ARCHEOLOGY IN SOUTH ARABIA — VAN BEEK, COLE, AND JAMME 535 



in the 7th century A.D. It overlaps the Prehistoric period at the 

 stage represented, by megalithic structures, and it includes the long 

 period of settled town life both before and after the introduction of 

 writing, an event which cannot yet be precisely dated. Thus, the 

 term is vague and should remain so until the cultural development 

 of this area can be described in terms of cultural achievements, tech- 

 nological levels, or liistorical periods as are commonly used elsewhere 

 in the Near East — a description which must await additional ex- 

 cavation and interpretation of archeological data. 



A total of 23 sites belonging to the pre-Islamic period were recorded 

 in Hadhramaut. Of these, seven sites were already knowm, and our 

 chief contribution at these sites will be in the analyses of the large 

 collections of pottery. The remaining 16 sites, so far as we have 

 been able to learn, were recorded for the first time. These 23 sites 

 include several different types : (1) Megalithic structures; (2) guard 

 or customs posts, some of which probably served as caravansaries; 

 (3) townsites; and (4) irrigation installations. In this brief report, 

 obviously not all sites can be discussed ; only those of special interest 

 and with features common to a number of sites will be mentioned. 



Three sites with megalithic structures and several other sites with 

 similar structures but built with smaller stones were discovered dur- 

 ing the survey. All of these structures are located on the low-lying 

 benches or gravel-covered terrace usually near the base of the cliff. 

 Two of the three megalithic sites consisted of large circles of stand- 

 ing stones, and on one stone, a palimpsest of South Arabic graffiti was 

 found, which had been carved after the stone was set up. To the best 

 of our knowledge, this is the first imequivocal evidence that structures 

 of this type antedate Islamic times in this region. The most interest- 

 ing of these sites is a complex of structures in Wadi Sarr, one of the 

 northern tributaries (pi. 5:1). This complex, which occupies a 

 gravel-covered terrace along the west side of the wadi, consists of 

 several structures. The central structure is a square enclosure formed 

 of standing limestone slabs and surrounded on all sides by large 

 horizontal sandstone blocks, which apparently serve as a foundation 

 or a curbing for the square enclosure. Within the enclosure is a 

 dolmenlike chamber in the southwest corner, the cover slab of which 

 is supported on two sides by the standing slabs of the enclosure and 

 on the other two sides by slabs inside the square. There are also 

 other standing slabs within the enclosure which, at first sight, appear 

 to have been placed at random, but on further examination were al- 

 most certainly arranged to support cover slabs in the other three 

 corners of the square ; this suggests that originally there were dolmen- 

 like chambers in each comer of the structure. 



An important feature of this complex is the decoration on the inner 

 face of most of the slabs of the square (pi. 5:2); in all probability, 



