Saudi lava caves offered shelter to humans 7,000 years ago
A large cave complex in Saudi Arabia, created by lava escaping a nearby volcano, provided valuable shelter for humans herding livestock over the past 7,000 years, a study found.
Previous research in northern Arabia discovered a diverse archaeological record, but details about human settlements in the region and its connections with the Levant largely remain a mystery owing to the poor preservation of remains in the arid climate.
The study, published in the journal Plos One, focused on investigating caves and other underground areas where clues about the ancient world are sheltered from sun, wind and fluctuations in temperature.
The study was carried out by Griffith University in Australia and Germany’s Max Planck Institutes of Geoanthropology, Chemical Ecology, and Biogeochemistry. Researchers concentrated on a western archaeological site created by a lava vent called Umm Jirsan, in the volcanic field of Harrat Khaybar, about 125km north of Madinah.
In the extensive lava cave complex, researchers found artefacts, rock art and skeletal remains that document repeated human occupation over at least the past 7,000 years.
The presence of sheep and goat remains show the site was an important resource for those who kept livestock, while analysis of human remains reveals an increase over time of a diet that included cereals and fruit, possibly linked to a rise in oasis agriculture in the Bronze Age.
The authors conclude that Umm Jirsan was probably not a permanent home for people, but a valuable stopping point for those travelling between oasis settlements.
The lava cave complex and other natural shelters were important resources for communities surviving in a challenging environment and they offer an important source of archaeological information about human history in the Arabian Peninsula.
“Exploring Arabia’s hidden past, our study uncovers millennia of human occupation within and around the Umm Jirsan lava tube, shedding light on ancient lifestyles and adaptations to environmental change in this harsh desert environment,” the authors said.
One author, Dr Matthew Stewart of Griffith University, said: “In addition, it suggests that we as archaeologists should investigate underground settings as these will likely fill in some of the gaps in the palaeobiological and archaeological records that currently exist.
“These sites may have been important places of refuge as they provide shelter from the elements in an otherwise dry and harsh environment.
“They also act as excellent reservoirs of water, and so may have provided important resources to pastoralists.
“We plan to do more fieldwork at lava tubes, and in caves more generally, across Arabia.”