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A wetland oasis at Wadi Gharandal spanning 125–70 ka on the human migration trail in southern Jordan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2020

Bety S. Al-Saqarat ,
Mahmoud Abbas Open the ORCID record for Mahmoud Abbas [Opens in a new window] ,
Zhongping Lai ,
Songlin Gong ,
Mustafa M. Alkuisi ,
Abdalla M.B. Abu Hamad ,
Paul A. Carling Open the ORCID record for Paul A. Carling [Opens in a new window]  and
John D. Jansen Open the ORCID record for John D. Jansen [Opens in a new window]
Bety S. Al-Saqarat
Affiliation:
School of Science, Geology Department, the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Mahmoud Abbas*
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, Shantou University, Shantou, China
Zhongping Lai
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Sciences, Shantou University, Shantou, China
Songlin Gong
Affiliation:
Luminescence Dating Laboratory, Three Gorges Research Center of Geo-Hazards, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China
Mustafa M. Alkuisi
Affiliation:
School of Science, Geology Department, the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Abdalla M.B. Abu Hamad
Affiliation:
School of Science, Geology Department, the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Paul A. Carling
Affiliation:
Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
John D. Jansen
Affiliation:
GFÚ Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
*
*Corresponding author at: [email protected] (M. Abbas).
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Abstract

Former lakes and wetlands can provide valuable insights to the late Pleistocene environments encountered by the first humans to enter the Levant from Africa. Fluvial incision along Wadi Gharandal in hyperarid southern Jordan has exposed remnants of a small riverine wetland that accumulated as a sedimentary sequence up to ~20 m thick. We conducted a chronometric and sedimentological study of this wetland, including 10 optically stimulated luminescence dates. The wetland sequence accumulated during the period ~125 to 70 ka in response to a positive water balance coupled with a (possibly coseismic) landslide that dammed the outlet. The valley fill was dissected when the dam was incised shortly after ~36 ± 3 ka. Comparison of our ages with regional palaeoclimate indicates that the Gharandal oasis developed during the relatively humid Marine Isotope Stage 5. A minimum age of 74 ± 7 ka for two Levallois flakes collected from stratified sediments suggests that the oasis was visited by humans during the critical 130–90 ka time window of human migration out of Africa. Gharandal joins a growing network of freshwater sites that enabled humans to cross areas of the Levant and Arabia along corridors of human dispersal.

Keywords

HyperaridOptically stimulated luminescencePalaeoclimateHumansLevallois lithicsArchaeologyLevant
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 100 , March 2021 , pp. 154 - 169
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Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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