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1 Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 45 (2015): Found: the Palaeolithic of Qatar (poster) Summary The seeming lack of evidence for a Palaeolithic presence in Qatar has been enigmatic. This has now changed. Here we report on discoveries made by the PADMAC Unit during 2013/2014 and the far-reaching implications of these findings. Our preliminary analysis of the Qatar lithic assemblages QSS25, QSS29 (PADMAC Unit collection) and A-group Site I and A-group Site III (Kapel collection) revealed the presence of large chopping tools and crude Abbevillian cores, both indicative of an early stage within the lower Palaeolithic period, while the absence of classic Acheulean hand axes might even suggest a date exceeding one million years. Furthermore, the particular suite of technological traits we identified in Umm Taqa B-group Site XXXIV (Kapel collection) lithic assemblage, are characteristic of middle upper Palaeolithic transitional industries found in the Levant, Nile Valley, and southern Arabia. Hence, we tentatively assign the Taqan industry to the upper Palaeolithic. Specific lithics from the QSS32 (PADMAC Unit collection) assemblage, allude to further Taqan sites in southern Qatar. Keywords: Qatar, Lower Palaeolithic, Upper Palaeolithic Research context, aims, and objectives As an integral part of the ongoing research by the Unit for the study of Palaeolithic Artefacts and associated Deposits in a Middle Eastern (Arabian) Context (PADMAC Unit) in the State of Qatar, a preliminary assessment was made of a selection of lithic assemblages held in storage by the Qatar Museum Authority. The aim of this analysis was to gain a better understanding of the lithic assemblages recently found by the PADMAC Unit (Scott-Jackson et al. 2014: ) across southern Qatar and to determine, in the context of current Palaeolithic research in the Arabian Peninsula, the efficacy of Holgar Kapel s (1967) highly controversial, A,B,C,D, chronological/ classificatory system (with A as the oldest and pre- Neolithic) of the lithic assemblages collected in the 1950s and 1960s by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Qatar (see Fig. 1). Authors/dates Main findings Interpretation Kapel (1964, 1967) 122 stone-age surface scatters/ sites Categorized into four groups (Kapel 1967): A (the oldest), B (blade/arrowhead cultures), C (scraper cultures), D (pressure-flaked cultures). Lithics from the area of Al Khor were tentatively assigned to Group A, but with the proviso that they were distinct in many respects. Lithics from Umm Taqa were tentatively assigned to Group B, but again described as distinct. Inizan (1978) and subsequent The French Mission excavated a The excavated mixed/derived assemblage included authors: mixed site in the low-level coastal shells dated to the Neolithic together with lithics Tixier (1980: 197); Potts (1985: area of Al Khor (geomorphologic similar to Kapel s Al Khor sub-class of the A Group. 681); Tosi (1986: 466); Inizan, analysis by the PADMAC Unit By (flawed) extrapolation it was concluded that all Al Bonnefille & Tixier (1988: 217); suggests it was probably derived Khor A Group sites are Neolithic, therefore all other A Petraglia (2003: 150). and mixed) Group sites are Neolithic and erroneously concluding that there was no Palaeolithic in Qatar Hiatus in Palaeolithic research On the basis of the French Mission s assessment that there is no Palaeolithic in Qatar

