Reconstruction of the history of mankind Early human settlement on the Arabian Peninsula less influenced by climate than previously thought

Excavations at Jebel Faya Rock Shelter, UAE. Photo by Knut Bretzke - Research team detects early Stone Age settlement during dry periods 210,000 years ago An international team of researchers from the Sharjah Archaeology Authority/United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Universities of Tübingen and Freiburg as well as Oxford Brookes/England led by Dr. Knut Bretzke from the University of Tübingen and Frank Preusser from the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Freiburg has uncovered startlingly new results that show Palaeolithic humans repeatedly occupied the rock shelter site of Jebel Faya in Southern Arabia between 210,000 and 120,000 years ago; shattering previously held ideas about when, and how, humans first moved into Arabia from Africa. The researchers have published their findings in the current issue of Scientific Reports. Jebel Faya, located in Sharjah, UAE, is one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in Arabia. In 2009 excavations revealed human occupation dating back to 125,000 years ago making it the then oldest known human site in Arabia. New archaeological data from Jebel Faya, published in Scientific Reports, indicates that human settlement in Southern Arabia occurred under an unexpected range of climatic conditions and significantly earlier than previously thought. Humans were not dependent on favorable climatic conditions Previously it has been argued that Arabia was closed to prehistoric humans during dry climate phases and that humans had to wait for periods of more wet climatic conditions in order to expand into the region.