The Sclerochronological study in the Arabian Peninsula: growth pattern calibrations on modern bivalves and archaeological application from shell middens
Résumé
Numerous mollusc shell middens exist along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the consequence of human occupations during Mid-Holocene and suggests that resources from marine environment played a significant part in their diet and/or daily activities. However, uncertainty remains about the perennial or seasonal occupation of such coastal sites. Sclerochronology can assess such hypothesis by studying the season of catch of those bivalves. To this end, three Veneridae species regularly found in shell middens of United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman were selected. As the biology of those species is poorly known, we first conducted in situ experiments on modern specimens in order to access their respective growth rhythms and thus to understand their shell growth patterns within their surrounding environment. Those findings were then applied to archaeological specimens from different Arabian shell middens (6.200-4.300 BC) as a way to investigate spatial-temporal patterns of human occupation as well as insight into environmental variability. This work was supported by the ANR project NéoArabia (ANR-16-CE03-0007) and the French Archaeological Mission to the UAE.