Cet article vient d'être publié dans les derniers Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies sous le titre :
Manayzah, Early to Mid-Holocene occupations in Wâdî Sanâ (Hadramawt, Yemen)
by Rémy Crassard, Joy McCorriston, Eric Oches, 'Abd al-'Aziz bin-'Aqil, Julien Espagne & Mohammad Sinnah
Discovered during the 2004 campaign of the RASA Project in the province of Hadramawt, Yemen, Manayzah is an Early to Mid-Holocene site exceptional for its deep and well-preserved occupational stratigraphy, an unparalleled corpus of stone tools, numerous animal bones, clearly defined activity and dwelling areas, as well as elements of stone and shell jewelry. Lithic industries are widely diversified with worked obsidian, bifacial arrowheads and numerous other tool types. The fluting technique appears in stratigraphy and is now dated to the 7th millennium BP by radiocarbon assay on associated organic material. In the 2005 winter season, RASA archaeologists initiated an open area excavation and added much archaeological data for spatial analysis and lithic studies, which focused on debitage modalities and tool shaping. The study of features (such as hearths, pits, and postholes) promises valuable insight into the social organization of Mid-Holocene populations in Hadramawt. This prehistoric occupation site is the first of its kind in in terms of quality, diversity, and quantity of artifacts and is especially remarkable for the associations of bones and lithics. This new data set offers crucial progress towards redefining the so-called "Neolithic” period in
Southern Arabia , particularly in terms of economic activities. What follows is a preliminary report on the site and current research.
CRASSARD R., McCORRISTON J., OCHES E., BIN ‘AQIL A., ESPAGNE J. & SINNAH M. 2006 - Manayzah, Early to mid-Holocene occupations in Wâdî Sanâ (Hadramawt, Yemen), Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, 36 : 151-173, Archaeopress, Oxford.
