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December 9, 2010 | A lost civilization submerged beneath Persian Gulf |
Washington:A study has revealed that a once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa. In recent years, archaeologists
have turned up evidence of a wave of human settlements along the shores of the Gulf dating to about 7,500 years ago. But how could such highly developed settlements pop up so quickly, with no precursor populations to be found in the archaeological record?
Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham
in the U.K., believes that evidence of those preceding populations is missing
because it's under the Gulf. "Perhaps it is no coincidence that the founding of
such remarkably well developed communities along the shoreline corresponds with
the flooding of the Persian Gulf basin around 8,000 years ago," he said. "These
new colonists may have come from the heart of the Gulf, displaced by rising water
levels that plunged the once fertile landscape beneath the waters of the Indian
Ocean," he added. Rose said that the area in and around this 'Persian Gulf Oasis'
may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up
by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago. "Where before there had been but a
handful of scattered hunting camps, suddenly, over 60 new archaeological sites
appear virtually overnight," he said. "These settlements boast well-built, permanent
stone houses, long-distance trade networks, elaborately decorated pottery, domesticated
animals, and even evidence for one of the oldest boats in the world," he added.
Historical sea level data show that, prior to the flood, the Gulf basin would
have been above water beginning about 75,000 years ago. And it would have been
an ideal refuge from the harsh deserts surrounding it, with fresh water supplied
by the Tigris, Euphrates, Karun, and Wadi Baton Rivers, as well as by underground
springs. When conditions were at their driest in the surrounding hinterlands,
the Gulf Oasis would have been at its largest in terms of exposed land area. At
its peak, the exposed basin would have been about the size of Great Britain, said
Rose. Evidence is also emerging that modern humans could have been in the region
even before the oasis was above water. Recently discovered archaeological sites
in Yemen and Oman have yielded a stone tool style that is distinct from the East
African tradition. That raises the possibility that humans were established on
the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula beginning as far back as 100,000 years
ago or more, said Rose. That is far earlier than the estimates generated by several
recent migration models, which place the first successful migration into Arabia
between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago. The Gulf Oasis would have been available
to these early migrants, and would have provided 'a sanctuary throughout the Ice
Ages when much of the region was rendered uninhabitable due to hyperaridity',Rose
said. "The presence of human groups in the oasis fundamentally alters our understanding
of human emergence and cultural evolution in the ancient Near East," he added.
It also hints that vital pieces of the human evolutionary puzzle may be hidden
in the depths of the Persian Gulf. The article is published in Current Anthropology.
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