2 330 Authors/dates Main findings Interpretation Scott-Jackson & Scott-Jackson (2010); Scott-Jackson et al. (2014) and see below. The PADMAC Unit identified thirty-five distinct surface scatters/ sites. Techno-typological analysis was carried out on these newly discovered assemblages, as well as the available Kapel assemblages. See below. The techno-typological analysis revealed clear evidence of early Lower Palaeolithic chopper technology (corresponding to Kapel s Group A). No conclusive evidence has been found, so far, of later Lower or Middle Palaeolithic (but less than 10% of feasible areas of Qatar have been surveyed by the PADMAC Unit to date). Analysis of QSS32 and site XXXIV revealed intriguing evidence of early Upper Palaeolithic occupation (see below). Figure 1. The Stone Age finds of Qatar: sequence of interpretations. Figure 2. The locations of PADMAC Unit sites QSS25, QSS29, and QSS32. Methodology The lithic assemblages listed as Kapel, A-group Site I, Kapel, A-group Site III, and Kapel, B-group Site XXXIV were examined in detail and then compared to the technologically similar assemblages discovered by the PADMAC Unit and annotated as QSS25 and QSS29 (to the A-group) and QSS32 (to the B-group) (Figs 2 & 3). As with any assemblage, surface scatters can represent palimpsests of different periods of activity even though the assemblage(s), particularly of manufacturing sites, may well be essentially in situ. Results The results of this research are significant. To date (July 2014), we have identified lithic assemblages that provide direct evidence that Qatar was occupied by early people during both the Lower Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic periods (other assemblages have been discovered that hint at a Middle Palaeolithic presence but these await analysis). The assessment clearly corroborates Kapel s (1967) claim of a pre-neolithic presence in Qatar. Our findings challenge the current understanding of Palaeolithic hominin dispersal in the Arabian Peninsula

3 Found: the Palaeolithic of Qatar O pe n Ac ce ss 331 op re ss Figure 3. A photograph of sites QSS25, QSS29, and QSS32. (particularly as a Palaeolithic presence was thought not to exist in Qatar) and suggest that Qatar can now be considered as a recurrent nexus in the Palaeolithic world. Lower Palaeolithic Ar ch ae Preliminary analysis of the lithic assemblages from Kapel, A-group Site I, Kapel, A-group Site III, and QSS25 and QSS29 identified the presence of large chopping tools and crude Abbevillian cores, which points to an early stage within the Lower Palaeolithic period, while the absence of classic Acheulean hand axes might even suggest a date exceeding one million years. Such sites have been found by the PADMAC Unit to be ubiquitous across southern Qatar. Assessment of Kapel, A-group Site I and Kapel, A-group Site III Kapel, A-group Site I and Kapel, A-group Site III were found on the raised plateaus south-east and north of Dukhan, respectively. The lithics were all manufactured from a locally outcropping chert and are extremely heavily weathered. The Kapel, A-group Site I assemblage consists of forty-four pieces, of which twenty-seven are tools. There are no cores and most of the debitage is flakeproportionate. The tools (Fig. 4) comprise an assortment of pebble tools including choppers, chopping tools, and inverse choppers, as well as side-scrapers on thick flakes and a low number of time-transgressive types such as gravers, denticulates, and notches. The Kapel, A-group Site III assemblage consists of 143 specimens, including ninety-three pieces of debitage, twenty-nine cores, and twenty-one tools. The toolkit exhibits a similar array of heavy-duty cutting implements as found at Kapel, A-group Site I, in particular large choppers as well as bifacial knives. Core reduction strategies include single platform, unidirectional flake and blade cores; radial and partial-radial centripetal reduction; and orthogonal, multiple platform cores with adjacent, 90º working surfaces. Kapel, A-group Site III can be characterized as a simple flake industry, given the low number of blades (n = 3) and the fact that they are all cortical. In Bordian terms, this might be considered a typical Abbevillian or Lower Acheulean industry. This simple flaking strategy at Kapel, A-group Site III is accompanied by a façonnage technology for the

4 pe n Ac ce ss 332 Ar ch ae op re ss O Figure 4. Kapel A-group Site I: side-scrapers and a chopping tool. Figure 5. PADMAC Unit QSS25: chopper cores and flakes.

