Early Arabian pastoralism at Manayzah in Wâdî Sanâ, Hadramawt
Résumé
Excavations at the site of Manayzah have yielded a small but important sample of animal bones in stratigraphic contexts dated to the sixth millennium BC. The site itself is significant for its excellent preservation of occupation surfaces and features at a rock shelter beside a spring in the upper drainage of the main Wādī Сanā channel. As yet, there are no contemporary sites with comparable stratigraphic and organic remains in the archaeological record of southern Arabia, and thus the data from the small-scale excavations at Manayzah play a major role in the interpretation of cultural historical and economic strategies in the first quarter of the Holocene period. Preliminary analysis of the faunal assemblage from Manayzah suggests that the cattle, sheep, and goats were present, most likely as herded domesticates, and their remains exist alongside those of hunted gazelle. In a broader chronological perspective, this picture may provide evidence for early pastoral economies, but it also provides a baseline for the long history of cattle and caprine pastoralism in southern Arabia.