390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
They seem to have been used over a long period of time. So far, none 
of the hand axes so typical of northern Arabia have been found south 
of the Ruba’-el Khali, which was perhaps as much of a refuge area 
in Paleolithic as in historic times. In other words, the geographical 
forces which divide northern and southern Arabia into separate cul- 
tural entities today may also have operated as far back in human his- 
tory as Pleistocene times. 
Southern Arabia may also hold the answer to some of the problems 
concerned with the rise of the Neolithic economy in the Old World. 
The Yemen highlands and the corresponding highlands of Ethiopia 
seem to be old centers of terraced agriculture. In Ethiopia, a number 
of unique local species of cereals have been found. So far, the Yemen 
has escaped the attention of economic botanists, but this region may be 
of great interest in this connection. It is just possible that some 
aspects of the Neolithic economy may have developed in this area. 
Megaliths, too, are present in southern Arabia. In his recent jour- 
ney through Asir and the desert borderland of Yemen, Philby’ 
noticed the presence of cromlechs similar to Stonehenge, made of 
double concentric circles of huge slabs of granite, with central corri- 
dors oriented to the east and west. He also found semicircular pas- 
sageways, and vast fields of dolmenlike tombs both with and without 
corridors. Further study on the spot will be needed to determine both 
the age of these structures and their relationship, if any, with the 
megalithic complex in the Mediterranean and western Europe. At 
present, however, it would seem that they have a strong continuity, 
at least in an architectural sense, with the historic cultures of southern 
Arabia. 
Aside from archeology, southern Arabia may contain the solution 
of an important question in the racial field: “What role did the south- 
ern coastal strip of the peninsula play in forming a connection be- 
tween the frizzly-haired, deep-pigmented peoples of Africa and 
Oceania?” In Africa the general Negroid family is represented by 
true Negroes, Pygmies, and Bushmen. In southern Asia and Oceania, 
from India to Fiji, one finds various kinds of Negritos, all occupying 
marginal areas, as well as Melanesians and Tasmanians. There is 
probably some genetic continuity between the Negroids of these two 
major areas, and since the fringe of southern Arabia lies in between, 
some traces of whatever group served as link might possibly be ex- 
pected to survive. Such a survival does actually occur. 
The population of southern Arabia, aside from the Yemen, consists 
of two major elements—Mediterranean and Veddoid. In the Ha- 
dhramaut Valley, the agriculturists are predominantly Mediterra- 
nean; among the Bedawin, and among the wilder tribes of the Dhofar 
7Philby, 1937. 
