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Marking the sacral landscape of a north Arabian oasis: a sixth-millennium BC monumental stone platform and surrounding burials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2020

Olivia Munoz Open the ORCID record for Olivia Munoz [Opens in a new window] ,
Marianne Cotty ,
Guillaume Charloux Open the ORCID record for Guillaume Charloux [Opens in a new window] ,
CharlÃĻne Bouchaud ,
HervÃĐ Monchot ,
CÃĐline Marquaire ,
Antoine Zazzo ,
RÃĐmy Crassard ,
Olivier Brunet  and
Vanessa Boschloos Open the ORCID record for Vanessa Boschloos [Opens in a new window]
...Show all authors
Olivia Munoz*
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ArchÃĐologie et Sciences de l'AntiquitÃĐ, France
Marianne Cotty
Affiliation:
MusÃĐe du Louvre, DÃĐpartement de AntiquitÃĐs Orientales, France
Guillaume Charloux
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Orient et MÃĐditerranÃĐe, France
CharlÃĻne Bouchaud
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), MusÃĐum national d'histoire naturelle, ArchÃĐozoologie, ArchÃĐobotanique: sociÃĐtÃĐs, pratiques et environnements, France
HervÃĐ Monchot
Affiliation:
Labex Resmed, Paris Sorbonne UniversitÃĐs, France
CÃĐline Marquaire
Affiliation:
UniversitÃĐ Paris 1 PanthÃĐon-Sorbonne—UFR d'ArchÃĐologie, France
Antoine Zazzo
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), MusÃĐum national d'histoire naturelle, ArchÃĐozoologie, ArchÃĐobotanique: sociÃĐtÃĐs, pratiques et environnements, France
RÃĐmy Crassard
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), French Center for Archaeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS), Kuwait
Olivier Brunet
Affiliation:
ArchÃĐologie et Sciences de l'AntiquitÃĐ, France
Vanessa Boschloos
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Belgium
Thamer al-Malki
Affiliation:
Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ olivia.munoz@cnrs.fr
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Abstract

Prehistoric stone structures are prominent and well-studied in the Levantine desert margins. In northern Arabia, however, such structures have received less attention. This article presents the results of investigations of a 35m-long stone platform, first constructed in the mid sixth millennium BC, overlooking the oasis of DÃŧmat al-Jandal in northern Saudi Arabia. Excavation of the platform has yielded bioarchaeological and cultural remains, along with evidence for several phases of construction and intermittent use down to the first millennium BC. Analysis of the platform and nearby tombs highlights the persistent funerary and ritual use of this area over millennia, illuminating nomadic pastoralist lifeways in prehistoric Arabia.

Keywords

Arabian PeninsulaNeolithicMid-Holocenemonumentalityfunerary landscapenomadic pastoralism

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Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 94 , Issue 375 , June 2020 , pp. 601 - 621
Copyright
Copyright ÂĐ Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

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