highlands
prehistory
Southwest Arabia
obsidian
obsidian source
obsidian sourcing
DSP
obsidian circulation
exchange networks
exchange
Sixth millennium BC
fourth millennium BC
third millennium BC
Second millennium BC
first millennium BC
early historic
Sabaean
Himyarite
Neolithic
Yafa'
Jebel Isbil
Jebel Lisi
lithics
VAPOR