When you talk about the evolution of man, not only his Homo sapiens, you automatically refer to some defining geographic points for what this whole process means. From Darwin’s point of view, the central element is inevitably Africa. Next comes the Middle East, followed by Israel and Syria, and then the dispersal of various human groups in Asia, then Europe. However, this hypothetical map also has white spots. And the Arabian Peninsula, our subject, was one of them. The final stop where his temporary attempts to leave Africa inevitably ended Homo sapiens.

It is quite possible that this illustration of the human evolutionary paradigm was wrong. And in this vein, I propose to revise the generally accepted guiding principles of the study of human evolution and settlement today. Not for nothing, but you may be in for some serious surprises when we start breaking down some of them.

For example, they say that sex fagotof which we are also a part, appeared in Africa about 2-2.4 million years ago as a result of the evolution of Australopithecus into a more advanced species, A person is skilled. This evolutionary step was followed by the appearance of a new type of individual, absolutely vertical, baptized A man is upright. It was a highly adaptable individual that left Africa and colonized Asia and Europe around 1.9 million years ago.

Another important step in the evolution of the human race is the appearance on the world stage of individuals with an increased volume of the skull, this is about 600,000 years ago, also somewhere in Africa, a general baptism Homo helmei. From among them would appear Homo sapiens, a phenomenon that must have happened about 200,000 years ago, or even 300,000 years ago, as some other enthusiasts say. It should be noted that all these evolutionary changes are taking place exclusively on the territory of Africa.

This threshold was followed by its dispersion Homo sapiens around the world, the first successful steps were taken about 60,000 years ago through the Middle East. Why “successful”? Because “ours” already had unsuccessful attempts to leave Africa 120 thousand years ago. They would have reached as far as the Levant, even through the coastal regions of the Arabian Peninsula, where they either perished from want or were turned back by adverse conditions.

Why old assumptions need to be corrected

The problem with this, I repeat, generally accepted scenario, is represented by an aspect that neither scientists nor especially scientific journalists mention. We are not going to talk here about the controversies that surround the excavations carried out at African sites, but about the fact that this whole evolutionary picture is strictly based on the archaeological discoveries that we had access to about 30 years ago. After all, that’s what science is all about…observation and physical evidence. However, things are changing as new data begins to emerge.

Well, the aspect I mentioned earlier that the specialists left out in their reports is that some of the sites have not yet been excavated. Therefore, they appeared as white dots on the map of human history. As a case in point, how much do you know about Paleolithic Greece? Very little. Those that exist are usually known only to specialists.

And that’s because for most of recent history, archaeological digs have focused on the Hellenistic period, maybe the Middle Ages, even the Neolithic, because there are several major cultures from that period. But very little backstory. Can Greece be compared from this point of view, for example, with France? France, where research on prehistoric sites began as early as the mid-19th century?

The situation is similar in many other parts of Europe and Asia. That is why they say that the picture of human evolution is far from complete. And so we come to the place where I really wanted to take you. In the Middle East, respectively, the Arabian Peninsula. If you were to look at a map of the distribution of Paleolithic sites in the East, you would notice that the vast majority of them are in Israel and possibly Syria. why The answer is simple…because it has been mined there since the early years of the 20th century. Otherwise, less. Thus, it is very easy to draw wrong conclusions.

And one of these findings suggested that the Arabian Peninsula only sporadically offered corridors for the ephemeral migration through Africa of human pioneers. Since the last two or three decades have also brought excavations devoted to the Paleolithic period, what has been uncovered, albeit very little, tells a very different story.

Arabia, for example, was far from offering just the occasional passing color. Recent climate reconstructions confirm that the area was wet, green and warm for most of the Quaternary period (i.e. the last 2.5 million years). Paleontological studies have revealed a rich fauna, including gazelles, elephants, ostriches and hippos. And the latter, with all due respect, do not live alone in the middle of the desert. In fact, none of the species mentioned, and many others mentioned in the fossil record, live among the thousand-year-old sand dunes.

In less than 30 years, the Arabian Peninsula opened up a completely unknown world

Although they can be counted on the fingers of two hands, the sites that have provided evidence of the presence of ancient man also tell a unique story of ancient history. Thus, we can talk about evidence of human existence that began as early as half a million years ago, a fact illustrated by animal fossils with traces of human intervention, as well as stone artifacts discovered at the site of Ti el Gad. Not far from it, in An Nasim, we find a similar situation. Butchery, an ancient stone material dating back approximately 300,000 years.

However, I would like to dwell on some key places that most likely relate to the species Homo sapiens. One of them, Jebel Faya, in the United Arab Emirates, tells a more than interesting story. The site, located just 55 kilometers from the Gulf of Oman, was first explored in 2003 by an international team led by Briton Simon Armitage. What the archaeologist described in later published research includes a sequence of stone assemblages labeled A through E.

What is striking is that, with the exception of Level C (dated 95,000-127,000 years ago), where African influence is described as possible but not certain, all other material cultures “do not resemble any industry known from the Paleolithic.” According to Armitage, other assemblages represent “a domestic industry unconnected with any African or Levantine material culture”.

In a word, local evolution. And if you bring up such a local evolution for discussion, you inevitably involve a very long period of time during which the respective communities existed there. In addition, northern Saudi Arabia also shows the presence of Neanderthal communities, further evidence that the Arabian Peninsula was not the exclusive preserve of our species. In fact, it has also been hypothesized that other human species entered Arabia, thus creating mutual influences that are still poorly understood today.

Homo sapiens, where he should not have existed

Another site that provides impressive information is the Al-Wusta site in the Nafud desert, Saudi Arabia. In fact, this is the only place on the aforementioned peninsula where fossilized human remains have been found. It is only about the phalanx belonging to the representative of the species Homo sapiens, dated to approximately 85,000 – 96,000 years ago. This seems insignificant compared to other geographical regions, but the location of the fossil says a lot more than one might understand at first glance. why Because the site is near the center of Saudi Arabia, a point through which, according to conventional hypotheses, Homo sapiens would have had no reason to venture. Don’t forget the coastal corridor hypothesis mentioned at the beginning.

And the site in Al Wusta is not exceptional in its positioning. There are others that suggest not just a passing but a possible continuity in such areas. The material culture associated with the mentioned phalanx shows similarities with that which existed in Israel of the same period, more precisely the Levantine Mousterian period, but also local influences, without a counterpart. And this can lead to the expansion of these communities from the eastern Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula, where they persisted and began to develop their own cultures.

In connection with these cultural developments, it should be remembered that at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, accordingly, the appearance of developed stone industries, characteristic of Homo sapiens, taking place in the Levant. More recently, its traces were also discovered on the Arabian Peninsula. We are talking about a material culture called Emiran, which arose about 50 thousand years ago. This facies developed later in the Ahmara and then in the Aurignacian, a culture long considered the first cultural manifestation of Homo sapiens in Europe.

Obviously, the matter is far from over. As I mentioned, the research is only in its early stages. It is still difficult to theorize. Much more reliable data is needed. But it will not be an exaggeration at all to repeat the old hypotheses and already take into account the possibility of another picture of the spread and evolution of man, even the existence of a cultural and evolutionary melting pot for the human species that existed in the distant past.

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