ARCHEOLOGY EST SOUTH ARABIA — ^VAN BEEK, COLE, AND JAMME 543 



SUMMARY 



From the foregoing discussion, it is clear that when the data col- 

 lected by the expedition have been analyzed and interpreted, they will 

 fill some of the gaps in our knowledge of the culture history of south- 

 ern Arabia. With regard to prehistory, this first systematic recon- 

 naissance for evidence of the earliest cultures has given us a broad 

 framework of the culture sequence of the area. Until the area was 

 systematically surveyed, it was impossible to determine if the occasional 

 collections which had been made were representative. It now appears 

 that the earliest widespread industry belongs to a "Levalloiso-Mous- 

 terian" tradition and is most closely related to the group of industries 

 labeled "Middle Paleolithic." This industiy, which must have per- 

 sisted a long time, apparently was followed by a "Desert Neolithic" 

 industry, of wliich few sites were found in Wadi Hadhramaut. Per- 

 haps to this period belong the megalithic structures, the most important 

 complex of wliich may reflect a northern tradition of design, con- 

 struction, and decoration. 



It seems probable at this stage in our investigation, that this area 

 remained at a "stone age" level of culture until late in the second 

 millennium B.C., lagging far behind contemporary developments in the 

 Fertile Crescent. At least no remains were found that could be as- 

 signed to the period between the hunters and gatherers of the lithic cul- 

 tures and the earliest towns, which belong to the beginning of the first 

 millennium B.C. or slightly earlier. It appears at this time that peo- 

 ple with an advanced culture, probably from the northwestern fringes 

 of the Fertile Crescent, migrated to Hadhramaut, driving out, killing 

 off, or assimilating the inhabitants of the area, late in the second mil- 

 lennium B.C. They brought a tradition of urban living, a knowledge 

 of ceramics, metallurgy, irrigation agriculture, and perhaps writing, 

 and developed the extremely lucrative frankincense and myrrh trade. 

 Based on a preliminary examination of the pottery and other arti- 

 facts, it appears that while Hadhramaut shared in the main stream of 

 the culture that prevailed over all of southern Arabia, it also developed 

 provincial or local features that in part make its culture clearly dis- 

 tinguishable. 



This summary, based on 31/^ months' work in Hadhramaut, but with- 

 out the benefit of analyses of the collections, is necessarily tentative. 

 Minor adjustments and revisions will certainly be required and prob- 

 ably some radical alterations will have to be made, but the broad outline 

 is likely to remain. For filling in the details and for answering many 

 important questions, the excavation of several pre-Islamic sites will 

 be required. This is our next task. 



