Monumental rock art illustrates that humans thrived in the Arabian Desert during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

Maria Guagnin (), Ceri Shipton (), Faisal Al-Jibreen, Giacomo Losi, Amir Kalifi, Simon J. Armitage, Finn Stileman, Mathew Stewart, Fahad Al-Tamimi, Paul S. Breeze, Frans Buchem, Nick Drake, Mohammed Al-Shamry, Ahmed Al-Shammari, Jaber Al-Wadani, Abdullah M. Alsharekh and Michael Petraglia
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Maria Guagnin: Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
Ceri Shipton: University College London
Faisal Al-Jibreen: Ministry of Culture
Giacomo Losi: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Amir Kalifi: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Simon J. Armitage: Royal Holloway University of London
Finn Stileman: University of Cambridge
Mathew Stewart: Griffith University
Fahad Al-Tamimi: Ministry of Culture
Paul S. Breeze: King’s College London
Frans Buchem: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Nick Drake: King’s College London
Mohammed Al-Shamry: Ministry of Culture
Ahmed Al-Shammari: Ministry of Culture
Jaber Al-Wadani: Ministry of Culture
Abdullah M. Alsharekh: King Saud University
Michael Petraglia: Griffith University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Dated archaeological sites are absent in northern Arabia between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and 10,000 years ago (ka), signifying potential population abandonment prior to the onset of the Holocene humid period. Here we present evidence that playas became established in the Nefud desert of northern Arabia between ~16 and ~13 ka, the earliest reported presence of surface water following the hyper-aridity of the LGM. These fresh water sources facilitated human expansions into arid landscapes as shown by new excavations of stratified archaeological sites dating to between 12.8 and 11.4 ka. During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, human populations exploited a network of seasonal water bodies - marking locations and access routes with monumental rock engravings of camels, ibex, wild equids, gazelles, and aurochs. These communities made distinctive stone tool types showing ongoing connections to the late Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic populations of the Levant.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63417-y

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