Prehistoric coastal archaeology of the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia
Despite being the oldest multidisciplinary archaeological discipline the study of coastal archaeology and shell mounds has received relatively little attention until recently. The recognition of the importance of coastal resources from the Holocene back into the Palaeolithic has resulted in a new focus on the theme. One of the key questions is how far coastal resource exploitation goes back and whether what we see now is purely a product of Holocene intensification. The Arabian Peninsula has received relatively little attention and the role of coastal economies in the history of the region is poorly understood compared to many areas. The recent discovery of one of the highest densities of shell midden sites in the world provided the opportunity for these questions to be addressed. A multidisciplinary project using both state of the art and tried and tested methods resulted in the discovery and mapping of nearly 3000 shell midden sites and extensive coastal change on the islands. This thesis found compelling evidence for a short burst of intensive shellfish exploitation and site accumulation, the culmination of a long history of shell midden formation in the region going back into the early Holocene. Excavation
Williams, Matthew Gregory Meredith
Prehistoric coastal archaeology of the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia. Despite being the oldest multidisciplinary archaeological discipline the study of coastal archaeology and shell mounds has received relatively little attention until recently. The recognition of the importance of coastal resources from the Holocene back into the Palaeolithic has resulted in a new focus on the theme. One of the key questions is how far coastal resource exploitation goes back and whether what we see now is purely a product of Holocene intensification. The Arabian Peninsula has received relatively little attention and the role of coastal economies in the history of the region is poorly understood compared to many areas. The recent discovery of one of the highest densities of shell midden sites in the world provided the opportunity for these questions to be addressed. A multidisciplinary project using both state of the art and tried and tested methods resulted in the discovery and mapping of nearly 3000 shell midden sites and extensive coastal change on the islands. This thesis found compelling evidence for a short burst of intensive shellfish exploitation and site accumulation, the culmination of a long history of shell midden formation in the region going back into the early Holocene. Excavation
prehistoric coastal archaeology islands saudi_arabia despite old multidisciplinary archaeological discipline study coastal archaeology shell_mound receive_relatively little_attention recently recognition_importance coastal resource holocene back palaeolithic result new focus theme one_key question far coastal resource_exploitation back whether see purely product holocene intensification arabian_peninsula receive_relatively little_attention role coastal economy history_region poorly understand compare many_area recent_discovery high density shell_midden site world provide_opportunity question_address multidisciplinary project use state_art try test method result discovery mapping shell_midden site extensive coastal change island find compelling evidence short burst intensive shellfish exploitation site accumulation culmination long_history shell_midden formation region back excavation