Studies on South Arabian anthropomorphic funerary stelae often mention a North Arabian influence in their iconography, or sometimes even the coming of North Arabian populations, bringing in their own practices. The issue of a northern influence will be debated here through the study of two types of South Arabian stelae: Eye stelae from the Jawf valley and square stelae from Qatabân. My purpose is to show that neither onomastics nor chronology yield evidence for a northern origin or influence. This will be followed by a wider approach of the origins of South Arabian culture. I will confront two hypotheses: one is the acculturation of southern populations by northern groups, or even the migration of people from Southern Levant or North Arabia; the other is an endogenous development. The latter is to me the most convincing.