5 manufacture of pebble tools, indicated by the relatively large number of éclats de taille (n = 17). The lithics within this assemblage, from both the pebble tool and flake technologies, exhibit very similar weathering and are often found together in other lower Palaeolithic contexts. At this point, however, we cannot be certain that these components are necessarily coeval. Repeated co-associations of these technologies at other find spots must confirm this pattern. Assessment of QSS25 and QSS29 Lithic surface-scatters/sites QSS25 and QSS29 were among a number of sites discovered on the many hills (capped with knappable chert) that surround and overlook what appears to be a large dissolution feature, in the south of Qatar (Scott-Jackson et al. 2014: ). The technological patterning observed at the QSS25 (Fig. 5) and QSS29 sites matches the façonnage components found at Kapel, A-group Site I and Kapel, A-group Site III. In both cases, the primary reduction strategy appears to be a crude pebble-tool industry for the production of choppers and chopping tools. Of the thirty-two lithics collected at QSS29, nine of these are choppers. Moreover, QSS25 and QSS29 both yielded bifacial preforms and other knapping by-products from the primary manufacture of bifacial implements. Upper Palaeolithic The Kapel, B-group Site XXXIV (Umm Taqa / Umm Кāqah) lithic assemblage was seen by Kapel (1967) as Found: the Palaeolithic of Qatar 333 belonging to an early stage of the B-Group, and unique within Qatar given its Palaeolithic character. Based on archaeological research conducted in the ensuing halfcentury, this particular suite of technological traits hard hammer, bidirectional blade production of elongated points, the use of crest preparation to set up the working surface of the core is characteristic of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic in neighbouring regions. Hence, it is warranted to entertain the possibility that the Umm Taqa assemblage dates to the latter half of the Late Pleistocene (c ka). Assessment of Kapel, B-group Site XXXIV Preliminary analysis of the Kapel, B-group Site XXXIV (Umm Taqa) lithic assemblage indicates that Kapel (1967) was correct in differentiating this from other Qatar B-group sites and that, No true worked blade arrowheads occur, but the oval, almost cylindrical flaking cores place this site clearly among the B-cultures. Kapel B-group assemblages exhibit a highly standardized blade technology that is always accompanied by pressured-flaked arrowheads typical of the early Neolithic throughout the Near East. The lithic assemblage from Umm Taqa, however, differs in several respects (Fig. 6). The debitage is significantly larger, with blade blanks averaging between 4 cm and 10 cm in length. The material has a chocolate-brown patina, unlike the consistent pinkish-grey patina found on similar chert raw material at other B-group surface sites. Perhaps most significantly, the specific method of cresting for preparing and curating blade cores at Umm Figure 6. Kapel B-group Site XXXIV: bi-directional point cores, crested blades, and a crested pre-core.

6 334 Figure 7. PADMAC Unit QSS32: a core with conjoining flake removal, blade, and crested core. Taqa differs from the system exhibited in classic B-group assemblages. Therefore, this assemblage type, which we refer to as Taqan, should be distinguished from the rest of the B-group. The Umm Taqa lithic assemblage comprises 359 pieces, including 121 cores, 220 pieces of debitage, and 18 retouched tools. This apparent knapping site was focused on the production of blade-proportionate end products, indicated by the exclusive presence of blade cores and a blade index of 83. All stages of reduction are represented within the assemblage, from initial crest preparation of pre-cores to small, blade cores with evidence of having undergone several stages of rejuvenation. Of the twenty-four pre-cores, twenty show that the initial stage of preparation is the setting up of a single crest along the lateral edge of the core, ranging from coarse alternating bifacial flaking to fine steep retouch. Working surfaces are most typically on the narrow elongated face of the core. Flaking is recurrent-parallel and over a quarter of the debitage exhibit bidirectional scar patterns denoting the use of opposed platforms. Striking platforms were transversally prepared in many cases, but rarely faceted (9%). Most cores show that core tablets were removed to rejuvenate the platforms, although no classic core tablets were found among the debitage. There were eighteen crested blades and an additional six miscellaneous core trimming elements. There is some evidence for edge grinding adjacent to the striking platforms (39%), but no evidence for lipped bulbs of percussion, which are indicative of soft hammer percussion. Eighteen tools were found, most of which are classic Upper Palaeolithic types: eleven burins (as well as two burin spalls among the debitage), five end-scrapers, one backed knife, and one sidescraper. All of these specimens were made on blade blanks. Assessment of QSS32 Site QSS32 is a lithic surface-scatter/site discovered by the PADMAC Unit in 2013, situated on a very small inselberg in proximity to the same palaeolake as QSS25 and QSS29. Although the site has not yet been fully studied, the discovery of a bidirectional blade core and unilaterally crested blade pre-core (Fig. 7) suggests that additional Taqan type assemblages might be found in southern Qatar. Conclusion and future work The preliminary techno-typological analysis of selected Qatar lithic assemblages undertaken by the PADMAC Unit provides evidence of the Palaeolithic occupation of Qatar during both the Lower Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic (lithic assemblages with Middle Palaeolithic characteristics have also been found in Qatar but these await technological analysis before this can be

