Coastlines, submerged landscapes, and human evolution: the Red Sea Basin and the Farasan Islands

TY - JOUR

T1 - Coastlines, submerged landscapes, and human evolution

T2 - the Red Sea Basin and the Farasan Islands

AU - Bailey, G.N.

AU - Flemming, N.C.

AU - King, G.C.P.

AU - Lambeck, K.

AU - Momber, G.

AU - Moran, L.J.

AU - Al-Sharekh, A.

AU - Vita-Finzi, C.

N1 - © 2007, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

PY - 2007/7

Y1 - 2007/7

N2 - We examine some long-standing assumptions about the early use of coastlines and marine resources and their contribution to the pattern of early human dispersal, and focus on the southern Red Sea Basin and the proposed southern corridor of movement between Africa and Arabia across the Bab al-Mandab Straits. We reconstruct relative sea levels in light of isostatic and tectonic effects, and evaluate their paleogeographical impact on the distribution of resources and human movement. We conclude that the crossing of the Bab al-Mandab posed little significant or long-lasting physical or climatic barrier to human transit during the Pleistocene and that the emerged continental shelf during periods of low sea level enhanced the possibilities for human settlement and dispersal around the coastlines of the Arabian Peninsula. We emphasize the paleogeographical and paleoenvironmental significance of Pleistocene sea-level change and its relationship with changes in paleoclimate, and identify the exploration of the submerged continental shelf as a high priority for future research. We conclude with a brief description of our strategy for underwater work in the Farasan Islands and our preliminary results.

AB - We examine some long-standing assumptions about the early use of coastlines and marine resources and their contribution to the pattern of early human dispersal, and focus on the southern Red Sea Basin and the proposed southern corridor of movement between Africa and Arabia across the Bab al-Mandab Straits. We reconstruct relative sea levels in light of isostatic and tectonic effects, and evaluate their paleogeographical impact on the distribution of resources and human movement. We conclude that the crossing of the Bab al-Mandab posed little significant or long-lasting physical or climatic barrier to human transit during the Pleistocene and that the emerged continental shelf during periods of low sea level enhanced the possibilities for human settlement and dispersal around the coastlines of the Arabian Peninsula. We emphasize the paleogeographical and paleoenvironmental significance of Pleistocene sea-level change and its relationship with changes in paleoclimate, and identify the exploration of the submerged continental shelf as a high priority for future research. We conclude with a brief description of our strategy for underwater work in the Farasan Islands and our preliminary results.

U2 - 10.1080/15564890701623449

DO - 10.1080/15564890701623449

M3 - Article

SN - 1556-4894

VL - 2

SP - 127

EP - 160

JO - Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

JF - Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

IS - 2

ER -