Saudi Arabia announced, on September 16, a “new archaeological” discovery of a gigantic primitive human footprint dating back to 120,000 years ago. It was found in the province of Tabuk, north-west of the Kingdom.
The Saudi archaeological discovery will rewrite the kingdom’s history in the prehistoric period as this is consider the 1st scientific discovery of the oldest human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula as well as providing a rare glimpse into the living conditions of people in the region during their travels.
The archaeological team were able to identify footprint traces of seven humans, 107 camels, 43 elephants and other animal traces from ibex and bovine species, suggesting that they were moving in groups of adults.
Researchers were able to identify a number of animals from the footprints, including elephants, horses, and camels. The presence of elephants was particularly notable, as these large animals appear to have gone locally extinct in the Levant by around 400 thousand-years-ago.
The dense concentration of footprints and evidence from the lake sediments suggest that animals may have been congregating around the lake in response to dry conditions and diminishing water supplies. Humans, too, may have been utilizing the lake for water and the surrounding area for foraging.
These discoveries help us to contextualise the kingdom’s history, allowing us to better understand the journey of forebears from ancient civilization.
The recent research highlighting the role of the Arabian Peninsula in human prehistory shows that humans repeatedly dispersed into the peninsula’s interior at times when its harsh deserts were transformed into lush grasslands.
However, the nature and timing of these dispersals have remained elusive, due to a scarcity of datable material and poor-resolution paleoecological data associated with evidence for humans.
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