PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #10: Paleoecology. Presiding: S. Hotchkiss.
Monday, August 6, 2001. 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Hall of Ideas J.
Holocene paleoenvironments of the southern Arabian highlands reconstructed using fossil hyrax middens.
Cole, Kenneth1, McCorriston, Joy2, Miller, Anthony3, 1 2 3
ABSTRACT- Deposits left in caves by the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) were used to reconstruct the paleoenvironments of a remote desert area in the Hadamawt region of southern Yemen. Six hyrax middens have been dated thus far between 2159 and 5239 yr B.P. making this the oldest hyrax midden series yet found. Each deposit contains abundant plant macrofossils and pollen, with an assortment of insects, bones, and snails. One midden, dated to 2159 yr B.P., contains linen cloth, hand-carved amber beads, and a human finger bone suggesting that a mummy was in the cave. The most abundant shrubs at this site in the Wadi Sana now are: Ziziphus leucodermis, Acacia hamulosa, and A. ehrenbergiana. While the first two have been present since 5239, the third was not found until 2159 yr B.P. This late Holocene appearance of Acacia ehrenbergiana, widespread throughout Yemen today, could indicate a return to moister climates following an extremely arid late-middle Holocene. When considered with the geophysical and archaeological results from this site of a moist early-to-middle Holocene, these midden deposits suggest that the period of maximum Holocene aridity in southern Arabian highlands may have been between 5000 and 2500 yr B.P., during which time archaeological evidence also suggests that people abandoned the area. Rock hyrax is not found at this locality today, and the landscape is barren, possibly due to recent browsing by goats and camels.
KEY WORDS: Yemen, paleoecology, Procavia capensis, Hyrax midden