Abstract

Rock art is partly a reflection of the real-world experience of those who created it. On the Arabian Peninsula, where relatively few archaeological sites have been excavated, and faunal remains are scarce, animal representations on rock surfaces can provide important insight into Holocene landscapes and environmental changes. Species identifications from rock art have demonstrated the presence of previously undocumented mammal species in Arabia, and carrying capacity estimates from wildlife conservation studies allow us to estimate predator and prey populations, providing a glimpse into prehistoric ecosystems. The rock art also frequently shows dog assisted hunting scenes, and likely the earliest archaeological evidence for the use of leashes. The level of detail evident in many of these scenes allows the identification of Pre-Neolithic hunting strategies that are adapted to the available animal species and environmental conditions. Recent research has also shown that the location and spatial distribution of rock art panels reflects prehistoric landscape use, with early and mid-Holocene rock art panels marking access to water sources, and late Holocene rock art marking routes between oases.

Biography

Maria Guagnin is a rock art specialist affiliated with the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (formerly known as MPI for the Science of Human History). She has undertaken fieldwork across Europe, north Africa and the Near East and has led projects in Scotland, Malta, and Libya. She has carried out fieldwork and research in Saudi Arabia as a member of the Green Arabia Project since 2014 and is co-director of the Camel Site Archaeological Project and director of the Sahout Rock Art and Archaeology Project.

Maria’s research interests focus on prehistoric settlement patterns and rock art in northern Arabia. She has developed a range of new research methods that integrate methodologies from animal conservation studies, climate modelling, archaeozoology, and rock art research – and has used these methods to reconstruct Holocene ecosystems and to identify cultural memory and population dynamics across periods of subsistence change. Maria has published more than 20 high-impact peer-reviewed papers on the archaeology of northern Arabia which have attracted considerable interest from international media.