7 confirmed). Thus, these results add a new dimension to the Palaeolithic archaeological record of Arabia and places Qatar in a prominent position for the study of early hominid migration, out of and into the Arabian Peninsula. The ongoing research by the PADMAC Unit in the State of Qatar is scheduled (for 2014 and 2015) to include: further techno-typological analysis of lithic assemblages from both the PADMAC Unit and Kapel collections; finding new lithic surface-scatter/sites in order better to understand Palaeolithic land-use strategies; the collection of sufficient samples from each surface-scatter/site to facilitate rigorous technotypological analysis; the identification of potential stratified deposits for detailed archaeological/environmental investigations; Found: the Palaeolithic of Qatar 335 References geologic/geomorphic investigations to clarify the formation processes of specific landforms and their relationship to the lithic scatters/sites. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank H.E. Sheikha al-mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani (Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Qatar Museums) and H.E. Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani (Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Qatar Museums) for their support, permissions, and cooperation. We are most indebted to Qatar Chamber under the leadership of H.E. Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani as without its continued support the project would not have been possible. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Faisal al-naimi (Head of Antiquities, Qatar Museums) for his invaluable help and advice. Thanks are also due to Hateem Arrok (Qatar Museums) and Yamandu Hilbert (CNRS) for the lithic illustrations. Kapel H Stenalderfund fra Qatar. Kuml: Atlas of the Stone-Age Cultures of Qatar. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Inizan M.L Première mission archéologique Française à Qatar. Paléorient 4: Inizan M.L., Bonnefille R. & Tixier J Préhistoire à Qatar. (Mission archéologique française à Qatar). Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les civilisations. Petraglia M.D The Lower Palaeolithic of the Arabian peninsula: occupations, adaptations, and dispersals. Journal of World Prehistory 17/2: Potts D.T Reflections on the history and archaeology of Bahrain. Journal of the American Oriental Society 105/4: Scott-Jackson J.E. & Scott-Jackson W.B A Palaeolithic Research Agenda for Qatar. Oxford: PADMAC Unit Publication. Scott-Jackson J.E., Scott-Jackson W.B., al-naimi F.A., Tetlow E. & Crassard R The Stone Age of Qatar: new investigations, new finds; interim report (poster). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 44: Tixier J Mission archéologique française à Qatar, , i. Paris: CNRS. Tosi M The emerging picture of prehistoric Arabia. Annual Review of Anthropology 15:

8 336 Authors addresses Julie E. Scott-Jackson, Geoarchaeologist, Director of the PADMAC Unit, Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG, UK. Jeffrey I. Rose, Research Scholar, Ronin Institute, USA. William Scott-Jackson, Landscape Archaeologist, PADMAC Unit, Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG, UK. Faisal Abdulla al-naimi, Head of Antiquities Department, Qatar Museums, QM Tower, P.O Box 2777, Doha, State of Qatar Website